Yale University Press
Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire
Key Metrics
- Anthony a Barrett
- Yale University Press
- Paperback
- 9780300078565
- 9 X 6 X 0.81 inches
- 1.17 pounds
- Biography & Autobiography > Historical
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
Drawing on the latest archaeological, numismatic, and historical evidence, Barrett argues that Agrippina has been misjudged. Although she was ambitious, says Barrett, she made her way through ability and determination rather than by sexual allure, and her political contributions to her time seem to have been positive. After Agrippina's marriage to Claudius there was a marked decline in the number of judicial executions and there was close cooperation between the Senate and the emperor; the settlement of Cologne, founded under her aegis, was a model of social harmony; and the first five years of Nero's reign, while she was still alive, were the most enlightened of his rule. According to Barrett, Agrippina's one real failing was her relationship with her son, the monster of her own making who had her murdered in horrific and violent circumstances. Agrippina's impact was so lasting, however, that for some 150 years after her death no woman in the imperial family dared assume an assertive political role.
Author Bio
Anthony A. Barrett is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia and visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg. His many books include Caligula: The Abuse of Power and Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome. He is also the coeditor of The Emperor Nero: A Guide to the Ancient Sources.
Source: Princeton University Press and The University of British Columbia
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