Agrippina the Younger (15-59 CE) has pivotal roles in Tacitus鈥 and other histories of the early 海角网 empire, and during her lifetime she was celebrated by coins and sculptural installations. Review of her reception after her murder in 59 CE, however, shows her relative infrequency as a subject, as well as an unfixed, shifting persona over the centuries. This illustrated talk surveys Agrippina鈥檚 varied portrayals from Flavian times to the 20th century. In antiquity she is treated relatively benignly (even by Juvenal!) until Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio. A dynamic Agrippina emerges in Boccaccio鈥檚 Lives of Famous Women (1360s), Europe鈥檚 first 鈥渕odern鈥 collection of women鈥檚 lives. Also in that era, however, Agrippina features as an abject cadaver dissected under Nero鈥檚 gaze. Handel鈥檚 hugely popular Agrippina (1709) presents her as a canny and successful kingmaker 鈥 yet her few historical paintings objectify her as victim. The array reveals not only Tacitus鈥 nuanced impact but also enduring fear of women in power.
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