AGRIPPINA THE ELDER

born c. 14 BC died Oct. 18, AD 33, the island of Pandateria, in the Tyrrhenian Sea granddaughter of the emperor Augustus and a major figure in the succession struggles in the latter part of the reign of Tiberius (ruled AD 1437). Agrippina was married to Germanicus Caesar (great-nephew of Augustus and nephew and adopted son of Tiberius). She accompanied her husband to Germany and to the East, where he died at Antioch in AD 19. When the death of Tiberius' son Drusus in 23 brought her sons into direct line for the succession, she became the object of attacks by Sejanus, Tiberius' adviser, who had his own designs. Finally, in 29 she was exiled to Pandateria, where she died, either self-starved or, according to some, starved at Tiberius' order. Of her nine children by Germanicus, one son and three daughters survived her, the son becoming Tiberius' successor as the emperor Gaius Caligula (3741). The most famous of her daughters was Agrippina, the mother of the emperor Nero. Several fine portraits of Agrippina have been preserved, the most famous being in the Capitoline Museum, Rome.