Why Was Emperor Nero's Mother so Cruel?

In history, Agrippina will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most ambitious woman from the ancient world.

Roman Empress Julia Agrippina, also known as Agrippina the Younger, lived from A.D. 15 to 59. The daughter of Germanicus Caesar and Vipsania Agrippina, Julia Agrippina was the sister of Emperor Caligula or Gaius.

No surprise based on the family from which she came from, Agrippina was extremely ambitious and thirsty for power and dominance.

If we take in consideration her incestus relationship with her own brother Caligula, we can conclude that her ill-ambition determination had a root cause in her very well known messed-up family.

As a result of Agrippina's marriage to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus around the year 28 A.D., she bore him a son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus who will later become know as famous Emperor Nero.

Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, her second husband, died in A.D. 41, only 8 years after they were married. The story goes that he was poisoned, by Agrippina herself.

Driven by determination and ambition, Agrippina decided that third one will be charm. She married her uncle, Emperor Claudius and persuaded him to adopt her son, Nero, as his heir. With that she ensured the path for Nero to become a Roman emperor one day.

Again, Agrippina’s husband died, and she became the regent.

How powerful she was is shown by the fact that her portrait together with Nero’s was presented on golden Roman coins.

Although Agrippina thought that now she had all the power and she would use Nero as a puppet, she was very much wrong.

Nero eventually exiled Agrippina. He was exhausted from his mother’s tyranny and wanted to distance himself from her.

But soon he found out that it would not be so easy, so he decided that the only way is to get rid of her once and for all.

He organized for her boat to travel between Rome and her mansion on the island. While riding the boat, the sailor pulled the plug designed to let in the water and sink the boat. As the boat started taking in water, Agrippina jumped into the water and swam to the shore. What Nero did not count on was how skilled a swimmer Agrippina was.

Determined to erase her from his life and the arena of power, Nero sent his soldiers to murder her.

'Strike here, at the place that produced such a monster' were her last words.

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