Agrippina the Elder (14 BCE to 33 CE), as the granddaughter of Emperor Augustus and the wife of the popular general Germanicus, wielded significant influence in the early years of the Roman Empire and was a major player in the internal politics of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Her ambitions and familial ties put her at odds with powerful rivals, leading to her exile and eventual death by starvation in 33 CE. Although she would not live to see their reigns, she was the mother of one Roman emperor (Caligula) and grandmother of another (Nero).

Agrippina was born in 14 BCE into the most powerful family in the Roman world. Since 27 BCE, her maternal grandfather, Augustus Caesar (63 BCE to 14 CE), had ruled as princeps, or 'first citizen', of Rome, a new office that placed him above even the Roman Senate and allowed him to wield autocratic powers without the dangerous trappings of monarchy. Her father, Marcus Agrippa (63 to 12 BCE), had long been Augustus's close companion, trusted general, and right-hand man, and had been rewarded for his loyalty with a marriage to Julia the Elder (39 BCE to 14 CE), the princeps' only daughter. To many, this was an implicit recognition of Agrippa as Augustus's eventual successor; any children he may have with Julia could be expected to one day inherit the legacy of the Caesars and rule the Roman Empire.

Agrippa would ultimately have five children with Julia. Three were sons: Gaius Caesar (born 20 BCE), Lucius Caesar (born 17 BCE), and Agrippa Postumus (born 12 BCE). The births of these healthy and robust boys seemed to secure the line of succession, and, indeed, Augustus went so far as to adopt Gaius and Lucius shortly after they were born – raised beneath the princeps' roof, they would be groomed to be his worthy heirs. Agrippa and Julia also had two daughters: Julia the Younger (born 19 BCE) and, of course, Agrippina herself. She was named after her father, who, as fate would have it, she would never get to know. In 12 BCE, while returning home from a military campaign, Agrippa fell sick and died. His youngest daughter was not yet two.

After her father's death, Agrippina went to live with her grandfather in his sprawling villa on Palatine Hill, where she was raised in relative seclusion. Augustus took great pride in Agrippina, praising her intelligence and taking pains to guide her education. The historian Suetonius records an instance in which Augustus advises his granddaughter to express herself clearly, cautioning her "not to write or speak in an affected manner" (Suet. Aug. 85). Agrippina and her siblings were also beloved by the Roman people, who often cheered as the little princelings were paraded out at public events. Never before had children been treated with such reverence in Rome, a sign that the family of Augustus had successfully entrenched itself in the hearts and minds of Romans. For Agrippina, the future seemed bright.

Then, tragedy struck - and just kept striking. In 2 CE, Lucius Caesar died after a sudden illness. 18 months later, Gaius, too, was dead, having succumbed to a similarly brief ailment. In less than two years, Augustus had lost both of his golden boys, upon whose shoulders he had hung the hopes of a dynasty. But that was not all. A few years earlier, Agrippina's mother, Julia the Elder, had been accused of impropriety and was arrested on charges of adultery and treason. Scandalized and embarrassed, Augustus had her exiled to the island of Pandateria. A few years later, Julia the Younger was arrested and exiled on similar charges. Neither of the Julias would ever see Rome again, as both mother and daughter would die in exile. Agrippa Postumus – Agrippina's only surviving brother – was also exiled in 6 CE after displaying unruly behavior, and would die young in 14 CE. So, before her 25th birthday, Agrippina was the only member of her immediate family not dead or rotting in exile.

With the deaths of Gaius and Lucius, Augustus was once again forced to turn to the matter of succession. Now, he really only had two options available to him. The first, and seemingly obvious choice, was Tiberius (42 BCE to 37 CE), the son of Augustus's wife Livia Drusilla. Though he was a good soldier and experienced statesman, Tiberius was also a gloomy, troubled man who had spent years in self-imposed exile in Rhodes and did not command the love of the people. The other choice was Germanicus (15 BCE to 19 CE), Livia's grandson and Tiberius's nephew. Germanicus was dashing, handsome, and already popular with the masses, but he was deemed too young and inexperienced to be made heir just yet. To solve this problem, Augustus adopted Tiberius and named him heir, and, in turn, Tiberius adopted Germanicus, who became second-in-line to the principate.

To shore up the line of succession and to join the two branches of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, it was also arranged for Germanicus to marry Agrippina. The couple were probably wed in late 4 CE, when the bride would have been about 19, a relatively late age for a Roman noblewoman to marry for the first time. Portraits dating from this time show a woman with "strong, regular facial features, a determined chin, and full-lipped mouth, her face framed by a hairstyle that deviated significantly from the vogue established by her female forbears" (Freisenbruch, 85). Ancient sources agree that Agrippina was a charismatic, bold woman with an intense personality; indeed, the historian Tacitus writes that her temper was "not without a hint of fire" and that it was only her "purity of mind and wifely devotion kept her rebellious spirit on the side of righteousness" (1.33).

It was an open secret that Agrippina was fiercely ambitious, as befitted her status as daughter of the Caesars. But in the patriarchal Roman society, she knew that a woman could never climb the ladder of power on her own. Instead, she would have to rest her hopes on either her husband or one of her sons becoming princeps, in which case she could rule from the shadows as Rome's 'first woman', or Augusta. She encouraged her husband as he began his fast-track up the political ladder. Germanicus became questor in 7 CE – even though, at age 20, he was technically too young for the office – and reached the high office of consul in 12 CE. Meanwhile, Agrippina was having children. Ultimately, she would have nine, six of whom would live to adulthood. They included three boys – Nero Caesar (6 to 31 CE), Drusus Caesar (8 to 33 CE), and Gaius Caesar (12 to 41 CE) – as well as three girls – Agrippina the Younger (15 to 59 CE), Julia Drusilla (16 to 38 CE), and Julia Livilla (18 to 41 CE).

In 13 CE, Germanicus took command of the legions along the Rhine frontier. Agrippina accompanied him to the army camps and sent for their children to join them as well. Augustus personally arranged for the safe travel of Agrippina's youngest son, Gaius. The farewell letter the old princeps sent shows the fondness that he felt for his favorite granddaughter: " sending with one of my slaves, a doctor, who…need not be returned to me if he proves useful to you. Goodbye, my dear Agrippina! Keep well on the way back to your Germanicus" (quoted in Freisenbruch, 82). Arriving at the army camp, Agrippina quickly charmed the legionnaires and won their affection. So too did little Gaius, who stomped about in a miniature army outfit, earning him the endearing nickname "little military boots," Caligula.

A few months later, Augustus died after a 40-year reign, and the title of princeps passed to Tiberius. Immediately, the legions of the Rhine frontier mutinied, demanding better pay and conditions. Germanicus, tasked with quelling the rebellion, decided to send Agrippina and the children away for their own safety. Initially, Agrippina refused, reminding her husband that "she was the blood of the Divine Augustus and would live up to it, whatever the danger" (ibid). It was only her husband's tearful pleading that finally convinced her to leave the Roman army camp. Once Agrippina had left, with little Caligula crying in her arms, the mutinous soldiers felt ashamed and dishonored; they loved Agrippina and her son and were embarrassed that she had been driven away by their actions. The mutiny quickly ended, and Agrippina returned to great cheering and fanfare.

Germanicus spent the next two years leading these troops, campaigning in the dark German woodlands across the Rhine; he yearned for victory and glory, vowing to avenge the defeat the Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus suffered at the hands of the Germans several years earlier at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. Agrippina, too, remained with the army and became as beloved a figure as her husband. Once, after finding itself surrounded on the far side of the Rhine, a panicked Roman legion rushed back to the single bridge over the river. There, they found Agrippina, standing at the bridgehead, awaiting them. She greeted the frightened soldiers warmly as they passed by and spent the next few days in a leadership role, tending to the wounded. "It was a great-hearted woman who assumed the role of general throughout those days," Tacitus writes, "who, if a soldier was in need, clothed him and, if he was wounded, gave him dressings" (1.69).

In 17 CE, Germanicus returned to Rome. Though his victory over the Germans had been far from complete, he was nevertheless awarded a Roman triumph – a celebratory parade awarded to victorious generals. Agrippina and their children rode with him as he paraded throughout the city, cheered by throngs of adoring crowds. There was, however, one notable absence from the festivities: Tiberius. Prickly as ever, the emperor had grown jealous of his adopted son. The daring Germanicus presented the very image of a Roman hero, something that Tiberius knew he himself could never live up to. In 18 CE, he sent Germanicus on a diplomatic tour of the eastern provinces. Many saw this as a thinly veiled attempt to sideline the young general and get him far from the center of power in Rome. Whether Germanicus suspected this or not, he dutifully embarked on the mission.

He, Agrippina, and the children set sail shortly thereafter. They were feted at every stop they made, including the island of Lesbos, where Agrippina gave birth to her final daughter, Julia Livilla. When they reached Antioch, however, they received a much icier reception. Gnaeus Culpurnius Piso, the governor of Syria, was an old-school patrician who did not like to see his authority superseded by the younger, less experienced Germanicus. Tacitus speculates that Piso may also have been acting on secret orders from Tiberius to undermine Germanicus's authority at any opportunity. The two men were soon feuding with one another. Additionally, Piso's wife, Plancina, did not bother to conceal her hatred of Agrippina. Reportedly, Plancina was bold enough to openly insult Agrippina, just as Piso continually ignored Germanicus's orders.

Naturally, this created a toxic environment in Antioch, with tensions only worsening over the course of the year. In the autumn of 19 CE, Germanicus suddenly fell ill; although there was initially hope that he would recover, his condition gradually deteriorated until he was confined to a sickbed. Germanicus himself railed against Piso, accusing the governor of having poisoned him. When it became clear that he was dying, he bid his wife goodbye, begging Agrippina to think of herself and the children and not seek revenge; he told her to "forget her pride, submit to cruel fortune, and, back in Rome, to avoid provoking those stronger than herself by competing for their power" (quoted in Freisenbruch, 87). Then, on 10 October, Germanicus died at the age of 33. Distraught, Agrippina gathered her husband's ashes, and, though she was "worn out with grief and physically ill," she sailed across the wintry sea back to Italy, ready to face whatever awaited her there (Tacitus, 2.75).

When Agrippina reached the port of Brundisium, she was greeted by thousands of mourners who had turned out to catch a glimpse of the bereaved widow. Across the Roman world, news of Germanicus's death had been met with shock, grief, and confusion, while Agrippina herself appeared as a tragic and sympathetic figure. She made her way to Rome, where, at Germanicus's funeral, the people referred to her as "the glory of her country, the only true descendant of Augustus" (quoted in Freisenbruch, 90). This infuriated Tiberius, who found himself threatened by his step-niece's popularity, just as he was still plagued by the ghost of Germanicus. Agrippina, too, turned her wrath towards the emperor, whom she secretly blamed for her husband's death.

Piso was eventually summoned to Rome and put on trial for Germanicus's murder. The case ended not with a verdict, but a suicide; Piso was found dead, his throat slashed from ear to ear. His death did nothing to ease tensions between Agrippina and the emperor. Over the next two years, Agrippina surrounded herself with a faction of senators loyal to the memory of her late husband, while Tiberius continued to stew, tightening his grip over his regime through a ring of secret informers. Into this tense picture stepped Lucius Aelius Sejanus (circa 20 BCE to 31 CE), prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Cunning and power-hungry – one historian likens him to the villainous Iago in William Shakespeare's Othello – Sejanus plotted to turn the feud between Tiberius and Agrippina to his own advantage.

Sejanus started by planting the seeds of Agrippina's disloyalty. He recruited ladies of the court who were predisposed to mistrust Agrippina and got them to spread the rumor that she was insubordinate and had "ill-concealed maternal ambitions" – another way to suggest that she was planning to usurp the throne in favor of one of her sons. Then, Sejanus arranged for the priests of Janus to mention the names of Agrippina's eldest sons – Nero and Drusus – right alongside Tiberius's own. This succeeded in stirring the emperor's paranoia. He went to the priests, demanding to know if Agrippina had made them chant her sons' names. Their refusal did nothing to dampen his suspicions. At Sejanus's suggestion, Tiberius started arresting senators loyal to Agrippina and trying them on trumped-up charges. One senator committed suicide before a verdict could be reached, while others were forced into exile.

As her friends were exiled one by one, Agrippina found herself increasingly isolated. One day, after another of her allies was convicted, she found Tiberius praying beside a statue of Augustus. This sight filled her with rage. She approached the emperor, snarling, "You think that divine spirit has been interfused into mute stone? No, if you want his true semblance, then look for it in me – a woman with his heavenly blood in her veins!" (quoted in Holland, 229). Tiberius fixed her with his cold gaze and replied, "You think that your not being in power means you suffer persecution?"

The final confrontation would come a few days later, at a dinner party hosted by Tiberius. Agrippina had been warned ahead of time that the emperor was planning to poison her – unbeknownst to her, the warning had come from one of Sejanus's agents. So, she refused to touch any of her food at the dinner table, not even when Tiberius directly offered her an apple. Tiberius was outraged at the implication that he would resort to poison, and relations between him and his step-niece plummeted even further. When she later asked him for permission to remarry, he flat-out refused, a sign that her position at court was quickly crumbling.

In 26 CE, Tiberius went into seclusion on the island of Capri, leaving Rome in the care of Sejanus. Having risen so far by trampling over Agrippina and his other rivals, Sejanus was ready to finish the job. In 29 CE, after the death of Agrippina's powerful step-grandmother Livia Drusilla, he made his move. He went to the Senate bearing a letter from Tiberius, which denounced Agrippina for "insubordinate language and disobedient spirit" (quoted in Freisenbruch, 95). Shortly thereafter, Agrippina was arrested and exiled to Pandateria, the same island where her mother, Julia, had been sent several decades earlier.

Even in exile, Agrippina remained as strong-willed as ever. She went on a hunger strike, refusing to eat until her captors literally forced the food down her throat. She was treated terribly on the island; Suetonius writes that on one occasion, she was beaten so badly by a centurion that she lost an eye. She lived in exile for another few years until her death from starvation in 33 CE, at the age of 46. Not satisfied with merely destroying Agrippina, Tiberius moved to destroy her sons as well. In the wake of Agrippina's exile, her eldest sons Nero and Drusus were also imprisoned and, ultimately, starved to death.

One of her sons did manage to survive, however. In 37 CE, Caligula ascended to the imperial throne upon the death of Tiberius. One of his first acts was to go to the island of Pandateria to collect the ashes of his mother and his brother Nero. He brought them back to Rome and interred them in the Mausoleum of Augustus with great fanfare, ordering that games be held every year in honor of his mother. Agrippina would not live to see the chaos of Caligula's reign, nor did she observe the Machiavellian career of her daughter Agrippina the Younger. Yet despite the unsavory reputations of her children, Agrippina did succeed in her ultimate ambition of seeing them rise to the highest positions in the Roman world – but only at a terrible cost.