Agrippina & Nero: Rulers of Rome

c. 15 CE
The Roman noblewoman Agrippina is born on November 6 in Cologne. As a granddaughter of Rome’s first emperor, Agrippina boasts impeccable noble credentials, but as a woman, she will only ever be able to attain power through the men in her life.

28
Agrippina marries the nobleman Domitius.

37
Agrippina’s brother Caligula is crowned emperor. On December 15, Agrippina’s son Nero is born.

39
Accused of conspiring against Caligula, Agrippina is banished to the Pontian Islands, a small chain of islands some 70 miles west of Naples where the mythological Sirens were said to reside.

40
Agrippina’s husband, Domitius, dies on the Italian mainland. Agrippina is still in exile.

41
Fed up with Caligula’s tyranny, a group of soldiers and senators—including Caligula’s uncle Claudius—hatches a plan to rid Rome of Caligula once and for all. While a theatrical performance takes place in the palace complex, Caligula is trapped in one of the palace’s underground passageways and killed. Claudius takes the throne. Agrippina returns to Rome.

49
Claudius marries Agrippina, who also happens to be his niece. The following year, he officially adopts Agrippina's son, Nero.

53
Nero marries Claudius’s daughter Octavia.

54
Claudius dies, allegedly after eating a mushroom that Agrippina had sprinkled with poison. Nero ascends the throne, yet contemporary historians claim that Agrippina is the one with real power, running the empire from the shadows while her son wears Rome’s crown.

55
Claudius’s biological son Britannicus dies; Nero is suspected of having him poisoned. This same year, Agrippina is accused of conspiring against Nero. She is acquitted.

59
Nero, annoyed by Agrippina’s opposition to his love affair with Poppaea Sabina (who is already married to the future emperor Otho), decides to have Agrippina murdered. According to contemporary historians, Nero arranges to have his mother set sail in a faulty boat; when the boat collapses, Agrippina swims safely to shore—only to be murdered by Nero’s henchmen when she gets there.

62
Nero falsely accuses his wife, Octavia, of having an affair. He divorces her, marries Poppaea, and then promptly has Octavia executed.

65
Poppaea dies, likely from a miscarriage, although it is rumored that her death is caused by a brutal beating from Nero.

68
Nero is overthrown in a coup. He escapes to his country villa, where he takes his own life.