羅馬皇后阿格里皮娜 - 一位傑出的戰略家_風聞

【來源龍騰網】

正文原創翻譯：

Rome’s hardball politics were off-limits to women, yet this great-granddaughter of Augustus won power for herself and her son, Nero, who would later have her murdered.

羅馬強硬的政治對婦女來説是禁區，然而這位奧古斯都的曾孫女為自己和她的兒子尼祿贏得了權力，不過後來她卻是被她的親兒子親手瞭解。

BY ISABEL BARCELÓ

作者：伊莎貝爾·巴爾塞萊

Nobody could question Agrippina’s imperial credentials: great granddaughter of Augustus, great-niece of Tiberius (granddaughter of Drusus), sister to Caligula, wife of Claudius, and mother to Nero. Like her male relatives, she enjoyed great influence. Honored with the title Augusta in A.D. 50, she wielded political power like a man—and paid the price for it.

阿格里皮娜是奧古斯都的曾孫女，提比略的侄孫女(德魯斯的孫女)，卡里古拉的妹妹，克勞迪亞斯的妻子，尼祿的母親。和她的這些男性親戚一樣，阿格里皮娜也有很大的影響力。

Agrippina recorded her life in a series of memoirs, in which, according to first-century historian Tacitus, she “handed down to posterity the story of her life and of the misfortunes of her family.” Unfortunately, her writings—and her authentic perspective—have been lost.

阿格里皮娜用回憶錄記錄了自己的一生。據公元一世紀的歷史學家塔西佗説，她用回憶錄 “將自己的生平和家庭的不幸的故事一代代傳了下來。”不幸的是，她的作品，以及她真實的觀點都已經丟失了。

Most of what is known about her comes from secondhand sources written after her death. Many contemporary historians condemned her for violating Rome’s patriarchal structure with her naked ambition. Many blamed her for the actions of her son, Nero.

人們對她的瞭解大多來自她死後的二手資料。許多當代歷史學家譴責她用她赤裸裸的野心破壞了羅馬的父權社會結構。還有許多人因她兒子尼祿的所作所為而指責她。

While describing her at times as irrational, perverted, and unscrupulous, some historians, however, bestowed a grudging admiration for Agrippina, such as Tacitus when describing the moment she became empress of Rome:

在描述她的荒謬、變態和肆無忌憚時，一些歷史學家卻對她給予了勉強的讚美，比如塔西佗在描述她成為羅馬女皇的那一刻是這樣説得:

From this moment, the country was transformed. Complete obedience was accorded to a woman—and not a woman . . . who toyed with national affairs to satisfy her appetites. This was a rigorous, almost masculine despotism. In public, Agrippina was austere and often arrogant. Her private life was chaste—unless there was power to be gained. Her passion to acquire money was unbounded. She wanted it as a stepping-stone to supremacy. 

從那一刻起，這個國家發生了翻天覆地的變化。人們完全服從了一個女人，這個女人並非通過玩弄國家大事來滿足她的慾望。這是一種嚴格的，幾乎是男性專屬的專制制度。在公眾面前，阿格里皮納是一個簡樸而又常常很傲慢的人。她的私生活是樸素的，除非有權力可以攫取。她對賺錢的熱情是無限的。她想把金錢作為通往霸權的墊腳石。

Of course Agrippina is not the only powerful woman in history to have been treated unfairly by scholars, but this bias against her has motivated today’s historians to revisit her life and accomplishments to assess their effects on the Roman Empire.

當然，阿格里皮娜並不是歷史上唯一一位受到學者不公平對待的有權勢的女性，但也正是這種對她的偏見促使今天的歷史學家開始重新審視她的一生和成就，以此評估這些事情對羅馬帝國的影響。

Famous family

有名望的家族

Around A.D. 15, Agrippina was born in a military camp on the banks of the Rhine to an influential Roman power: Germanicus, nephew and adopted son of the emperor Tiberius and a candidate to succeed him, and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus’ favorite granddaughter.

大約公元15年，阿格里皮娜出生在萊因河岸邊的一個軍營裏，他的父親是很有影響力的羅馬勢力Germanicus，他是提比略皇帝的外甥和養子，同時他也是提比略皇帝的繼承人;而阿格里皮娜的母親是奧古斯都最喜歡的孫女。

When Agrippina was just four years old, Germanicus died of poisoning in Syria, a crime that her mother always attributed to Tiberius. Agrippina the Elder claimed that the emperor Tiberius feared Germanicus’s popularity with the army, believing that military support would eventually allow Germanicus to usurp the emperor and take his place. Whether or not Tiberius was responsible for poisoning Germanicus, he did deny his adopted son the honor of a public funeral.

阿格里皮娜年僅四歲時，Germanicus就在敍利亞死於中毒，她的母親一直認為這是提比略犯下的罪行。老阿格里皮娜聲稱，提比略皇帝之所以這麼做是因為害怕Germanicus在軍隊中受歡迎，認為軍事支持最終會讓Germanicus篡奪他皇帝的位置。不管提比略是否對毒害Germanicus負有責任，但是他當時確實拒絕為他的養子舉行公開的葬禮。

Germanicus’s widow, the indomitable Agrippina the Elder, arrived in Rome with her husband’s ashes, in what became an open challenge to the emperor. With the greatest dignity, she took the urn containing the ashes and, accompanied by her children and a huge crowd of mourning citizens, she led a silent procession through the streets of Rome to the mausoleum of Augustus, where she deposited it. Tiberius was furious at his daughter-in-law’s defiance and never forgave her.

作為Germanicus的遺孀，不屈不撓的老阿格里皮娜帶着她丈夫的骨灰來到了羅馬，這一舉動是對羅馬皇帝的公開挑戰。她帶着極大的尊嚴手持裝有Germanicus骨灰的骨灰盒，在她的孩子和大批哀悼的市民的陪伴下，帶領一個沉默的隊伍穿過了羅馬的街道，來到奧古斯都的陵墓前，將骨灰放在了那裏。提比略對兒媳的這一挑釁非常憤怒，他永遠也不會原諒她。

The younger Agrippina apparently received a solid education, and there is no doubt of her intelligence, nor of her determination and strength. From an early age, she certainly understood the workings of the imperial court and how a woman could maneuver within it. Her great-grandmother Livia, grandmother Antonia, and her mother taught her the mechanisms and dangers of life at court.

小阿格里皮娜顯然受過良好的教育，她的智慧、決心和力量是毋庸置疑的。從很小的時候起，她就很清楚羅馬朝廷的運作方式，也知道自己作為一名女性如何在其中周旋。她的曾祖母Livia，祖母Antonia和她的母親教會了她宮廷生活的生活機制和危險。

BIRTHPLACE OF THE EMPRESS

皇后的出生地

Agrippina, in her role as Augusta, founded a Roman colony near her birthplace in what is today western Germany. Her father, Germanicus, had been stationed at a military outpost along the Rhine when Agrippina was born there in A.D. 15. After Agrippina elevated it, the colony was named Colonia Claudia Augusta Ara Agrippinensium (Colony of Claudius Near the Altar of the Agrippinians) but referred to as Colonia. The colony grew and became a major urban center, serving as the capital city of the Roman province Germania Inferior. Today it is known in English as Cologne, Germany’s fourth largest city. 

阿格里皮娜以其奧古斯都後裔的身份在她的出生地附近，也就是今天的西德，建立了一個羅馬殖民地。她的父親Germanicus在公元15年阿格里皮納出生時，曾駐紮在萊茵河沿岸的一個軍事前哨。在阿格里皮納將其提升後，該殖民地被命名為Colonia Claudia Augusta Ara Agrippinensium，簡稱Colonia。

Agrippina the Elder would pay dearly for taking on Tiberius. A few years later, the emperor had her two eldest sons murdered and banished her to one of the Pontine Islands where she died. These horrors, observed by Agrippina the Younger, while still a child, scarred her deeply and left an indelible mark on her thinking. It was here that she grew up and where early trauma forged her character. She decided not to challenge power head-on, at least at first, as her mother had done, but rather to protect herself through marriage to a cousin, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.

老阿格里皮娜因為對抗提比略皇帝而付出了高昂的代價。幾年後，皇帝殺死了她的兩個長子，並將她流放到Pontine羣島的一個島上，直到她在那裏死去。小阿格里皮娜在還是個孩子的時候就目睹了這些可怕的事情，並給她留下了深深的傷疤，在她的思想上留下了不可磨滅的印記。

哥哥和皇帝

A coin with three women on it

Agrippina began to make waves when her brother Caligula became emperor in A.D. 37. It is to this era that the earliest surviving image of her dates. A coin minted with Caligula’s effigy on the front features his three sisters on the back. Depicted as Securitas, the security and strength of the empire, Agrippina leans on a column alongside her sisters Drusilla and Livilla, representing Concord and Fortune.

公元37年，當她的哥哥Caligula成為皇帝時，阿格里皮娜開始掀起軒然大波。如今發現的阿格里皮娜最早倖存的形象圖是在一枚硬幣上，一枚正面印着Caligula，背面印着他的三個姐妹的硬幣。圖像上，阿格里皮娜斜靠在一根柱子上，旁邊是她的姐妹德魯西拉(Drusilla)和里維拉(Livilla)，她們分別代表着和諧和財富。

The new emperor Caligula showered his three sisters with honors, included them in official prayers, and even had consuls conclude their proposals to the Senate with the formula “Favor and good fortune attend Gaius Caesar and his sisters.”

新皇帝Caligula向他的三個姐妹表示出了極大的敬意，他不但把她們列入了正式的祈禱中，他甚至讓執政官在向元老院提出的提案中總結出這樣一句話:“蓋烏斯·愷撒和他的姐妹們將得到恩惠和好運。”

Agrippina grew popular during this time. At age 22, she gave birth to her only biological child, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would become better known as Nero. From the very beginning, Agrippina was resolute in one aim: to see her son become emperor. It was not unreasonable, given her elite family credentials, nor was it unusual: Roman matrons were expected to promote their children’s interests.

在這段時間裏，阿格里皮娜變得受歡迎起來。22歲的時候，她生下了自己唯一的孩子，Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus，也就是後來廣為人知的尼祿（古羅馬暴君）。從一開始，阿格里皮娜就有一個堅定的目標，即看着她的兒子成為皇帝。考慮到她的精英家庭資歷，這並非不合理，也並非不尋常，畢竟羅馬的主婦們往往被期望着幫助自己的孩子們獲得更多的利益。

​

A bust depicts Nero, who in A.D. 54 became Roman emperor, at age 16. Initially promising reform, Nero was guided in the first few years by Agrippina until he gave orders for her murder in 59.

一個半身像描繪了公元54年16歲時成為羅馬皇帝的尼祿。最初尼祿承諾改革，改革的最初幾年由阿格里皮娜親自指導，直到59年尼祿下令謀殺了她。

In Agrippina’s case, she had a strong personal drive to get involved in politics. In a society that kept women out of government, it was unthinkable that she, by herself, could enter the arena. Through Nero, she had a chance to grasp power, but securing the imperial throne for him would be both difficult and dangerous.

在阿格里皮娜的處境中，她有強烈的個人動機去參政。在一個將婦女排斥在政府之外的社會里，她憑一己之力進入了政治舞台，這在當時是不可想象的。通過尼祿，她有機會掌握權力，但為他保住皇位既困難又危險。

Caligula became seriously ill and, when he regained his health, began a bloody purge to eliminate rivals, reminiscent of the worst violence of Tiberius. Agrippina, having allegedly conspired in a plot to overthrow her brother, was accused of immoral conduct and exiled to the Pontine Islands.

Caligula當時病得很重，當他恢復健康後，就開始了一場針對對手的血腥的清洗，這讓人想起了提比略最惡劣的暴力手段。在這種情況下，阿格里皮娜也被指控密謀推翻她的哥哥，同時她也被指控品行不端而被流放到了Pontine羣島。

A year later, Caligula’s assassination unleashed a new wave of chaos before Agrippina’s paternal uncle, Claudius, took over as emperor in January, A.D. 41. Rome’s new ruler reversed the sentence on his niece and allowed her to return to Rome. (Caligula thought he was a god, and it got him killed.)

一年後，Caligula遭遇暗殺，這又引發了新一輪的混亂，直到阿格里皮娜的叔叔Claudius在公元41年1月接任皇帝后，這場騷亂才得以停止。這位羅馬的新統治者推翻了前任皇帝對他侄女的判決，允許她返回了羅馬。(Caligula認為自己是神，因此被殺。)

That same month, Agrippina became a widow after Ahenobarbus died, but she quickly remarried. Claudius arranged a unx with a wealthy, well-connected man, Crispus, who had served twice as consul. The marriage lasted until Crispus’ death in 47, which left Agrippina a very wealthy widow. Rumors spread that she had caused her husband’s demise after he named her his heir.

同月，阿格里皮娜的丈夫Ahenobarbus去世，於是阿格里皮娜成了寡婦，但她很快又再婚了。當時的皇帝Claudius安排他與一位富有、出身名門的Crispus聯姻。Crispus曾兩次擔任執政官。這段婚姻一直持續到公元47年Crispus去世，這使阿格里皮娜成為了一個非常富有的寡婦。有謠言説，在她丈夫指定她為繼承人後，阿格里皮娜謀殺了她的丈夫。

Uncle and niece

叔叔和侄女

A year later, Claudius was widowed and began looking for a new wife. Despite Agrippina being his biological niece, her imperial ancestry made her a strong marital candidate. She was beautiful, still young, and brought with her, her son, who, as Germanicus’s grandson, was, in the words of Tacitus, “thoroughly worthy of imperial rank.” Claudius hoped that in this way she “would not carry off the grandeur of the Caesars to some other house.”

一年後，Claudius喪偶，開始尋找新妻子。儘管阿格里皮娜是他的親生侄女，但她的帝國血統使她成為一個強有力的結婚人選。她美麗，年輕，還有一個有着Germanicus孫子的身份的兒子。用塔西佗的話來説，她“完全配得上皇后這個威嚴的地位。” Claudius希望通過娶她，這樣她就“不會把皇家的威風帶到別的什麼人家去”。

Roman historians attributed Claudius’s choice to manipulation. Tacitus wrote that “Agrippina’s seductiveness was a help. Visiting her uncle frequently . . . she tempted into giving her the preference.” Writing in the second century, the historian Suetonius was more condemning in his language: “[I]t was Agrippina . . . who hooked him. She had a niece’s privilege of kissing and caressing Claudius, and exercised it with a noticeable effect on his passions.”

羅馬歷史學家將Claudius的選擇歸因於他人的操縱。塔西佗寫道:“阿格里皮娜的誘惑力是一種因素。”她經常去看望她的叔叔…她吸引Claudius給予她偏愛。”公元二世紀，歷史學家蘇埃託尼烏斯(Suetonius)用他的語言表達了更強烈的譴責:“是阿格里皮娜……使得Claudius迷上了她。她有一個侄女的特權，所以可以親吻和愛撫Claudius，並對他的感情產生了明顯的影響。”

The marriage between Claudius and Agrippina, was celebrated in A.D. 49. With skill and tact she established a close relationship with the Senate, imposed order and moderation in the courts, and worked alongside her husband in imperial matters. She earned the title of Augusta and, in an unprecedented step, would appear standing beside the emperor in public.

Claudius和阿格里皮娜的婚禮在公元49年舉行。之後憑藉其技巧和機智，她與元老院建立了密切的關係，在法庭上強制實行秩序和節制，並與丈夫一起處理帝國事務。她贏得了“奧古斯塔”的稱號，並史無前例地在公眾場合出現在皇帝身邊。

MESSALINA AND AGRIPPINA

梅莎利娜和阿格里皮娜

One of Agrippina’s most fearsome political rivals was Messalina, third wife of Claudius. Writing some 70 years after her death, Roman historians described Messalina as being powerful and influential but completely immoral and lascivious; her husband was in her thrall, unwilling to see her manipulations. Shortly after Claudius became emperor, Messalina gave birth to their son Britannicus, who had the strongest position to become his heir.

阿格里皮娜最可怕的政治對手之一是Claudius的第三任妻子梅莎利娜。在梅莎利娜死後大約70年，羅馬歷史學家將她描述為一個強大而有影響力的人，但她也完全是一個不道德和淫蕩的人;她丈夫受她支配，但極不願就這樣受她操縱。Claudius成為皇帝后不久，梅莎利娜就生下了他們的兒子Britannicus，他是最有可能成為Claudius繼承人的人。

Messalina ruthlessly tried to eliminate potential rivals—including Agrippina and her son Nero—through gossip, exile, and even murder. Messalina would eventually be undone by her numerous intrigues and affairs. The Praetorian Guard would execute her after word spread of her involvement in a plot to overthrow Claudius and make Britannicus emperor. With her rival out of the way, Agrippina smartly maneuvered to become Claudius’s next wife, unseat Britannicus as heir, and secure succession for Nero. 

梅莎利娜無情地試圖通過流言蜚語、流放甚至謀殺來消滅包括阿格里皮娜和她的兒子尼祿等潛在的王位競爭對手。不過梅莎利娜最終被她無數的陰謀詭計和風流韻事毀掉。禁衞軍在她參與密謀推翻Claudius並立Britannicus為皇帝的消息傳開後將她處死。當她的對手被趕下台後，阿格里皮娜就巧妙地成為了Claudius的下一任妻子，順便推翻了Britannicus的王位繼承權，確保了尼祿的繼承權。

On one occasion, a British king, Caratacus, together with his wife and children, were paraded in chains through the streets of the city as prisoners of war. They were finally brought before Claudius to beg for mercy. Enthroned on a dais, surrounded by praetors, the emperor was moved to hear the speech of the condemned man, spared him and his family, and set them free. Caratacus thanked the emperor and then went before Agrippina, seated in a separate gallery, and thanked her too. 

有一次，作為戰俘，英國國王Caratacus及其妻子兒女被銬着鎖鏈去遊街示眾。最後他們被帶到Claudius面前乞求寬恕。皇帝坐在由裁判官簇擁的高台上，聽了那個死刑犯的講話，深受感動，於是赦免了他和他的家人，釋放了他們。Caratacus感謝了皇帝，然後走到坐在另一個走廊上的阿格里皮娜面前，也感謝了她。

“It was an innovation, certainly, and one without precedent in ancient custom, that a woman should sit in state before Roman standards: it was the advertisement of her claim to a partnership in the empire which her ancestors had created,” wrote Tacitus.

塔西佗後來寫道:“女人出現在如此莊重的場合，這是走在羅馬慣例的前端的，這當然是一種創新，因為在古代的習俗中是沒有先例的。這是一個廣告，表明她有權在她的祖先所建立的帝國中享有一種合作關係的廣告。”

Agrippina’s own history, shaped by violent power struggles, prompted her to plan for her son’s ascent to the imperial throne with as little violence as possible. She knew that the road to power was not straightforward given that Claudius already had a biological son named Britannicus. The empress knew it was important to establish in people’s minds that Nero, and not Britannicus, was the obvious successor.

阿格里皮娜自己深受暴力權力鬥爭影響的經歷，促使她為兒子登上皇位制定計劃中儘量減少了暴力衝突。她知道通往權力的道路並不簡單，因為Claudius當時已經有了一個名叫Britannicus親生的兒子。皇后知道，重要的是要讓人們相信尼祿才是顯而易見的繼承人，而不是Britannicus。

Agrippina worked behind the scenes to ensure this outcome. Agrippina made it a condition of her marriage to Claudius, that Nero would marry Octavia, Claudius’s youngest daughter. Nero appeared in public with the imperial couple and was showered with commission and honors. As a last step he became the emperor’s legally adopted son. Nero’s preeminence over Claudius’s younger son, Britannicus, was assured.

阿格里皮娜通過幕後操縱確保了這一結果。阿格里皮娜自己嫁給克勞迪斯的條件之一，就是尼祿要娶Claudius最小的女兒Octavia。後來當尼祿帶着皇家女婿的身份出現在公眾面前時，果然受到了大量的委任和榮譽。最終，他成為了皇帝合法的養子。尼祿與Claudius的小兒子Britannicus相比之下，其優勢是毋庸置疑的。

Claudius’s health was generally poor and a death by natural causes would have been quite plausible. Even so, many blamed the emperor’s death in A.D. 54 on Agrippina and theorized that she ordered him to be poisoned to ensure he would not rescind the commitment to pass the throne to Nero. No proof of Agrippina’s involvement exists, but the story has stuck.

Claudius的健康狀況很差，所以自然死亡是很有可能的。即便如此，許多人仍將公元54年Claudius皇帝的死歸咎於阿格里皮娜，並推測是她下令毒死皇帝，以確保他不會取消將王位傳給尼祿的承諾。雖然沒有證據證明阿格里皮娜參與其中，但這個故事一直在流傳。

Mother and son

母親和兒子

Soon after Claudius’s death, Agrippina acted quickly. Within just a few hours, the teenaged Nero was being acclaimed emperor by the army and the Senate. His close relationship with his mother was well known and well scrutinized. Suetonius related how Nero announced during his funeral oration for Claudius that Agrippina would be taking over his public and private affairs.

Claudius死後不久，阿格里皮娜迅速採取行動。僅僅幾個小時之內，少年尼祿就被軍隊和元老院擁立為皇帝。他與母親的親密關係是眾所周知的，也受到密切關注。Suetonius講述了尼祿在他為Claudius的葬禮致辭中宣佈阿格里皮娜將接管他的公共和私人事務。

An interesting detail: “On the day of his accession the password he gave to the colonel on duty was ‘The Best of Mothers’; and she and he often rode out together through the streets in her litter.” Rumors that the two were incestuously involved were reported by historians as well.

一個有趣的細節是:“在他即位的那天，他給值班上校的口令是‘最好的母親’;她和他經常一起坐着她的轎子穿過街道。”歷史學家也曾報道過兩人亂倫的傳聞。

Agrippina’s influence and Nero’s gratitude would wane over time. Nero’s advisers Seneca and Burrus, who had been appointed by Agrippina, now held newfound power and used it to sideline her. Far from accepting her new role, Agrippina tried, unsuccessfully, to continue to influence her son.

阿格里皮娜的影響力和尼祿對她的感激之情會隨着時間的推移而減弱。尼祿的顧問Seneca和Burrus原本都是由阿格里皮娜任命的，後來他們掌握了新的權力，並利用手中的權力排擠她。不過阿格里皮娜非但沒有接受她的新角色，反而試圖繼續影響她的兒子，但沒有成功。

He enjoyed popularity at the start of his reign, but things would start to unravel. Familial tensions would increase over politics and Nero’s choice of companions. The already unbearable tension between mother and son was compounded when Nero had Britannicus assassinated.

尼祿在執政之初廣受歡迎，但事情後來開始走下坡路。由於政治活動和尼祿選擇夥伴的問題上，他們家族內部的緊張關係加劇。當尼祿派人暗殺Britannicus時，母子之間本已難以忍受的緊張關係更加惡化了。

According to sources, the ship that Nero provided Agrippina was designed to sink—and it did. Nero, however, had underestimated his mother being a proficient swimmer. 19th-century oil painting by Gustav Wertheimer

據消息人士透露，尼祿提供給阿格里皮娜的那艘船就是為了沉沒而設計的，而且它也確實沉沒了。然而，尼祿低估了他的母親是一個熟練的游泳好手的本事。

Within a year of Nero becoming emperor, Agrippina was ordered to leave the imperial residence and relocated to an estate in Misenum. She had been cast out from the inner circle of power, but she was not safe from her son. Nero tried to drown her by sabotaging a boat, but she survived. Undeterred, Nero sent assassins to the villa where Agrippina had taken refuge and had her murdered there in A.D. 59.

在尼祿成為皇帝的一年內，阿格里皮娜被命令離開帝國官邸，並搬遷到Misenum的一個莊園。她被逐出了核心權力集團，但在其兒子眼皮底下的她並不安全。尼祿企圖破壞小船淹死她，但她活了下來。尼祿並沒有被嚇住，他派刺客來到阿格里皮娜藏身的別墅，並在公元59年將她殺害。

There were no funeral honors. To cover up the matricide, Nero and his advisers crafted a misogynistic cover story, attributing various crimes to her, according to Tacitus, that included, “[aiming] at a share of empire, and at inducing the praetorian cohorts to swear obedience to a woman, to the disgrace of the Senate and people.” Her reputation lay shattered, and her birthday would be classed as an inauspicious day.

阿格里皮娜死後沒有葬禮上的榮譽。為了掩蓋弒母之舉，尼祿和他的顧問們精心製作了一個歧視女性的封面故事。根據塔西佗的説法，尼祿聲稱阿格里皮娜犯下了各種罪行，包括“(瞄準)帝國的一部分和引誘禁衞軍成為其追隨者，並説這是元老院和人民的恥辱。” 自此，阿格里皮娜的名聲被毀了，她的生日也被歸為不吉利的一天。

Despite the innuendos and criticisms, begrudging respect for Agrippina was expressed by some Roman historians. Tacitus wrote: “This was the end which Agrippina had anticipated for years. The prospect had not daunted her. When she asked astrologers about Nero, they had answered that he would become emperor but kill his mother. Her reply was, ‘Let him kill me—provided he becomes emperor!’”

儘管也有影射和批評，一些羅馬歷史學家還是表達了對阿格里皮娜的勉強尊重。塔西佗寫道:“這是阿格里皮娜多年前就預料到的結局。但是這前景並沒有使她氣餒。當她問占星家關於尼祿的事時，他們的回答是，他會成為皇帝，但會殺死他的母親。她的回答是:“那就讓他殺了我吧，只要他能當上皇帝!”’”