DOCSLIB.ORG

While Rome Burns Episode 13 – the Rise and Fall of Agrippina the Younger

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
While Rome Burns Episode 13 – the Rise and Fall of Agrippina the Younger While Rome Burns Episode 13 – The Rise and Fall of Agrippina The Younger We started this season with a look at the Great Fire of Rome and put forward some of the theories regarding whether or not Nero was indeed to blame for the Great Fire. We also covered the death of Nero and the end of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. We shall now end season 1 of While Rome Burns with a portrait of the woman who gave birth to Nero. We will take a look at her unlikely rise to power in the imperial court and her tragically sad downfall at the hands of her own son. Today’s story is about Julia Agrippina, also known as Agrippina the Younger. Sit Back, Relax, and Let me tell you a story… While Rome Burns. Julia Agrippina was born into the Julio-Claudian dynasty in either 14 or 15 CE, sources differ. She was the fourth child and first daughter of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus Julius Caesar. Agrippina the Younger also had 2 younger sisters and her brother was the future emperor Gaius Caligula. Needless to say, when she was born, her future seemed bright and full of the comforts afforded to an imperial princess. She grew up and spent most of her early childhood in Germany, travelling through the Roman frontier with her parents and living in the legion camp. Eventually, she was sent to Rome to live with her grandparents, joined by her other sisters. The first major heartbreak in her life came when she was just 4 or 5, when her father, Germanicus, was killed in Anatolia, modern day Turkey in October of 19 CE. Germanicus’ death sent shockwaves of grief through the people of Rome, as he was a well-liked and admired Roman citizen. It is rumored that it was this affection by the mob that motivated Tiberius to order the murder of Germanicus, though it cannot be 100% verified whether this is what happened. The Young Agrippina then spent the next 8 to 9 years living with her mother, Agrippina the Elder, Her paternal grandmother, Antonia Minor, and her great-grandmother, Livia, the widow of Augustus. These years were the most influential on her, as this was when she learned at a young age how to survive the intrigues and plots that constantly took place in the imperial court. In 28 CE, she was betrothed to the Roman Praetor Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, more commonly known as Domitius. This would eventually be the source of another heartbreak for Agrippina the Younger. After roughly 9 years of marriage, Agrippina gave birth to her and Domitius’ son, Nero, the future Emperor. When Nero was born, some imperial astrologers allegedly prophesied that Nero would become Emperor but kill his mother. Agrippina is supposed to have responded by saying “Let him kill me, but let him rule.” Agrippina the younger’s life wasn’t all bad news, foreboding prophecies, and murdered relatives though. In 37 CE, the emperor Tiberius died and Agrippina the Younger’s brother Gaius Caligula ascended to the imperial throne. Agrippina’s influence in court expanded vastly as did the prospects for her own son’s advancement. Caligula is said to have loved and doted upon his sisters, with some rumors from historians Cassius Dio and Seutonius expanding that love into something a bit more salacious and scandalous. However, these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt, as accusations of incest are a popular trope in Roman stories to help explain away the moral failings and despicable character of a particular figure and Caligula was nothing, if not despicable. Regardless of the true nature of their relationship, Caligula is said to have increased the prominence of his sisters at court, giving them the rights of the Vestal Virgins, including them in the coins minted during his reign, and including them in the oaths of loyalty that Roman soldiers made annually. One such loyalty oath was “I will not value my life or that of my children less highly than I do the safety of the Emperor and his sisters.” Sadly, the doting and love would not last. In 38 CE, Agrippina’s sister, Drusilla, who was Caligula’s favorite of the three sisters, died of a fever. Our sources indicate that Drusilla’s death was a turning point in Caligula’s reign and that the love and affection shown towards his other two sisters withered away. A year after the death of Drusilla, Agrippina, her younger sister Livilla, and Drusilla’s Widower Lepidus, were involved in a plot to murder Caligula and install Lepidus as the new Emperor. Unfortunately for all involved, the plot was discovered and the conspirators were placed on trial. Lepidus was executed as a result of his attempted treason, but the two sisters were exiled to small islands in the Mediterranean sea. Their treasures, slaves and freedmen were sold off and all hope of returning to the posh lifestyle of Rome evaporated before them. Nero was sent to live with an aunt after being disinherited from Tiberius’ will. Agrippina’s husband, Domitius, died shortly after their exile. In 41 CE, Caligula, his wife and daughter were all murdered by the praetorian guard and Agrippina’s uncle Claudius was installed as the new Emperor. Claudius wanted to strike a different tone to the one that Caligula had struck and set about reversing some of the decisions and orders that Caligula had made during his rule. One such order was that the Exiled Livilla and Agrippina be returned to Rome and their wealth and prosperity restored to them. After just a few short years away, Agrippina was back in Rome, reunited with her sister and her son, and back in the halls of power. She soon remarried to a prominent Roman named Crispus, who died shortly after their marriage and left his vast estate and wealth to Nero. Agrippina again found marriage, this time to the Emperor himself. She was married to her uncle Claudius in 49 CE. Publicly this would have been scandalous, due to the familial nature of their relationship and the marriage was condemned by huge swaths of the Roman public, for good reason. But this marriage was based not on any love or affection between the two imperial house members, it was instead based on power, for Agrippina had her sights set on the Throne itself. Agrippina the Younger, after marrying Claudius, set about removing her rivals at court. A prominent Praetor named Junius Silanus was one of her first victims, along with the third wife and former consort of her brother Caligula, Lollia Paulina. Agrippina then made herself indispensable to Claudius. She became his most trusted advisor and was even given the right to make decisions on behalf of the empire. She listened in on meetings of the senate, entertained foreign dignitaries, and even had a Roman colony named after her, Agrippinensium. In 54 CE, Claudius died and the seat of power shifted to Agrippina’s son, Nero. Technically, according to Claudius’ will, Nero was supposed to rule Jointly along with Claudius’ son Britannicus. However, the will was set aside after the death of Claudius and Nero was installed as sole ruler of Rome. Nero was only 16 at the time of his ascendency, meaning that Rome now had a boy-Emperor. As history has shown us far too often, a young child placed in power before their time is a prime target for manipulation and Agrippina saw her chance. Agrippina knew that she could not rule the Roman world in her own name, based on the views that people in ancient Rome had about women, but luckily through her son, she could wield the same power and influence that she had had over Claudius. For the first year, Agrippina got her exact wish. She almost single-handedly ruled over the Roman Empire, making decisions for the emperor, giving out orders, holding court with foreign diplomats. She continued attending meetings of the Senate and appeared on the same side of the Roman coins as The Emperor himself, a place of significant honor and prestige. But unfortunately, like so many times before in Agrippina’s life, the good times could not last. After the first year of his Rule, Agrippina became critical of an affair that Nero had begun to have with a freedwoman by the name of Claudia Acte. Eventually, the disapproval became so overwhelming that Agrippina tried to flex her imperial influence over Nero by implying that perhaps Britannicus should rule instead of Nero. She began showing Britannicus favor at Rome and implied that what had been done with the setting aside of Claudius’ will, could be undone. Shortly after she started showing these affections toward Britannicus the unfortunate man was poisoned at a public banquet, with Nero continuing to eat and remarking that Britannicus was just having a fit. Later in 56 CE, Agrippina was forced to leave the imperial palace but still exercised some influence over public matters, though she was eventually eclipsed at court by other influential forces. In 58 CE, she was involved in a plot to overthrow Nero, but only succeeded in ruining his popularity by revealing his affair with another Roman noblewoman, Poppaea Sabina. The final heartbreak of Agrippina’s life and the fulfillment of the prophecy made when her son, Nero was born, finally came in March of 59 CE. Nero had grown tired of his mother’s influence at court. He wished to continue his studies as a musician, he wished to divorce his wife and marry Poppaea Sabina.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Women in Criminal Trials in the Julio-Claudian Era
    Women in Criminal Trials in the Julio-Claudian Era by Tracy Lynn Deline B.A., University of Saskatchewan, 1994 M.A., University of Saskatchewan, 2001 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Classics) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2009 © Tracy Lynn Deline, 2009 Abstract This study focuses on the intersection of three general areas: elite Roman women, criminal law, and Julio-Claudian politics. Chapter one provides background material on the literary and legal source material used in this study and considers the cases of Augustus’ daughter and granddaughter as a backdrop to the legal and political thinking that follows. The remainder of the dissertation is divided according to women’s roles in criminal trials. Chapter two, encompassing the largest body of evidence, addresses the role of women as defendants, and this chapter is split into three thematic parts that concentrate on charges of adultery, treason, and other crimes. A recurring question is whether the defendants were indicted for reasons specific to them or the indictments were meant to injure their male family members politically. Analysis of these cases reveals that most of the accused women suffered harm without the damage being shared by their male family members. Chapter three considers that a handful of powerful women also filled the role of prosecutor, a role technically denied to them under the law. Resourceful and powerful imperial women like Messalina and Agrippina found ways to use criminal accusations to remove political enemies. Chapter four investigates women in the role of witnesses in criminal trials.
    [Show full text]
  • Let's Review Text Structure!
    Grade 6 Day 18 ELA q I Grade 6 Day 18 ELA Grade 6 Day 18 ELA W o Grade 6 Bearcat Day 18 Math pl Grade 6 Bearcat Day 18 Math P2 Grade 6 Bearcat Day 18 Math 173 Grade 6 Bearcat Day 18 Math 104 Grade 6 Day 18 Science pl Grade 6 Day 18 Science P2 Grade 6 Day 18 Science 123 Question for you to turn in. Describe how processes were used to form a landform. Use vocabulary and evidence from the passage to support your answer. RACE. Grade 6 Day 18 Social Studies Grade 6 Day 18 Social Studies to . I ] l n n t t e o o r n n m i i i t r r t t a a p t t h e e a a . r r m h h 1 o o m m t t E r r 0 p p O O e o o n s f f m m r n a i i i l n n o i i r m e e o m p i R t / l m ? ? d d e l l a l l E e e h a a , ci s s T f f s e u u n n n a a m o sp w w o i C C r o o s/ f t t ct t n D D a a e n a s h h s s e i i t m e W W h h n o h r t / co s o t e d r i n n s s p o a i e e e e t i i m s v v n e p r r m m / e i l t e e e e g t c r s s n n a e e o o l E E R R e s.
    [Show full text]
  • How Nasty Was Nero, Really? the Notorious Emperor Appears to Have Been the Subject of a Smear Campaign
    The Ancient World June 14, 2021 Issue How Nasty Was Nero, Really? The notorious emperor appears to have been the subject of a smear campaign. By Rebecca Mead June 7, 2021 A show at the British Museum offers a less sensationalist account of Nero’s reign.Illustration by Bendik Kaltenborn • Nero, who was enthroned in Rome in 54 A.D., at the age of sixteen, and went on to rule for nearly a decade and a half, developed a reputation for tyranny, murderous cruelty, and decadence that has survived for nearly two thousand years. According to various Roman historians, he commissioned the assassination of Agrippina the Younger—his mother and sometime lover. He sought to poison her, then to have her crushed by a falling ceiling or drowned in a self-sinking boat, before ultimately having her murder disguised as a suicide. Nero was betrothed at eleven and married at fifteen, to his adoptive stepsister, Claudia Octavia, the daughter of the emperor Claudius. At the age of twenty-four, Nero divorced her, banished her, ordered her bound with her wrists slit, and had her suffocated in a steam bath. He received her decapitated head when it was delivered to his court. He also murdered his second wife, the noblewoman Poppaea Sabina, by kicking her in the belly while she was pregnant. Nero’s profligacy went beyond slaughtering his nearest and dearest. He spent a fortune building an ornate palace, only to have it burn down, along with the rest of the city of Rome, in a conflagration that lasted for more than a week.
    [Show full text]
  • Heirs and Rivals to Nero Robert Samuel Rogers Transactions And
    Heirs and Rivals to Nero Robert Samuel Rogers Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 86. (1955), pp. 190-212. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0065-9711%281955%2986%3C190%3AHARTN%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association is currently published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/jhup.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Sat Feb 2 02:48:56 2008 XIV.
    [Show full text]
  • The Temple and Birthplace of Diva Poppaea*
    Classical Quarterly 60.2 559–568 (2010) Printed in Great Britain 559 doi:10.1017/S0009838810000121PATRICK KRAGELUND THE TEMPLE AND BIRTHPLACE OF DIVA POPPAEA THE TEMPLE AND BIRTHPLACE OF DIVA POPPAEA* On detection of the Pisonian conspiracy, in April 65, Nero promptly despatched a tribune to order Seneca’s suicide. Hardly by coincidence, it is on this occasion that Tacitus has Poppaea1 make her final live appearance as vigilant member of the emperor’s ‘intimate council of cruelties’. An officially grateful, in fact terrorized, Senate subsequently voted that the month witnessing these cruelties henceforth be named Neroneus. From the height of such glories, the fall was sudden. Only a few months later the House was summoned to vote more sombre honours, the public burial and subsequent deification of Poppaea herself.2 Scornful of the recipient, Tacitus dwells on the perfumed excess of Poppaea’s burial and wastes little time on the particulars of her, in any case short-lived, status as a diua. For this latter aspect the main evidence comes from a strangely neglected excerpt from Dio that will be the centre of focus here. According to this passage, Diva Poppaea was posthumously venerated in a temple that Nero officially inaugurated in the spring of 68, little more than two months before his fall. As its pedimental inscription declared, the shrine had been financed and dedicated by the ‘women’, possibly Rome’s ordo matronarum or some such body; in any case Poppaea was here receiving homage as ‘the goddess Sabina-Venus’ (Σαβίνα … θεά Ἀφροδίτη), Dio (who persistently refers to Poppaea as Sabina) here probably offering a Greek-style rendering of a Latin dedication to VENVS POPPAEA.3 For the moment leaving aside where this temple was located, Dio’s note is, when seen on its own, variously instructive, firstly, because it shows that there was a close link between Poppaea and Venus, perhaps while she was still alive, but certainly when deified.
    [Show full text]
  • Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger)
    LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA (SENECA THE YOUNGER) “NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Seneca the Younger HDT WHAT? INDEX SENECA THE YOUNGER SENECA THE YOUNGER 147 BCE August 4: On this date the comet that had passed by the sun on June 28th should have been closest to the earth, but we have no dated record of it being seen at this point. The only Western record of observation of this particular periodic comet is one that happens to come down to us by way of Seneca the Younger, of a bright reddish comet as big as the sun that had been seen after the death of the king of Syria, Demetrius, just a little while before the Greek Achaean war (which had begun in 146 BCE). ASTRONOMY HDT WHAT? INDEX SENECA THE YOUNGER SENECA THE YOUNGER 2 BCE At about this point Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born as the 2d son of a wealthy Roman family on the Iberian peninsula. The father, Seneca the Elder (circa 60BCE-37CE) had become famous as a teacher of rhetoric in Rome. An aunt would take the boy to Rome where he would be trained as an orator and educated in philosophy. In poor health, he would recuperate in the warmth of Egypt. SENECA THE YOUNGER HDT WHAT? INDEX SENECA THE YOUNGER SENECA THE YOUNGER 31 CE Lucius Aelius Sejanus was made a consul, and obtained the permission he has been requesting for a long time, to get married with Drusus’ widow Livilla.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pseudo-Senecan Seneca on the Good Old Days: the Motif of the Golden Age in the Octavia
    The Pseudo-Senecan Seneca on the Good Old Days: The Motif of the Golden Age in the Octavia Oliver Schwazer I. Introduction In his fabula praetexta entitled Octavia, the playwright stages the historical events that occurred during the reign of the last Julio-Claudian emperor in 62 CE.1 Following the divorce from his wife Octavia and re-marriage to another woman, Poppaea Sabina, the emperor gives the order for the former to be exiled. Neither a thorough dispute with his advisor Seneca2 nor the interventions of the pro-Octavia Chorus of Romans can deter Nero from his decision to put down the riots amongst the populace by using the sentence of Octavia as a warning.3 For a number of reasons, the Octavia has always been one of the most intriguing and in many ways most controversial pieces of Latin literature. While the fact that this play has been almost fully preserved can be regarded as extremely gratifying, not least because it stands in contrast to the number of praetextae known to us from no more than a few fragments, or even just one, it is particularly its textual transmission that has overshadowed scholarly dispute. Due to its sharp opposition to the eight mythological plays — excluding the Hercules Oetaeus of doubtful authorship — doubts have been raised about the assumption that the Octavia has been transmitted in manuscripts along with the tragedies now unanimously assigned to Seneca the Younger. To many researchers it seems inconceivable that the earlier advisor and later adversary of Nero would choose to appear as a dramatis persona on stage, particularly in a play where the contemporary emperor was presented in such a disreputable light.
    [Show full text]
  • Two Wives of Nero: a Political and Prosopographical Study
    TWO WIVES OF NERO: A POLITICAL AND PROSOPOGRAPHICAL STUDY by ROBERT N. S. PARKER A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.A. Department of Classics McGill University July 1986 Montr~al © R. N. S. Parker, 1986 ABSTRACT In the course of his reign, the Emperor Nero was married to three wives in succession. Since a number of women are known to have been politically active during the late Republic and early Empire, it is possible that Nero's wives also exerted political pressure on him. Relying primarily on the best source for the Neronian Principate, Tacitus' Annals XIII-XVI, this thesis will give an account of the evidence pre­ sented for the lives of the only two wives of Nero with whom Tacitus deals, Claudia Octavia and Poppaea Sabina. There follows, in addition, an estimation of Tacitus• judgment of their lives in light of his general view of women. It will be demonstrated that although both women had the necessary means to mount political pressure, only Poppaea took advantage of her position. ii c RESUME Pendant son regne l 'empereur N~ron s'est mari~ successivement a trois femmes. Avec l'av~nement a Rome d'un certain nombre de femmes politiquement actives~ au cours de cette ~poque, il est permis de pr~tendre que les ~pauses de N~ron ont ~t~ dans la position d'exercer sur celui-ci des pressions politi­ ques. Bas~e principalement sur la plus importante source issue du principat de N~ron, soit les Annales XIII-XVI de Tacite~ la pr~sente th@se a pour objet de faire un expos~ sur 1 '~vidence de la vie de Claudia Octavie et celle-la de Popp~e Sabina~ qui ~taient les seules ~pauses de N~ron, que.Tacite a trait~e dans son oeuvre.
    [Show full text]
  • Accessories to Power: Imperial Women's Dress, Adornments, And
    Accessories to Power: Imperial Women’s Dress, Adornments, and Attributes in Art and Text Lisette Joy Cockell Bachelor of Arts (Hons) A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2015 School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry Abstract This thesis investigates the use of accessories, namely adornments and attributes, in the imagery of imperial women from Livia to Julia Soaemias in literary and visual sources. Sartorial accessories were an important means of distinguishing an individual’s place and behaviour within Roman society. Although Roman women did not possess particular items which denoted rank in the same manner that men did, their attire was still treated, especially in literature, as a means of distinguishing one type of woman from another – frequently chaste, austere matrons from women that were frivolous and dissolute in their morals. Jewellery was one particular type of accessory which garnered a great deal of interest from Roman writers, who often associated it with women who acted in a manner that transgressed social expectations, either by lacking fidelity (to their husbands or to the state), or by favouring fashion over their traditional duties. However close reading of texts, especially imperial biographies such as Suetonius’s Lives and the Historia Augusta, reveals that jewellery and similar adornment was mentioned in relation to imperial women in a number of contexts that did not always portray the wearer in a negative fashion. By drawing upon various topoi which involved jewellery and clothing more generally, writers could characterise not only the woman who was thus adorned, but invariably also the emperor with whom she was associated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Annals of Imperial Rome
    The Annals of Imperial Rome 321 The Annals of Imperial Rome Tacitus (A.D. c.56-c.120), the greatest of the Roman historians, chronicles the early Roman Empire, from the death of the first emperor Augustus (in A.D. 14) up to the years of the First Jewish-Roman War (A.D. 63-73). The Annals is his final work. It portrays the pathological souls of tyrants, the psychology of power politics, and the preciousness and precariousness of liberty. 323 Tacitus Book I The city of Rome was originally in the hands of kings; liberty and the consulship were instituted by Lucius Brutus. Dictatorships were as- sumed temporarily. The Board of Ten did not exercise control beyond a two-year period, nor was the military tribunes’ consular authority long prevalent. Neither Cinna’s regime nor Sulla’s was lengthy. The power of Pompey and Crassus quickly gave way to Caesar, likewise the armies of Lepidus and Antony to Augustus, who as ‘first citizen’ re- ceived everything, weary as it was from civil strife, into his command. For the Roman people of old – their successes and misfortunes – writ- ers of renown produced a record, and the tale of Augustus’ times did not lack reputable talents until the spread of flattery proved a deter- rent. The affairs of Tiberius and Gaius, Claudius and Nero, in their prosperity, were falsified through fear and after their fall were written with hatreds still fresh. Thus my plan is to report a few final things about Augustus, then Tiberius’ principate and the rest, without anger or favour, from whose causes I consider myself distant.
    [Show full text]
  • UCC Library and UCC Researchers Have Made This Item Openly Available. Please Let Us Know How This Has Helped You. Thanks! Downlo
    UCC Library and UCC researchers have made this item openly available. Please let us know how this has helped you. Thanks! Title Nero and Sporus Author(s) Woods, David Publication date 2009 Original citation Woods, D., 2009. Nero and Sporus. Latomus Revue d'etudes latines, 68(1), pp. 73-82. Type of publication Article (peer-reviewed) Link to publisher's http://users.belgacom.net/latomus/revue.html version Access to the full text of the published version may require a subscription. Item downloaded http://hdl.handle.net/10468/33 from Downloaded on 2021-09-29T01:50:41Z Nero and Sporus The purpose of this paper is to propose a new understanding of the relation - ship between Nero and the young freedman Sporus whom he apparently ‘mar - ried’ sometime during his tour of Greece in AD 66-67. It is generally assumed at present that Nero was motivated by lust, if not love, in this relationship ( 1). This understanding of the relationship assumes that Dio preserves a full and correct explanation of his behaviour when he claims that Nero treated Sporus as he did because of his resemblance to his wife Poppaea Sabina whom he had acciden - tally killed in AD 65 : Kaì ouçtw ge au¬tæn o™ Nérwn e p¬ ójhsen wçste metà tòn jánaton au¬tñv tà mèn prøta gunaîká tina prosferñ oi™ majån ou®san metepémyato kaì e s¢ cen, e p¢ eita kaì paîda a¬peleújeron, oÇn Spóron w¬nómazen, e k¬ te mån, e¬peidæ kaì au¬tòv tñıSıab ínhıp roseåıeki, tá te a¢lla w™v gunaikì au¬tœıe c ¬ rñto kaì proïóntov toû crónou kaì e g¢ hmen au¬tón, kaíper Pujagóraıti nì e x¬ eleujérwıge gamhménov, kaì proîka au¬tøıka tà suggrafæn e¢neime, kaì toùv gámouv sføn dhmosíaıo iç te a¢lloi kaì au¬toì oi™ ¿Rwmaîoi e™årtasan.
    [Show full text]
  • Nero Claudius Caesar (Nero) - the Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume 6
    Nero Claudius Caesar (Nero) - The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Volume 6. C. Suetonius Tranquillus Project Gutenberg's Nero Claudius Caesar (Nero), by C. Suetonius Tranquillus This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Nero Claudius Caesar (Nero) The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Volume 6. Author: C. Suetonius Tranquillus Release Date: December 13, 2004 [EBook #6391] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NERO CLAUDIUS CAESAR *** Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger THE LIVES OF THE TWELVE CAESARS By C. Suetonius Tranquillus; To which are added, HIS LIVES OF THE GRAMMARIANS, RHETORICIANS, AND POETS. The Translation of Alexander Thomson, M.D. revised and corrected by T.Forester, Esq., A.M. Livros Grátis http://www.livrosgratis.com.br Milhares de livros grátis para download. NERO CLAUDIUS CAESAR. (337) I. Two celebrated families, the Calvini and Aenobarbi, sprung from the race of the Domitii. The Aenobarbi derive both their extraction and their cognomen from one Lucius Domitius, of whom we have this tradition: --As he was returning out of the country to Rome, he was met by two young men of a most august appearance, who desired him to announce to the senate and people a victory, of which no certain intelligence had yet reached the city. To prove that they were more than mortals, they stroked his cheeks, and thus changed his hair, which was black, to a bright colour, resembling that of brass; which mark of distinction descended to his posterity, for they had generally red beards.
    [Show full text]