In discussion of Agrippa it is important to consider his beginnings. He was adopted by Augustus at the age of fifteen, when Germanicus was eighteen and Tiberius was forty-six. Due to Tiberius’ track record, he was the obvious choice for succession. He had been consul twice and invested with tribunicia potestas for a period of five years. The question of why Agrippa was even adopted by Augustus is raised by Pettinger, as it is obvious who was going to be succeeding Augustus as princeps. This question holds the meat of the analysis of the Roman court in regards to the adoption of Agrippa, which is described as an attempt by Augustus to keep a potential political rival far out of reach from those who could influence him.
After his reign, Augustus had conferred his power to his adopted son,
Nero now became the adopted son of the emperor. Claudius already had a son named Britannicus, but Agrippina wanted Nero to be the next emperor. She convinced Claudius to name Nero as the heir to the throne. Nero also married the emperor's daughter Octavia to further secure the throne. At the age of 14, Nero was appointed to the position of proconsul.
The accounts of Agrippina’s death, as narrated by Tacitus and Suetonius, take on an almost farcical tone, but eventually, according to the sources, Nero successfully killed Agrippina. Before her death, Agrippina wrote an account of her life and career, becoming the first known woman author in Roman history, as she was the only woman on record to have published her memoirs. (Wood, 481) She was also the first imperial woman to bear the title Augusta during her husband’s lifetime.
Claudius also has two siblings, Germanicus, and Livilla. Claudius was declared the emperor when Gaius was murdered by his own bodyguard, Claudius was found cowering behind a curtain. On 25 January 41 A.D. Claudius was formally invested with all the powers of theprinceps,
The Kelsey Museum Augustus, First Emperor of Rome, is similar and different to many Roman art pieces. The first very obvious style that can be seen is the Augustan period approach, the Augustus of Primaporta statue from Italy, marble copy, from early first century is a great example of this approach. They both have the same exact straight hair strand placement, face shape, and youthful idealized face. Augustus uses the same style throughout all his statues and reliefs, where his forehead is very wide and longer than his chin area. Unlike the prior Republican period style, the Augustan period rejects the veristic style, which is the very extreme expression of oldness.
Agrippina the Younger’s role during the Claudius’ principate was quite simple, she was to establish a familial connection between Claudius and both the Julian and Claudian linage. The commonalities between Claudius and Agrippina resulted in a beneficial relationship that allowed her influence to increase. By being the great granddaughter of Augustus, Agrippina held a powerful position which helped legitimise the reign of Claudius, hence she was given the title Augusta with her official name on coins and inscriptions as Iulia Augusta, which conveyed the notion of being an empress. Consequently, this enforced his position as princeps, especially persuading the senate which doubted his ascension to emperor. Because of her power and influence, Agrippina had a positive relationship with the senate which brought stability between them and Claudius, thus she was given the right to use the carpentum at festivals, as well as to sit in the senate itself and discuss various matters--
In 40 AD, he won favor with the Jews and averted civil war by convincing Caligula to abandon plans to build an idol to himself in the Jerusalem Temple. His reign was marked by excellence and efficiency. During this time Rome found the province to be prosperous and “low maintenance.” 4. We will meet his son, Agrippa II (Acts 25, 26), and his daughters Bernice (Acts 25) and Drusilla (Acts 24).
The vast expanse of the empire led to virtual autonomy on the part of generals and governors; autonomy that was often abused as Cicero’s prosecution demonstrates. Even a conscientious governor like Cicero had to deal with “endemic, chronic, low-level
In the first chapters of Book VI of the Annals, Tacitus describes the early youth of Aelius Sejanus. Almost immediately, we are aware of the fact that both Tiberius and Sejanus, in some way, are responsible for the end of Rome’s peaceful reign. In this way, Tacitus portrays the negative impression received from both characters in a multitude of ways. Firstly, Tacitus recalls the events of Sejanus persuading the emperor Tiberius to situate the praetorian guard outside the city of Rome and by the gate instead.
When Agrippina the Elder, returned to Italy carrying her popular husband 's ashes, she publicly declared Piso guilty of murder and hinted at the involvement of more hidden agents. Agrippina the Elder, believed that Tiberius had conspired to kill Germanicus, and “she waged a relentless vendetta against the emperor.” Tiberius probably felt that he was blamed, by many people, for the death of the popular Germanicus; Tiberius had two motives to kill Germanicus: Germanicus was a potential rival of Tiberius himself, and he was a rival of Tiberius’ son, Drusus.
Dan Cruikshank Paper Ancient Greece and Rome 4/24/17 Caligula, The ‘Mad’ Emperor? Throughout the period of Rome’s history there have been many leaders that have been everlastingly glorified because of their major contributions to the Empire of Rome. Names like Julius and Augustus Caesar for instance stick out in the minds of most people still today. However, some who have lead the Roman Empire, have not been so lucky in this deity-like glorification after their deaths.
You’ve Got a Friend in Me: Tactics of Amicitia in Cicero and Pliny’s Letters of Request In the highly stratified culture of ancient Roman society, knowing how best to communicate with one’s social betters was necessary in order both to avoid offense and to potentially gain political or social advantages. This is especially apparent in letters of recommendation, or indeed, any letter that made a request of another, as a refusal of a request would have been potentially damaging to one’s reputation. Methods and tactics of form, content, and tone were of paramount importance for writing a successful letter of this nature. This paper seeks to examine how aspects of amicitia were used in the form, content, and tone of Pliny and Cicero’s letters of
Wallace-Hadrill makes the argument that the seat of Augustus’s empire, the Imperial home on the Palatine Hill, was where the sovereignty of the emperor would become the most effective. When Augustus garnered control of the Roman Empire, the aristocracy of Rome—both the friends and enemies of the emperor-- flocked to his side in hopes of joining his Imperial court. Each courtier had a varying degree of intimacy with Augustus; the closer one was to him, the more of his borrowed authority they could access. Successful courtiers were masters of manipulation who could maneuver through positions and relationships to ingratiate themselves to the court and to the emperor. In the Imperial court, being close to the emperor and being powerful were synonymous.
By preselecting which events were to be released to the public, Augustus incorporated judgements of his own actions into the work. This directly prevented the people of Rome from effectively vetting the collection of exempla. It was impossible for Romans to judge negatively, for example, Augustus’ mercy in sparing the lives of foreign captives; yet if a Roman were witness to all the facts of the situation instead of the manipulated accounts of the Res Gestae, it is likely that Augustus’ exempla would have been less
This approach is not unlike modern children being taught in foreign schools and passing the knowledge they gained onto the people at home. Through this kind of trickle down, Agricola was ensuring that every member of a family was being exposed to Roman culture, therefore, gradually beginning to think of themselves as Romans. Another method of Agricola’s was to use the native people as local leaders instead of using a Roman, which he would then promote for good service. This kind of technique caused the British to see their own subjugation as an opportunity for advancement and the ushering in of a more advanced civilization. To this end, Agricola was a master of using psychological principles, such as the door-in-the-face technique in which you ask huge things of a person or people knowing they will say no, in order to suggest simpler tasks that they would be more willing to accept instead of the original task yet still arriving at the original