Agrippina the Younger

15 – 59

Julia Agrippina, known as Agrippina the Younger, was a Roman empress, the great-granddaughter of Augustus, sister of the emperor Caligula, niece and fourth wife of the emperor Claudius, and mother of the emperor Nero. Ancient historians including Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio attribute to her the poisoning of her second husband Passienus Crispus to claim his estate, the manoeuvring that disinherited Claudius's son Britannicus in favour of her own son, and finally the poisoning of Claudius himself in October 54 with a dish of mushrooms so that Nero could ascend to the throne. Nero ordered her assassination in March 59, after a staged shipwreck in the Bay of Naples failed to kill her and assassins sent to her villa at Bauli stabbed her to death.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM