Agrippina’s attempted removal of Emperor Gaius which (Ledbetter) considers a failed experiment was to ensure Nero’s ascension as Emperor and to gain influence for herself. This plan led to exile for Agrippina yet her willingness and ambition to interfere with the Judio-Claudian line and gain influence was shown. After the death of Messalina Claudius chose Agrippina as his wife, for the first time Agrippina had political influence in Rome and began her plan to manipulate the line of succession, according to Tacitus she devoted herself to scheming for her son. Agrippina’s influence emerged mainly from her relationships with Seneca and Burrus who enabled her to ascend her power. Agrippina’s influence is clearly shown through her decision to recall the exiled
Who was Julia Agrippina? Julia Agrippina (Agrippina the younger) was a Roman Empress. She was the great granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, great niece and adopted granddaughter of the Emperor of Tiberius, sister of the emperor Caligula. She was niece and fourth wife of the emperor Claudius and mother of Nero. Julia Agrippina was and has been described by ancient and modern sources as ruthless, ambitious, violent and domineering.
Accounts differ greatly, but the results are the same, Claudius is dead and Agrippina’s son became Emperor. ‘…the fact remains that the death of Claudius certainly did not happen just by chance to complete a carefully laid plan and that Agrippina was not the woman to be deterred by scruples from putting the finishing touches to her work.’ Agrippina wanted her son to be emperor, thereby increasing her own power and influence. The highly suspicious and transparent way in which she got rid of Claudius lead many of the senate, even those who supported her, to be wary. ‘Agrippina with unscrupulous skill had so prepared the way for her sixteen-year-old son that the transference of power from Claudius to Nero was
Queen Hatshepsut Cathy Villa Professor Volpe HUM100 Keiser University Queen Hatshepsut Queen Hatshepsut was known as the first woman to be declared king by the priests of Amun. It is a mystery as to why after her death her remains still seem to conclusively not found. Queen Hatshepsut was indeed a woman; however her sculptures depict a different look as she was disguised as a man always wearing a false beard which was the traditional symbol of the king’s power and majesty. The reason Hatshepsut became Queen was because she married her half brother Thutmose II. When her husband died his son Thutmose III became next to the throne but because he was a baby Hatshepsut became co-ruler of Egypt.
Agrippina The Younger, a sister, mother, niece and wife of three separate Roman Emperors had numerous reasons behind her death in AD 59, all of which stemmed from the deterioration of her relationship with her son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero), the emperor of Rome during Agrippina’s downfall. Agrippina The Younger played a crucial role in Nero’s ascension on October 13th, AD64, her marriage to Emperor Claudius allowing her to pursuer her major ambition of securing Nero’s ascension to the throne, and thus, achieve a seemingly limitless power as chief advisor and mother to a young emperor upon Nero’s ascension in AD54. Upon his ascension to the throne, Nero made his first act, a speech at the Guards’ camp at which he gave the Praetorian Guard password, “optima mata”, meaning “the best of mothers”. It is from this that the personal relationship between Agrippina and Nero is evident, yet as Nero’s reign continued, the mother-son relationship slowly began to deteriorate. The reasons for Agrippina’s death began when her influence on Nero became challenged from every angle.
In 49 B.C. Ptolemy XII drove his sister and wife from the throne. Thirsty to win it back, Cleopatra used her charm to get the help of Julius Caesar who was in Egypt at the time. With his help, they removed her brother from the throne and had him killed. Cleopatra was then restored to her Egyptian throne as a joint ruler with her youngest brother Ptolemy XIII.
ANCIENT ROMAN WOMEN Roman aristocratic women influenced politics, but they could not serve as magistrates, senators, or military commanders. During the empire, the wives of emperors began to wield more power than women had ever held before. Livia, the wife of Augustus, advised her husband for 51 years of marriage before living her last 15 years under the rule of her son, Tiberius. She was deeply devoted to her husband and family and only appeared in public to display the virtues of a Roman matron, which included chastity, modesty, frugality, loyalty, and dignity. Behind the scenes, Livia and Augustus were extremely close, and she played a part in his important decisions, although some sources unfairly portray her as the
This is so as, girls saw her as their idol and remained in mind the fact that it’s possible even for a woman to do anything she wants if she has the will and the education to do it. The bad side of it as, both times she was in office, she was removed by former presidents Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Farooq Leghari respectively, both times on corruption charges. As Bhutto was assassinated shortly before the
A Woman’s Portrayal in “To the Troops at Tilbury”, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, and The Tragedy of Mariam As the Renaissance began, we find that, much like the ancient days, women gain and then lose rights as the historical and political faces of Europe change. Even during Queen Elizabeth’s rule, as the de facto King of England, she was forced to uphold the standards given to a woman during the time. However, as we see in her speech “To the Troops at Tilbury” Queen Elizabeth also blurred the lines of masculinity and femininity as she to the role of a true king and all the masculine responsibility and strength that came with the title. As a male writer Shakespeare was able to quietly ask for change in society’s view of women in his satirical sonnet 130. Throughout the entire sonnet he mocks the ideas of women’s perfection in the Renaissance, and shows that no woman is perfect.
HATSHEPSUT: THE QUEEN WHO WISHED TO BE KING. Hatshepsut is today remembered as being the evil step-mother of Thutmose III, the woman who manipulated her people by using propaganda and became pharaoh after letting the idea of power get to her head. History is frequently misinterpreted as the truth is often forgotten to make way for the more ‘interesting’ version of the story, which is then usually made up of very little truths. The fictitious side of stories is what is remembered by many people, whilst the reality is seldom told or known. Throughout time Hatshepsut has been unfairly portrayed as being manipulative and power-hungry however a revision of the sources show Hatshepsut as being one of the most effective rulers Egypt had ever seen.