0:00:04 > 0:00:08By the early first century AD, the empire founded in Rome
0:00:08 > 0:00:13by its first emperor, Augustus, had become a family enterprise.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17This great empire of the ancient world
0:00:17 > 0:00:20'has fascinated me all my working life
0:00:20 > 0:00:23'and I feel we've been misled'
0:00:23 > 0:00:27by the official and military flavour of Roman monuments and history.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38'In particular, it's long struck me that not just the ancient
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'but the modern image of Roman power is exclusively male.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:49Yet, in the imperial family's house, here, on Rome's Palatine Hill,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51'women were wielding real power.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:59The trailblazer was Augustus' wife, Livia, a supreme politician,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01power broker and manipulator.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Livia had been content to show her muscle behind the scenes
0:01:06 > 0:01:08and out of public view.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12But what if that just wasn't enough?
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Two compelling first-century personalities
0:01:15 > 0:01:19reveal what could happen when imperial women wanted more.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23One was Messalina,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27the most notorious woman of ancient Rome,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29whose reputation for sexual athleticism
0:01:29 > 0:01:32has endured down the centuries.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38The second was Agrippina, who stopped at nothing
0:01:38 > 0:01:41to achieve supreme power through her son,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44but ended up meeting her death at his hands.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Agrippina and Messalina were also vicious rivals,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55who would collide in a fatal clash of ambition.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00These two women take us into the heart of the imperial court -
0:02:00 > 0:02:04that intrigue-ridden, sexually charged and bloody arena
0:02:04 > 0:02:07in which the future of the Roman world was at stake.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35The Roman Empire was ruled by a succession of exceptional personalities,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39ranging from masterful politicians to rogues and madmen.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Among the powerful were a handful of women
0:02:44 > 0:02:47who were every bit as remarkable
0:02:47 > 0:02:51and often just as devious and ruthless as the men.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53One woman binds together
0:02:53 > 0:02:56more than two decades of Rome's first-century history,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00years which were dramatic even by the empire's eventful standards.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Because she was the sister of one emperor - Caligula.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Wife of a second - Claudius.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10And mother of a third - Nero.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Her name was Agrippina, often known as Agrippina the Younger,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19to distinguish her from her mother of the same name.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23And if she helps us to understand the nature of power in the first century,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25it's not just because she was close to it.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28She also wielded it herself.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Agrippina was born with one priceless asset.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39She could boast direct descent from Rome's first emperor -
0:03:39 > 0:03:42the divine Augustus himself.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47But Agrippina's early life was scarred by terror and tragedy.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Her father, the popular general Germanicus, and her mother
0:03:54 > 0:04:00were both victims of Rome's thuggish second emperor, Tiberius.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02But Agrippina survived.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06As was standard for Roman aristocratic women,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08at the age of around 13,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11she was married to a man of distinguished family -
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17In AD 37, aged around 21,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Agrippina gave birth to a son,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21whom we know as Nero.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28That same year, Tiberius, the emperor who'd been responsible
0:04:28 > 0:04:31for the death of Agrippina's parents, died.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The twists and turns of Rome's dynastic succession
0:04:36 > 0:04:39now offered Agrippina an opportunity.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46The new emperor, Gaius, was Agrippina's one remaining brother,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49known since boyhood by the nickname "Little Boots",
0:04:49 > 0:04:52in Latin - Caligula.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57Caligula would soon reveal himself to be highly unstable.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59According to one Roman historian,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03he even tried to make his horse a consul.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06But he began his reign with conspicuous steps
0:05:06 > 0:05:11to encourage respect for Agrippina and his other sisters.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Caligula altered the oath of allegiance to the emperor,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17sworn by senators and soldiers,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21to include a particular show of loyalty to his three sisters.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Their status was proclaimed on coins.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Here, Agrippina, on the left, is identified with Securitas,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31the Roman goddess of safety.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36But Caligula would prove
0:05:36 > 0:05:40an unreliable, indeed dangerous, patron.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Dozens of leading Romans were killed on his whim.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50He executed one man simply because he didn't like his clothes.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Agrippina had now been widowed
0:05:57 > 0:06:01and stories began to circulate that she and her sisters were required
0:06:01 > 0:06:06to satisfy their imperial brother's sexual perversions.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10The nature of Agrippina's close relationship with Caligula
0:06:10 > 0:06:13attracted comment from ancient historians.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14Writing in the second century,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Suetonius claims it was the emperor's custom
0:06:17 > 0:06:21"to have incestuous relations with each of his three sisters".
0:06:26 > 0:06:31It's not certain these charges of incest have any basis in fact.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Indeed, very little is known about Agrippina
0:06:34 > 0:06:37during the initial period of her brother's rule.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42But something dramatic must have happened,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45because, two years into Caligula's reign,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Agrippina took an enormous risk.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55In AD 39, Agrippina and her sister Livilla were implicated in a plot to overthrow Caligula,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59led by men with whom Agrippina was said to be sexually involved.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01When the conspiracy was discovered,
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Agrippina and Livilla were despatched into exile off the coast of Italy.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09According to the biographer Suetonius, they left Rome
0:07:09 > 0:07:12accompanied by a grim warning from their brother the emperor -
0:07:12 > 0:07:15"When he banished his sisters, he remarked,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18"'I have swords as well as islands.'"
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'For good measure, as well as exiling them,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27'Caligula stripped his sisters of their property.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31'Then, he staged a lucrative public auction
0:07:31 > 0:07:35'of their jewellery, furniture and slaves.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37'The power generated by their ancestry
0:07:37 > 0:07:40'had led to Agrippina and Livilla's involvement in the plot
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'and gave it real credibility.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46'Their bloodline was a potent political weapon,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'but it also exposed them to extreme risk.'
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Thinking about the story about the conspiracy in AD 39
0:07:54 > 0:07:57involving Agrippina and her sister, Livilla,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00why do you think conspirators might have thought it would be
0:08:00 > 0:08:04a useful connection for them to be involved with the emperor's sisters?
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Because we're now in a situation
0:08:06 > 0:08:09where power is transferred dynastically
0:08:09 > 0:08:11and not through election.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14That means that, within the imperial household,
0:08:14 > 0:08:20family is what matters, bloodlines, this is the root to succession.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25So women in that context can suddenly become really very powerful,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27because they provide, through marriage,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30a connection to the imperial household
0:08:30 > 0:08:33or they provide children for the succession.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Agrippina was lucky to escape execution
0:08:39 > 0:08:43for her part in the attempted coup against Caligula.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Instead, she faced a lifetime of exile.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53But two years later, in AD 41,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Agrippina's fortunes took another dramatic turn.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Caligula was assassinated.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07The conspiracy to eliminate him included senators
0:09:07 > 0:09:10who wanted an end to imperial autocracy
0:09:10 > 0:09:13and the return to a Republic.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15But they would be thwarted.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Here, in the ruling family's palace on the Palatine Hill,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29the Praetorians, the emperor's personal bodyguard,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31stepped into the vacuum.
0:09:31 > 0:09:37Without an emperor, the Praetorians would have no role, and no power.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43So they alighted on an insignificant, middle-aged member
0:09:43 > 0:09:46of the imperial family as emperor.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50He was Agrippina's uncle, Claudius.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52Claudius was keen to show
0:09:52 > 0:09:56that a new, more forgiving era was under way.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00One of his Claudius' first acts as emperor
0:10:00 > 0:10:04was to recall Agrippina and her sister Livilla from exile
0:10:04 > 0:10:06and to restore their property.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09So Agrippina duly returned to Rome,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12where she did something which seems puzzling.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21Agrippina and her sister arranged a formal funeral for Caligula,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23the brother they'd tried to overthrow.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29It's likely the two sisters then interred Caligula's ashes here,
0:10:29 > 0:10:31at the Mausoleum of Augustus -
0:10:31 > 0:10:35the great family tomb built by the founder of the dynasty.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Agrippina was showing signs of a sharp political brain.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46The Roman masses had been fond of Caligula
0:10:46 > 0:10:50because he regularly humiliated the rich and aristocratic.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54And however hated Caligula was by that aristocracy,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56it would be impossible for them
0:10:56 > 0:10:59to criticise a sister honouring her brother.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03But, above all, in celebrating her family connections,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Agrippina was reminding Roman society of her lineage.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10Specifically, of her blood ties to the divine Augustus,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13the man who had brought peace and order to the Roman world.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Her descent from Augustus was always the trump card
0:11:20 > 0:11:23in Agrippina's political hand.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29And now, her uncle Claudius was emperor.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33However, the same ancestry which gave Agrippina and her sister Livilla
0:11:33 > 0:11:37such prestige within the ruling dynasty continued to make them vulnerable.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43They would become the targets of a powerful new enemy -
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Claudius' wife, Messalina.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54The entry of Messalina into the Julio-Claudian family
0:11:54 > 0:11:58ratchets up the tension of Roman dynastic politics to a new level.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Though, as with any Roman imperial woman,
0:12:01 > 0:12:07making sense of her life means sifting two basic and frequently contradictory types of evidence -
0:12:07 > 0:12:12the invariably positive message conveyed by coins, inscriptions and statues,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17and the almost invariably hostile testimony of Roman historians.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Images created during Messalina's lifetime show her
0:12:24 > 0:12:28as a serene, regal, maternal figure.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32A very different view emerges
0:12:32 > 0:12:35from the writers passing judgment after her death.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39The imperial biographer Suetonius writes of her "crimes and misdemeanours".
0:12:39 > 0:12:42According to the second-century historian Tacitus,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45she was excited by "the greatest infamy".
0:12:45 > 0:12:49For the poet Juvenal, she was "the whore-empress".
0:12:56 > 0:12:58A story recorded in the first century
0:12:58 > 0:13:02cemented Messalina's reputation for depravity.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08We're told she competed against a famous prostitute in a sexual marathon
0:13:08 > 0:13:13and won the contest by having sex with 25 men in 24 hours.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19There are lots of stories, aren't there,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22about Messalina's sexual misbehaviour
0:13:22 > 0:13:24when she's married to Claudius.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Why do you think it is that is Messalina who's singled out
0:13:27 > 0:13:31for association with this kind of sexual immorality?
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I think what makes Messalina so interesting is she's described
0:13:34 > 0:13:38as only interested in sex for sex's sake.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41So there is, for example, a story from Pliny the Elder,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45that she used to creep out of the palace at night
0:13:45 > 0:13:48covered in a cloak, wearing a blonde wig,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51going through the streets of Rome to find a shabby mat in a brothel,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54where she would service customers till dawn,
0:13:54 > 0:13:59and still be unsatisfied and go back to the palace, again in disguise,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02dirty and reeking of the brothel.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Messalina's reputation has endured down the centuries.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14She remains the most infamous woman in all Roman history.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Messalina's notoriety
0:14:18 > 0:14:20makes it more difficult than ever
0:14:20 > 0:14:21to get to the facts.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25But enough is known to sketch out the career
0:14:25 > 0:14:28of this extraordinary and calculating woman.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Messalina married Claudius some three or four years
0:14:37 > 0:14:40before he unexpectedly became emperor.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42She was probably approaching 20.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46He was her second cousin and some 30 years older
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and, at this point, had shown little ambition.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54But their wedding indicates Claudius possessed sound political sense.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02So, Claudius marries Messalina. Why do you think he chose Messalina?
0:15:02 > 0:15:07What did she... What advantages does she bring to the marriage alliance, would you say?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Well, I would think that what's at stake is, in a sense,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12keeping it within the family,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16because Messalina is descended from Augustus' sister.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20In that sense, she's still bringing with her the connection
0:15:20 > 0:15:22to the founder of the dynasty.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24She is also young.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27She is available, therefore, to produce heirs who would, again,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30carry that bloodline down for him.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34So she has a number of advantages in that respect.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40'Claudius' elevation to emperor
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'transformed his and Messalina's lives.'
0:15:45 > 0:15:49But he owed his position largely to the support of the Praetorian Guard
0:15:49 > 0:15:51and had little track record of his own.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Though Claudius was a member of the ruling Julio-Claudian family,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59he was not directly descended
0:15:59 > 0:16:01from the divine Augustus.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Despite statues showing him as a god-like figure,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Claudius was, in fact, infirm and physically frail.
0:16:14 > 0:16:20It all meant that Claudius started out as a weak and insecure emperor.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Messalina recognised this, and her own vulnerability.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30In theory, she'd stabilised both present and future
0:16:30 > 0:16:34by producing a son shortly after Claudius came to power.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38But suppose her middle-aged and sickly husband should die
0:16:38 > 0:16:41before that child was old enough to succeed his father?
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Rome was not short of ambitious aristocrats
0:16:44 > 0:16:46with some kind of imperial claim.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54Messalina conspired to eliminate potential rivals to Claudius,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56particularly in the Senate.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01In one case, Messalina claimed that, in her dreams,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05she'd seen a distinguished senator, a relative of Augustus,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08assassinating Claudius.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11The senator was summarily executed.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Messalina believed she also needed to act ruthlessly
0:17:18 > 0:17:22to secure not just Claudius' position, but her own too.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28When Claudius married her, during the reign of his nephew, Caligula,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30it was a sign of his rising status,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34given that she herself had connections to the family of Augustus.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37But what if Claudius were to find another wife,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40who was even more valuable politically?
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Someone who could embellish his own imperial credentials
0:17:42 > 0:17:46and bolster his support among senators who resented him?
0:17:49 > 0:17:51There were two obvious candidates
0:17:51 > 0:17:53to be a more illustrious
0:17:53 > 0:17:55wife for Claudius,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58the sisters Livilla and Agrippina
0:17:58 > 0:18:01the direct descendants of Augustus,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and the nieces whom Claudius,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05in his first act as emperor,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07had brought back to Rome from exile.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Messalina's first target was Livilla.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Marriage to this great-granddaughter of the divine Augustus
0:18:17 > 0:18:21would have given Claudius considerable imperial kudos.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Messalina arranged for her to be put on trial before the Senate,
0:18:24 > 0:18:30convicted of adultery and, for the second time in two years, sent into exile.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Within a few months, Livilla was executed.
0:18:33 > 0:18:39With Livilla out of the way, there remained Agrippina.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42She was a widow, able to marry.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46And if the ageing Claudius could not have more children,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Agrippina even brought a ready-made heir
0:18:49 > 0:18:52who carried the bloodline of Augustus -
0:18:52 > 0:18:54her son, Nero.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Given the weight this ancestry carried in Roman society,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Nero might be in a position to rival Messalina's own son
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and become next emperor, as Agrippina surely recognised.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12However, there's now a gap in the historical records.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18It seems that Messalina left Agrippina alone, for the moment.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Perhaps because she felt strong enough to do so
0:19:21 > 0:19:26as she and Claudius were now stamping their personal authority on the empire.
0:19:29 > 0:19:36In AD 43, Claudius, chasing the military success that would strengthen him, invaded Britain.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43This inscription, which once decorated an arch
0:19:43 > 0:19:46built to celebrate the emperor's victory,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49records the surrender of the "reges Britannorum" -
0:19:49 > 0:19:50the kings of the Britons.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Messalina revelled in her husband's glory.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00When it came to the great triumphal procession through Rome
0:20:00 > 0:20:03to celebrate the victorious campaign,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Messalina rode in a carriage right behind Claudius.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10The significance of her presence was huge -
0:20:10 > 0:20:14she was the first adult woman ever to take part in a Roman triumph.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18And with her, rode her infant son, the future of the dynasty,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20newly renamed Britannicus.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30'Messalina's participation in this greatest of Roman state events was an unprecedented honour.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37'It also showed how important Messalina had become to Claudius.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41'The first emperor, Augustus, had enjoyed the support and cooperation
0:20:41 > 0:20:43'of the aristocrats in the Senate.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45'But that had now evaporated.'
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Under Claudius, poor relations with the Senate
0:20:49 > 0:20:52made the emperor increasingly dependent on those close to him,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55in what was evolving into an imperial court.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Its principal members were the former slaves
0:20:59 > 0:21:01who comprised his inner circle
0:21:01 > 0:21:06and also, undoubtedly, Messalina, a key figure in the regime.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13Ancient writers claimed that Messalina had enormous influence over Claudius.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Leading Romans humbled themselves to flatter her.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21The imperial biographer Suetonius
0:21:21 > 0:21:24recorded how an eminent consul and provincial governor,
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Lucius Vitellius, grovelled before Messalina.
0:21:31 > 0:21:32Vitellius omitted no measure
0:21:32 > 0:21:35which might secure him the favour of Claudius,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38who was at the mercy of his wives and freedmen.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41He asked Messalina, as an immense favour, to offer him her feet
0:21:41 > 0:21:43so he might take off her shoes,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and when he had removed her right slipper,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49he nursed it between his toga and his tunic,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51occasionally giving it kisses.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Roman historians created the long-lasting image
0:21:55 > 0:22:01of Messalina's rampant sexuality and the power this gave her over men.
0:22:01 > 0:22:07But some of these writers were deliberately using the stories of her depravity
0:22:07 > 0:22:11to justify their hostility to autocratic government.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Messalina's often portrayed as a nymphomaniac, isn't she?
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Do you think it might make more sense to see her
0:22:19 > 0:22:23as someone who's using sex for political purposes
0:22:23 > 0:22:26in the precarious world of the imperial court?
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Yes, I think historians used to get terribly excited
0:22:29 > 0:22:34and say things like, "Messalina is one of the great nymphomaniacs of history",
0:22:34 > 0:22:38but the descriptions of sexual excess were, in the Roman world,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41always methods of attacking people politically.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45If you describe the emperor's wife as an insatiable whore,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49what you're saying is that that emperor has no control over his wife.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53If he has no control over his wife, he has no control of the state.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59So, we can interpret that story as a way, if you like, of castrating Claudius,
0:22:59 > 0:23:04and castrating his role, and that's what the writers are trying to do.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Nonetheless, there is a potential political dimension
0:23:08 > 0:23:11of sexual activity in Messalina's life.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15That if women only have access to power, illicit power,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20and not public authority, one of the ways they can achieve that power
0:23:20 > 0:23:24is precisely through their body and their sexual relations.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Messalina's powers drove her husband to depend on her
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and senators to abase themselves before her.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38It seemed she could get anything she wanted, whatever the cost.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46This was the site of the Gardens of Lucullus,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48one of Rome's most attractive properties.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Messalina set her covetous eyes on the gardens
0:23:54 > 0:23:57and persuaded Claudius that their owner,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02a former consul named Valerius Asiaticus, was a potential assassin.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Asiaticus was hauled before the emperor,
0:24:06 > 0:24:11accused of everything from corruption to sexual deviancy.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Shamed, he committed suicide.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23'The death of Asiaticus and the seizure of his property by Messalina
0:24:23 > 0:24:26'are dated to AD 47,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29'six years into Claudius' reign.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34'But then, with Messalina at the pinnacle of her success,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37'her one remaining rival reappeared -
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'Claudius' niece, Agrippina.'
0:24:42 > 0:24:46When Agrippina re-emerges in the historical record,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50there's a sense of a growing hostility between her and Messalina
0:24:50 > 0:24:54and the historian Tacitus makes clear that this had political consequences.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01There was growing sympathy for Agrippina,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04owing to the vindictiveness of Messalina.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Messalina was always Agrippina's enemy.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Messalina avoided a direct attack on Agrippina.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Instead, their rivalry was played out through their sons.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23In AD 47, Claudius staged great games in Rome
0:25:23 > 0:25:27to mark the 800th anniversary of the city's foundation.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29To mark the celebrations,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33both Messalina's child Britannicus and Agrippina's son Nero
0:25:33 > 0:25:35took part in a pageant, to cheering crowds.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38The historian Tacitus simply comments,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41"The greater applause for Nero was regarded as prophetic."
0:25:44 > 0:25:49The crowd's acclamation of Nero implied that Messalina
0:25:49 > 0:25:51was now being outshone by Agrippina.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55To thwart her rival,
0:25:55 > 0:26:00Messalina and a new lover now took an enormous gamble.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04It would be a lethal cocktail of sex and politics.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12A sense of breathless disbelief pervades Tacitus' account of Messalina's behaviour,
0:26:12 > 0:26:17beginning when she fell in love with "the handsomest young man in Rome", Gaius Silius,
0:26:17 > 0:26:22a senator in line for Rome's highest magistracy, the consulship.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25According to Tacitus, Messalina clung to Silius in public
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and showered him with gifts.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Then, in AD 48, when Claudius was out of Rome,
0:26:32 > 0:26:37the emperor's wife entered into a form of marriage with her lover.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40It will seem astonishing, I know,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43that in a city where everything is noticed and commented on,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46any people could have felt themselves so secure.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Let alone that, on an appointed day and before invited witnesses,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54a consul designate and Messalina, the wife of the emperor,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57should have been joined together in a traditional marriage ceremony,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01that the pair should have taken their places at a banquet, kissed,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04and finally spent the night as man and wife.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08But I am not inventing marvels.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Silius also planned to adopt Claudius' son, Britannicus.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18The whole episode looked very much like a coup d'etat.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22When news of the marriage ceremony reached Claudius,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24his reaction was bewilderment.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29We're told that time and time again he asked, "Am I still emperor?"
0:27:31 > 0:27:36This extraordinary story hurtled towards its denouement.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39Either Claudius would be overthrown
0:27:39 > 0:27:42or Messalina had signed her death warrant.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Eventually, led by his loyal freedmen,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Claudius headed back to Rome.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56Messengers told Messalina that the emperor was out for revenge.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Messalina had one hope of survival -
0:28:00 > 0:28:03that she could explain everything away
0:28:03 > 0:28:05in a personal audience with Claudius.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Desperate to intercept the emperor on his way back to Rome,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Messalina raced out of the city in a rubbish cart,
0:28:14 > 0:28:15accompanied by her two children
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and with the Chief Priestess of the Vestal Virgins on hand
0:28:18 > 0:28:20to supply a character reference.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28'By now, Claudius' advance guard had made it back to Rome
0:28:28 > 0:28:30'and intercepted Messalina.'
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Led by Claudius' secretary, Narcissus,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37the imperial freedmen, ex-slaves,
0:28:37 > 0:28:43shouted Messalina down and made sure she did not get a chance to make a personal plea to the emperor.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45When he arrived back at the imperial palace,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Claudius announced he would see "the poor woman" the next day.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Fearful that Messalina would prevail on Claudius to forgive her,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Narcissus the freedman sent soldiers to kill her that night.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Tacitus tells us that when her executioners arrived,
0:29:05 > 0:29:10Messalina was in the Gardens of Lucullus,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12the property she'd grabbed a year earlier
0:29:12 > 0:29:15by destroying the reputation of its owner.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20She was with her mother, who told her, "Your life now is over.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23"There is nothing more to look for but dignity in death."
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Then, at last, Messalina understood her fate.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34She took the dagger and drew it tremulously towards her throat
0:29:34 > 0:29:37and then her breast, but in vain.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40The officer's blow drove it home.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42The body was left with her mother.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51When Claudius heard the news of Messalina's death,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53we're told he showed little interest.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57"He called for more wine", says Tacitus,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00"and carried on with his banquet as usual."
0:30:02 > 0:30:05In the end, Claudius could afford to be relaxed.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Adultery was a criminal offence in Rome
0:30:10 > 0:30:12and, irrespective of any attempt to seize power,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15the discovery of Messalina's affair with Silius
0:30:15 > 0:30:19would almost certainly have led to her exile at the very least.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26The odds remained stacked against a woman's ambition for supremacy.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Messalina's scandalous affair and violent death
0:30:32 > 0:30:35fascinated and appalled ancient writers.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40But why did Messalina embark on this apparently suicidal venture?
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Tacitus insisted that her emotions blinded Messalina,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52and her involvement with Silius was nothing more than a reckless infatuation.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58But it's more plausible to see Messalina's motive not as lust,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02but as desperation in the face of the threat posed by her rival,
0:31:02 > 0:31:04Claudius' niece, Agrippina.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Unable to persuade Claudius to take action against his niece,
0:31:10 > 0:31:15Messalina's fear of Agrippina caused her to seek new political support,
0:31:15 > 0:31:17drove her into an adulterous relationship
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and led her to her death.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Today, Rome's museums feature many images of imperial women.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44But those of Messalina are extremely rare.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51The Senate ordered that all statues of her would be taken down,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53even from private display.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58Messalina was to be a non-person.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02The irony is that Messalina remains more famous
0:32:02 > 0:32:04than any other imperial woman.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08She is an enduring symbol of Roman immorality.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11The epitome of the shameless female.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20That perception may not be completely without foundation in Messalina's case,
0:32:20 > 0:32:25but it's a mistake to dismiss her as a nymphomaniac and nothing more.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30She understood that her position alongside the head of an autocratic system
0:32:30 > 0:32:32gave her considerable leverage,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35which she used ruthlessly on occasion.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40Messalina also understood that Roman politics was a very high-stakes game.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44What she failed to understand was her own limitations.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49For the emperor Claudius,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Messalina's execution brought a violent end
0:32:52 > 0:32:54to what was his third marriage.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01According to his biographer, Suetonius,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Claudius ruefully conceded to the Praetorian Guards,
0:33:04 > 0:33:06to whom he owed his power,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08that he should not marry again.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Claudius affirmed before a gathering in the Praetorian camp
0:33:15 > 0:33:17that, since his marriages had turned out so badly,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21he would remain unmarried and, if he did not keep his word,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25he would not object to them killing him with their own hands.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32After the bloody drama of Messalina's death,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36the ageing Claudius may have hoped for a quiet bachelor life.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38It was not to be.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44The emperor remained vulnerable.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48Messalina's plot had been deeply unsettling.
0:33:48 > 0:33:55And his relationship with the aristocrats who sat here in the Senate was still fractious.
0:33:55 > 0:34:01Claudius somehow had to bring genuine dynastic credibility to his reign.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06One woman knew that what the emperor needed above all was a strong wife
0:34:06 > 0:34:11with unimpeachable ancestry at his side.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13The moment was ripe for Agrippina,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17the direct descendant of the divine Augustus,
0:34:17 > 0:34:19to re-enter the imperial stage.
0:34:22 > 0:34:27Agrippina was ideally placed to provide the support the regime needed
0:34:27 > 0:34:31and perfectly willing to exploit the emperor's weakness for her own ends.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35Her first step was an alliance with Pallas, the emperor's treasurer
0:34:35 > 0:34:39and one of the most influential of his freedmen.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43While other advisers backed rival contenders to be the emperor's new wife,
0:34:43 > 0:34:48Tacitus reports the argument Pallas put forward in favour of Agrippina.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Let the emperor ally himself with a noble line
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and unite two branches of the Claudian house,
0:34:56 > 0:34:58rather than allow Agrippina,
0:34:58 > 0:35:02this woman of proven capacity for child-bearing, still young,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06to transfer the distinction of the Caesars to another family.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13In other words, Agrippina was simply too powerful to ignore.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15If Claudius did not ally himself with her,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18her prestige might be transferred to someone else,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22who might then become a credible alternative emperor.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25For her part, as the biographer Suetonius reports,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Agrippina made a move to become her uncle's next wife.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35The affections of Claudius were secured by the allurements of Agrippina,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38daughter of his own brother, Germanicus.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41She took advantage of a relative's right to give kisses
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and opportunities for flattery.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49One substantial hurdle still lay in Agrippina's way, however -
0:35:49 > 0:35:52a ban on marriage between uncle and niece,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55which was not only a longstanding tradition
0:35:55 > 0:35:57but also enshrined in Roman law.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Here, in the Senate, late in AD 48,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07a means was found to overcome this legal obstacle.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12It was an elaborate piece of political theatre,
0:36:12 > 0:36:17quite probably orchestrated by Agrippina herself.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21A reliable senator proclaimed that the emperor needed help,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25"for the labours of one who rules the world are most arduous."
0:36:25 > 0:36:28He argued that partner MUST be Agrippina.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31As for the bar on marriage between uncle and niece,
0:36:31 > 0:36:33that was just social convention,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35and social conventions changed over time.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39With senators and the Roman masses in the Forum acclaiming the proposal,
0:36:39 > 0:36:45Claudius entered the Senate and obtained a decree legalising marriage with a brother's daughter.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54Agrippina's patience and skilful manoeuvring had paid off.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57She was now the wife of Rome's emperor.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04Agrippina's impact on government would be immense and immediate.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09The historian Tacitus loathed every bit of it.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16From this moment, the state was turned upside down.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21A woman, Agrippina, was accorded complete obedience.
0:37:21 > 0:37:22Not a woman like Messalina,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26who toyed with national affairs for her own pleasure.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29This was a rigorous, almost masculine dominion.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Tacitus was not alone in his outrage against Agrippina.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39Writing over a century later, the historian Cassius Dio claims
0:37:39 > 0:37:43that when Agrippina moved into the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45she took over decision-making from her husband,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48through a mixture of intimidation and bribery.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56Agrippina, a woman, set out to act like a man
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and reinvent the role of an imperial wife.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Her great predecessor, Livia, wife of the emperor Augustus,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06had influenced everything,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10from imperial decrees to the verdicts of major trials.
0:38:13 > 0:38:18But Livia exercised her power behind the scenes,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Agrippina's power was glaringly visible.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25She was awarded the revered title of Augusta,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30the first consort of a living emperor to be honoured in this way.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35For the first time,
0:38:35 > 0:38:39the emperor and his wife appeared on a coin together -
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Claudius on one side, Agrippina on the other.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50A sense of genuine and publicly acknowledged partnership is emerging here.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52The Romans never devised a term for "empress",
0:38:52 > 0:38:57a fact which reflects their antipathy towards female involvement in matters of state.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00But an empress is what Agrippina was becoming.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09Statues from across the empire show how Agrippina
0:39:09 > 0:39:13was acknowledged as a key figure in government.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17Especially striking is this group of reliefs,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21discovered in what was once the rich Roman province of Asia.
0:39:23 > 0:39:28This image shows Agrippina hand in hand with Claudius
0:39:28 > 0:39:31and the message is about much more than just marital harmony.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35This figure, on the right, sadly now missing its head,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38is believed to represent the Roman Senate,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40bestowing an oak leaf crown on Claudius,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43a gesture of thanks for saving the state.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48Emperor, Senate, Agrippina - all three are depicted
0:39:48 > 0:39:50as crucial to the stability
0:39:50 > 0:39:52and prosperity of the empire.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55And what adds hugely to the significance of such images
0:39:55 > 0:39:58is that they seem to have had some basis in reality.
0:39:58 > 0:40:03Agrippina really was helping government run more smoothly.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12When Claudius became emperor, and for some years afterwards,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15the Senate had regarded him with sullen hostility.
0:40:17 > 0:40:22Now, Agrippina worked to improve relations.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26She cultivated support among key senators.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Co-operation replaced confrontation.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37The net result of this improvement in relations was that senators stayed alive.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40In the seven years from AD 41 to AD 48,
0:40:40 > 0:40:42when Claudius was married to Messalina,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46we know of dozens of executions of senators.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50From AD 49 onwards, when Agrippina was the emperor's wife,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53such cases become significantly less frequent.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Whether it was behind the scenes in the senate
0:40:58 > 0:41:01or receiving public acclamation,
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Agrippina relished her power.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13The great military achievement of Claudius' reign
0:41:13 > 0:41:17remained the conquest of Britain, begun in AD 43.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22Here in Asia, the event was celebrated in this sculpture
0:41:22 > 0:41:26of a deceptively youthful and vigorous Claudius
0:41:26 > 0:41:28heroically subduing Britannia.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35The Britons' resistance was led by the chieftain Caratacus,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38who was finally captured and brought to Rome in AD 51.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41There, he was paraded before the emperor Claudius
0:41:41 > 0:41:45with Agrippina sitting close by.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47According to Tacitus,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Caratacus and the other prisoners paid their respect to Claudius
0:41:50 > 0:41:56and then, "offered homage with the same praise and thanks to Agrippina."
0:41:57 > 0:42:02This indeed was something new and alien to the customs of former times,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05that a woman should sit before the Roman standards.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Agrippina was asserting her partnership in the empire
0:42:09 > 0:42:11secured by her ancestors.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18It wasn't just the great ceremonies and celebrations,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22Agrippina also shared the emperor's routine duties.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26She sat with him at his morning "salutatio",
0:42:26 > 0:42:27when he received his many visitors.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30The relationship between patron and client
0:42:30 > 0:42:31was at the centre of Roman life.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35Now, when the emperor's many petitioners came calling,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Agrippina was cast as a potential partner
0:42:38 > 0:42:41in dispensing his huge powers of patronage.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43"No-one tried to limit Agrippina in any way",
0:42:43 > 0:42:47claims Cassius Dio, writing in the third century.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50"Indeed, she had more power than Claudius himself."
0:42:55 > 0:42:58Agrippina used this unparalleled status
0:42:58 > 0:43:02to pursue one all-consuming goal -
0:43:02 > 0:43:06to make her son Nero the next ruler of Rome.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Agrippina's obsessive interest in Nero's future
0:43:12 > 0:43:13led her to consult astrologers,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16who advised her that he would be emperor,
0:43:16 > 0:43:18but that he would kill his mother.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22"Let him kill," she replied, "provided that he rules!"
0:43:25 > 0:43:30Agrippina's ambitions for Nero were fierce and calculated.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Even before she married Claudius, Agrippina had been planning.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44She set out to secure a marriage between Nero and Claudius' daughter, Octavia.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49But Octavia was already engaged.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Agrippina arranged for her fiance to be charged with incest.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58As a result, he committed suicide.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Agrippina then turned to a major obstacle
0:44:03 > 0:44:06blocking Nero's path to power.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Claudius had an heir of his own -
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Britannicus, his son by Messalina.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Britannicus was three years younger than Nero,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20but he was Claudius' own blood.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24To marginalize Britannicus,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Agrippina set about building support for Nero
0:44:27 > 0:44:30in the imperial palace and in the Senate.
0:44:30 > 0:44:31At the same time,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34officers of the Praetorian Guard sympathetic to Britannicus
0:44:34 > 0:44:38were replaced by others loyal to Agrippina.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40Significantly, in AD 50,
0:44:40 > 0:44:45Agrippina persuaded Claudius to adopt Nero as his son.
0:44:45 > 0:44:51Then, in AD 53, Nero married the emperor's daughter, Octavia,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and was now established as the favoured successor.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03When Agrippina got married to Claudius,
0:45:03 > 0:45:07do you think it's right to think of her as having an agenda?
0:45:07 > 0:45:08Oh, absolutely.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12No, she knew exactly what she wanted and that was that her son
0:45:12 > 0:45:15was going to become the next emperor, one way or other.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18So I think she thought he had a very good chance
0:45:18 > 0:45:20if she played her cards well. And she did.
0:45:20 > 0:45:25And then, all that had to happen was that Claudius had to disappear.
0:45:25 > 0:45:26As, in due course, he did.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28As, in due course, he did.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36On the evening of the 12th October AD 54,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39a banquet took place in the imperial palace.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47In the course of the meal, Claudius fell violently ill.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51During the night, the emperor died.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55Our ancient sources agree that Agrippina was responsible for his murder.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59Tacitus provides a detailed account of how Agrippina,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01whom he describes as "long resolved on the crime",
0:46:01 > 0:46:06obtained poison and made arrangements for it to be administered to Claudius.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11Writers of the time report that the poison was smeared
0:46:11 > 0:46:13on a particularly delicious mushroom.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16The potency of the drug was not obvious straightaway,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20so Agrippina employed a complicit doctor she had standing by.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23As if helping Claudius as he retched,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26he put a feather down the emperor's throat.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28It was smeared with fast-working poison.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38The death of Claudius is reported to us as a very gripping story.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42Is there any doubt that Agrippina herself was responsible?
0:46:42 > 0:46:44It was awfully convenient.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47One has to say it came at just the right time.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52Brittanicus, who was Claudius' son and who would have been emperor
0:46:52 > 0:46:56if Nero hadn't been inserted in the succession,
0:46:56 > 0:47:01Brittanicus was about to come of age and Claudius would have expected
0:47:01 > 0:47:04a certain amount of fuss to be made of him.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06But you can't prove it.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09I mean, Claudius always ate and drank too much
0:47:09 > 0:47:13and mushrooms are very tricky things.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15Indeed they are.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22The day after the death of Claudius,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26Agrippina's son, Nero, was presented to the Praetorian Guard
0:47:26 > 0:47:28and acclaimed as emperor.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Tacitus laments that key elements in Roman society
0:47:34 > 0:47:37swiftly fell into line with the imperial bodyguard.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41"The soldiers' decision was followed by senatorial decrees", he writes.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44"The provinces also showed no hesitation."
0:47:50 > 0:47:52Across the empire,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56Agrippina's crucial role in securing Nero's succession
0:47:56 > 0:47:59was explicitly recognised and celebrated.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04In this image from Asia,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08she's shown literally crowning her son as emperor.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17Even in Rome, with its long-standing unease about women in politics,
0:48:17 > 0:48:22coins showed Agrippina alongside her teenage son and emperor.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29Nero was not quite 17 when he became emperor
0:48:29 > 0:48:32and it's clear that Agrippina was determined
0:48:32 > 0:48:34to keep a firm hand on government.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39According to Tacitus, she was "burning with all the passions of illegitimate rule",
0:48:39 > 0:48:43while the biographer Suetonius claims that Nero was more than happy
0:48:43 > 0:48:45for his mother to take a leading role.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53Nero allowed his mother the greatest influence over all matters, private and public.
0:48:53 > 0:48:54Even on the first day of his reign,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57the password he gave to the tribune of the watch
0:48:57 > 0:48:59was "the best of mothers".
0:48:59 > 0:49:03And afterwards, he rode about the city with her, sharing a litter.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11In broader political terms, Agrippina did her best to intervene,
0:49:11 > 0:49:15and went to elaborate lengths to listen to deliberations of the Senate,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19a body from which women had traditionally been strictly excluded.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24And when a delegation from the client kingdom of Armenia appeared before Nero,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27she was about to mount the dais and sit next to the emperor.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Tacitus claims "everybody was stunned"
0:49:30 > 0:49:33and a scandal was only narrowly averted.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41This near breach of etiquette was the first obvious sign
0:49:41 > 0:49:45that Agrippina's apparent command of the heights of Roman politics
0:49:45 > 0:49:48might be illusory.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52In reality, Agrippina's situation was precarious.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55She had already fulfilled her most useful function
0:49:55 > 0:49:57in ensuring Nero's succession.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00Now, she was dependent on his whims,
0:50:00 > 0:50:03and as her teenaged son made new friends
0:50:03 > 0:50:06and began affairs with women she disapproved of,
0:50:06 > 0:50:10Agrippina was losing control over him.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14Tacitus alleges that in her desperation to maintain her influence over Nero,
0:50:14 > 0:50:19Agrippina was prepared to add an erotic dimension to their relationship.
0:50:21 > 0:50:26At midday, when Nero, even at that hour, was flushed with wine and feasting,
0:50:26 > 0:50:31Agrippina quite often appeared before her intoxicated son dressed up
0:50:31 > 0:50:34and ready for incestuous relations.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Agrippina was becoming desperate -
0:50:42 > 0:50:45her hold on power was ever more fragile.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49A year after his accession,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Nero felt his mother was no longer of use to him.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Her involvement in matters of state
0:50:55 > 0:50:58was an embarrassment and an irritation.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01Suetonius writes that Agrippina's over-critical eye
0:51:01 > 0:51:05was "more than the young emperor could bear".
0:51:05 > 0:51:10According to Tacitus, Agrippina tried to undermine her son
0:51:10 > 0:51:13by creating an anti-Nero faction in Rome.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16He adds that in gathering money to support her plans,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19"she outdid even her instinctive rapacity".
0:51:22 > 0:51:26Of all the Roman Empire's extraordinary women so far,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30Agrippina had come nearest to grasping supreme power.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35But the son whom she believed would bestow it on her
0:51:35 > 0:51:36had turned against her.
0:51:37 > 0:51:44I think she did think that she should be almost a joint ruler.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48And she was obviously a very intelligent, very clever woman
0:51:48 > 0:51:52who must have, like many women in her position in that period,
0:51:52 > 0:51:57have been biting her nails thinking how much better I could do it than they are doing it.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01And Nero, in particular, was not very bright.
0:52:01 > 0:52:07But what she hadn't reckoned on is that he had these advisers who had rather different political ideas.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11Yes and I think then the advisers play on the sense of resentment
0:52:11 > 0:52:14that a woman should be controlling the emperor.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19Yes. And he is, of course, a rebellious adolescent.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23One has to remember he's 16 when he comes to the throne.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26He's been married to somebody he doesn't particularly like
0:52:26 > 0:52:28and he wants to have some fun.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32But his mother says that he has to do this and he has to do that.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35His advisers are rather gentler.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38They say he has to do this and that, but he can have a girlfriend
0:52:38 > 0:52:43and he's allowed to do private horse racing and that kind of thing.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46She wasn't good at that. She was not a compromiser.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48No, I think she wasn't.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50THEY CHUCKLE
0:52:53 > 0:52:58By AD 55, Nero was on the offensive against Agrippina.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04He withdrew his mother's bodyguards and dismissed her key allies.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Finally, he forced Agrippina
0:53:08 > 0:53:12to move out of the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17Nero claimed that the morning gatherings of Romans
0:53:17 > 0:53:21seeking her help with their petitions had become too noisy.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24It's more likely that he wanted to separate his mother
0:53:24 > 0:53:27from any supporters in the Praetorian Guard.
0:53:29 > 0:53:34Suetonius tells us that Nero then did all he could to torment Agrippina.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38In Rome, she was pestered with lawsuits.
0:53:38 > 0:53:39On her country estate,
0:53:39 > 0:53:43he arranged for crowds to pass her villa shouting abuse.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48Then, in AD 59, five years into Nero's reign,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51the standoff took a more sinister turn.
0:53:51 > 0:53:56Suetonius claims Nero was plotting his mother's death.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59A further insight comes from Tacitus.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02He says Nero was teased by a mistress,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06who taunted him for being under Agrippina's thumb.
0:54:06 > 0:54:11And finding his mother intolerable, Nero resolved to murder her.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Though typically, Agrippina,
0:54:17 > 0:54:21the great survivor of the dangerous world of Julio-Claudian politics,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24was not easily killed.
0:54:24 > 0:54:29Suetonius claims that Nero tried three times to poison Agrippina
0:54:29 > 0:54:31and was three times unsuccessful
0:54:31 > 0:54:34because she'd already taken the antidote.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Then, a plan to have her bedroom ceiling fall in on her
0:54:37 > 0:54:40came to nothing when Agrippina received prior warning.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47Tacitus reports how another murder plot was hatched
0:54:47 > 0:54:49when Agrippina and Nero were staying
0:54:49 > 0:54:52on opposite sides of a bay near Naples.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Nero was as intent as ever on killing his mother.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02But he still wanted her death to look like an accident.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09The plan was to invite Agrippina out for dinner,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12then send her home in a vessel guaranteed to sink.
0:55:12 > 0:55:17It did, but Agrippina and her companion Acerronia managed to swim away from the wreck.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Then, Acerronia made a fatal mistake.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Thinking she'd improve her chance of rescue,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28she called out to the ship's crew claiming to be Agrippina
0:55:28 > 0:55:30and was beaten to death.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40Still the great survivor, Agrippina kept quiet and swam to safety.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46'Then, according to Tacitus' blood-curdling account,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49'Nero sent soldiers to her house to murder her.'
0:55:53 > 0:55:56The assassins stood on either side of her bed,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58the naval commander was first.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00He struck her head with a club.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03As the centurion bent on killing her extended his dagger,
0:56:03 > 0:56:09Agrippina thrust her womb towards him and called out, "Strike my stomach."
0:56:09 > 0:56:12And after a series of blows, she was killed.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18Hostile Roman historians
0:56:18 > 0:56:22allege Agrippina was widely resented during her lifetime.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Tacitus claims that "everyone longed for the mother's domination to end."
0:56:31 > 0:56:34Suetonius writes that when news broke of her death,
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Nero was jubilant.
0:56:36 > 0:56:42Congratulations poured in, "from the Army, the Senate and the people."
0:56:44 > 0:56:49This sycophancy towards Nero puts Agrippina's achievements
0:56:49 > 0:56:51into even more remarkable perspective.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57In a political system that was still taking shape,
0:56:57 > 0:57:01Agrippina grasped the opportunities that were open to a woman with ambition
0:57:01 > 0:57:04to match her powerful family connections.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09Politically adept, shrewd and ruthless,
0:57:09 > 0:57:14Agrippina was a powerful, conspicuous symbol of a new age.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20She showed how much a woman could accomplish in imperial Rome.
0:57:20 > 0:57:26But she could only win supreme power through a man, her son.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Agrippina's ultimate tragedy
0:57:29 > 0:57:33was that he did not inherit her own extraordinary talents.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39Even critics such as Tacitus admit
0:57:39 > 0:57:41that it was only after Agrippina's death
0:57:41 > 0:57:43that Nero's reign really came off the rails,
0:57:43 > 0:57:47as he emptied Rome's treasuries for his vast building projects
0:57:47 > 0:57:50and sang tragic roles in the theatre.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53One rebellion after another by his generals
0:57:53 > 0:57:55drove him to suicide in AD 68.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59And it's Tacitus who provides perhaps the neatest summary
0:57:59 > 0:58:03of Agrippina's greatest political achievement and ultimate failure -
0:58:03 > 0:58:06"She could give her son the empire," he writes,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08"But she could not bear him as emperor."
0:58:11 > 0:58:17In the next programme, slaves, Syrians and saints.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21The women who led the way as the Roman Empire was transformed.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd