Vipsania Agrippina
Encyclopedia
- Vipsania redirects here: for other women named Vipsania and/or Agrippina see AgrippinaAgrippinaAgrippina may refer to:In people:* Vipsania Agrippina , daughter of Caecilia Attica and first wife of the Emperor Tiberius* Vipsania Marcella Agrippina , daughter of Claudia Marcella Major and first wife of general Publius Quinctilius Varus* Julia the Younger or Vipsania Julia Agrippina , daughter...
.
Not to be confused with Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
, Agrippa's daughter by Julia the Elder.
Vipsania Agrippina (36 BC-20 AD) was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
from his first wife Pomponia Caecilia Attica
Caecilia Attica
Pomponia Caecilia Attica or Caecilia Pomponia Attica , was the daughter of Cicero's Epicurean friend and eques, knight Titus Pomponius Atticus. Her mother, Caecilia Pilea/Pilia , daughter of Pileus/Pilius, was a maternal granddaughter of Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member of the First Triumvirate...
, granddaughter of Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
's friend and knight Titus Pomponius Atticus
Titus Pomponius Atticus
Titus Pomponius Atticus, born Titus Pomponius , came from an old but not strictly noble Roman family of the equestrian class and the Gens Pomponia. He was a celebrated editor, banker, and patron of letters with residences in both Rome and Athens...
. Her maternal grandmother was a descendant of Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who commanded the right wing of Sulla's army at the Battle of the Colline Gate, suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus, provided political and financial support to Julius Caesar and entered into the political alliance known as the...
. By marriage, she was a great-niece to Quintus Tullius Cicero
Quintus Tullius Cicero
Quintus Tullius Cicero was the younger brother of the celebrated orator, philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, some 100 kilometres south-east of Rome.- Biography :Cicero's well-to-do father...
.
Octavian
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
and her father betrothed her to Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
before her first birthday. In 20 BC or 16 BC she married Tiberius. Their son Drusus the Younger
Julius Caesar Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus, later Drusus Julius Caesar was the only child of Roman Emperor Tiberius and his first wife, Vipsania Agrippina...
was born in 13 BC.
Agrippa died in March, 12 BC. He was married to Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
, daughter of Augustus. Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce Vipsania and marry Julia. Tiberius reportedly loved Vipsania and disapproved of Julia. Vipsania was at the time pregnant, and from the shock lost the baby.
Tiberius divorced her against his will in 11 BC (non sine magno angore animi, Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
Vita Tiberii 7), and never ceased to rue his action. On one occasion Tiberius caught sight of Vipsania and followed her with an intent and tearful gaze (Suetonius, ibid.). Precautions were taken to avoid further embarrassing meetings with her.
In 11 BC she married Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus
Gaius Asinius Gallus
Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus was an ambitious Roman Senator with family connections to the Julio-Claudian house. Asinius Gallus was consul in 8 BC, and proconsul of Asia in 6 BC/5 BC. He was a friend of Emperor Augustus and opposed Emperor Tiberius. He introduced measures to the senate to...
, a Senator and son of the famous orator Gaius Asinius Pollio
Gaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)
Gaius Asinius Pollio was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic and historian, whose lost contemporary history, provided much of the material for the historians Appian and Plutarch...
. They had at least six sons. Vipsania Agrippina died in AD 20, a few days after the ovation of her son Drusus, which took place on 28 May.
Tiberius hated Gallus, not least because Gallus claimed that Drusus was his own son. In 30, at Tiberius' instigation, the Senate was to declare Gallus a public enemy (Cassius Dio 58.3). He died in prison in 33, of starvation.
Vipsania and Gallus' known sons were:
- Gaius Asinius PollioGaius Asinius Pollio (consul AD 23)Gaius Asinius Pollio, son of Gaius Asinius Gallus and Vipsania Agrippina, was a Roman politician.He was consul in AD 23 alongside Gaius Antistius Vetus. We know from his coins he was proconsul of Asia. Through his mother he was the half-brother of the younger Drusus...
- ConsulRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in 23; exiled as an accuser of a conspiracy and later was put to death on orders from Empress Valeria Messalina.
- Marcus Asinius AgrippaMarcus Asinius AgrippaMarcus Asinius Agrippa was Roman consul in 25 AD, and died at the end of the following year, 26 AD. He was also the half-brother of Julius Caesar Drusus, the natural son of the Emperor Tiberius. According to Tacitus, he was descended from a family more illustrious than ancient, and did not...
- ConsulRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in 25 and died in the end of 26. TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
(Annals 4.61) describes him as "not unworthy of his ancestors". His son Marcus Asinius MarcellusMarcus Asinius MarcellusMarcus Asinius Marcellus was Consul in 54 along with Marcus Acilius Aviola at the Emperor Claudius' death. He was the son of Marcus Asinius Agrippa, Consul in 25 who died in 26 and described by Tacitus as "not unworthy of his ancestors"...
was ConsulRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in 54 along with Marcus Acilius Aviola (at the time the Emperor ClaudiusClaudiusClaudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
died).
- Asinius Saloninus or (Gnaeus Asinius Saloninus) (sometimes wrongly called Salonius), died in 22. TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
describes him as an ‘eminent’ person. Saloninus was intended to marry one of the granddaughters of Emperor Tiberius (Tacitus, Annals 3.75).
- Servius Asinius Celer. He was consul suffectus in 38. From Emperor CaligulaCaligulaCaligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
he purchased a fish at an enormous price. He is mentioned in the satire, by SenecaSeneca the YoungerLucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, The Pumpkinification of Claudius, where he is listed among the many people killed by that emperor. His death probably occurred sometime before mid-47. Asinius Celer seems to have had a daughter by the name of Asinia Agrippina, though her existence is obscure.
- Asinius Gallus or (Lucius Asinius Gallus) (sometimes wrongly called Gallo). In 46 he conspired against ClaudiusClaudiusClaudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
and was forced to go into exile. Cassius Dio (60.27.5) describes him as being "very small and ugly". Later rehabilitated, he became ConsulRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in 62.
- Gnaeus Asinius. His existence is recorded by the townsfolk of Puteoli, whose patron he was. Nothing else is known about him. He may have been identical with Asinius Saloninus or the foregoing Asinius Gallus. Since the Asinius Gallus seems to have been the Lucius Asinius Gallus who became a Consul in 60, by exclusion of parts the Gnaeus Asinius must be the Asinius Saloninus.
A descendant of Vipsania and Gallus, Pomponia Graecina
Pomponia Graecina
Pomponia Graecina was a noble Roman woman of the 1st century who was related to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the wife of Aulus Plautius, the general who led the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and was renowned as one of the few people who dared to publicly mourn the death of a kinswoman...
, became a distinguished lady. Pomponia might have been a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and lived an unhappy long life. Pomponia married Aulus Plautius
Aulus Plautius
Aulus Plautius was a Roman politician and general of the mid-1st century. He began the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and became the first governor of the new province, serving from 43 to 47.-Career:...
. Plautius was a general in the conquest of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, which he received as a military ovation. Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
murdered their son, reportedly because Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, mother of Nero, was in love with him and encouraged him to bid for the throne.
Another descendant or otherwise relative, Gaius Asinius Lepidus Praetextatus (210 – after 242), became a Consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in 242, being the son of Gaius Asinius Lepidus, Suffect Consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
of Rome
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in 222 and wife (Vettia) (b. 190 or 195).
Tacitus states that Vipsania was the only one of Agrippa's children to die without violence.http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.3.iii.html She was one of the most prominent women of her time. Between 21-23, Julius Caesar Drusus
Julius Caesar Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus, later Drusus Julius Caesar was the only child of Roman Emperor Tiberius and his first wife, Vipsania Agrippina...
honored her memory with statues, coins and inscriptions.
Ancestry
External links
- Roman coinage and additional information on Vipsania Agrippina can seen at http://www.jasperburns.com/gasvips.htm