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Historical person

Agrippina the Younger

15–59

Agrippina the Younger was a great-granddaughter of Augustus, a sister of Caligula, the wife and niece of Claudius, and the mother of Nero. After surviving exile under Caligula, she returned to prominence, married Claudius in AD 49 and secured Nero’s adoption and succession.

Ancient sources accuse her of poisoning Claudius and attempting to dominate Nero’s reign, although their hostile accounts are difficult to separate from Roman prejudice against politically active women. Nero had her killed in AD 59. Agrippina the Younger was born in Cologne and died in Miseno.

In Margaret George’s The Confessions of Young Nero, when Agrippina the Younger returns from exile, she uses marriage, adoption and court influence to make her son Claudius’s heir, placing him in direct rivalry with Britannicus and binding him to Claudius’s daughter Claudia Octavia. Nero enters power at sixteen under the guidance of Seneca and Burrus, yet he must also resist his mother’s expectation that she will rule through him. In Robert Graves’ Claudius the God, its central events include the conquest of Britain, the scandals surrounding Messalina, the rise of Agrippina the Younger and the succession struggle that prepares the way for Nero. Further fictional perspectives on Agrippina the Younger can be found in Conn Iggulden’s Nero, Simon Scarrow’s Day of the Caesars, Robert Graves’ I, Claudius, David Boyle’s Roman Briton, and Simon Scarrow’s Invictus.

Periods

Periods linked to Agrippina the Younger

Imperial Rome27 BCE–476 CE Julio-Claudian Dynasty27 BCE–68 CE Reign of Claudius41–54 CE Reign of Nero54–68 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Agrippina the Younger (7 series)

Eagles of the Empire in Order

by Simon Scarrow 24 books 4.5(104,359)

The Eagles of the Empire series follows Roman soldiers Macro and Cato from the reign of Claudius into that of Nero. Their service takes them through the invasion and occupation of Britain, Mediterranean piracy, revolt, imperial court intrigue and Rome’s eastern wars, combining military campaigning with the politics…

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The Nero Trilogy in Order

by Conn Iggulden 3 books 4.4(9,216)

The Nero Trilogy recounts the rise and fall of Nero through the ambitions of his mother Agrippina and the lethal politics of the Julio-Claudian court. It begins with Nero’s childhood, follows his elevation over Britannicus and ends with revolt, imperial collapse and his death.

All books in this series

Claudius Series in Order

by Robert Graves 2 books 4.4(7,473)

The Claudius Series is Robert Graves’s two-volume fictional memoir of the Roman emperor Claudius and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. I, Claudius follows the imperial family from Augustus to Caligula through Claudius’s wary, observant voice, while Claudius the God covers his own reign and the forces that undermine it. Together…

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Vespasian in Order

by Robert Fabbri 9 books 4.4(23,435)

The Vespasian series follows Titus Flavius Vespasianus from obscure young nobleman and soldier to the imperial contender who will found the Flavian dynasty. The novels use Vespasian’s career to move through the Julio-Claudian court, frontier warfare, Britain, Armenia, North Africa, Judaea and the civil-war crisis of AD 69.…

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Political Intrigue in Ancient Rome in Order

by Paul Doherty 5 books 4.3(2,022)

Political Intrigue in Ancient Rome moves between the Julio-Claudian court and the transformed empire of Constantine I. Domina follows Agrippina the Younger’s struggle for influence as wife of Claudius and mother of Nero. The four Claudia mysteries then shift to the early fourth century, where an imperial agent…

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Nero Series in Order

by Margaret George 2 books 4.0(5,563)

Margaret George’s Nero duology reconstructs the life of Rome’s last Julio-Claudian emperor, beginning with a childhood in which imperial blood makes Nero a target and ending with the collapse of his reign. Told largely through Nero’s own perspective, the series follows his passage through the courts of Caligula…

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Caractacus in Order

by David Boyle 3 books 4.1(37)

David Boyle’s Caractacus trilogy follows the British war leader from the Roman invasion of AD 43 through resistance, capture and exile. Nor Shall My Sword Sleep introduces the crisis created by Claudius’s invasion; Crown of Thorns follows Caratacus as Roman power spreads across southern Britain; and Roman Briton…

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