Agrippina: Villain as Victim

Описание: In this lecture, we think about the figure of Nero’s mother, Agrippina, in Books 13 and 14 of Tacitus’ Annals, focusing in particular on: (i) the figure of Agrippina generally: her dynastic position (sister of Caligula, niece/wife of Claudius, mother of Nero) and her political power; (ii) her fading influence in Book 13, including her complete absence from the second half of the book; (iii) her murder in Book 14, including the nobility of her death; (iv) her status as a tyrant who wants to hold on to power at all costs; (v) her greed and sexual deviancy; and (vi) the extent to which Tacitus’ portrait of Agrippina is historically accurate.

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This lecture is part of a larger course exploring Books 13-14 of Tacitus’ Annals, focusing in particular on Nero’s murder of his mother, Agrippina. The full course can be found here: https://massolit.io/courses/tacitus-a...

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MASSOLIT works with university academics to produce short video lectures in the arts, sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is available to schools and colleges on an institutional license as well as via private subscription: https://www.massolit.io/?source=yt