Vipsania Agrippina

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Roman imperial dynasties

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Vipsania Agrippina

Chronology

Augustus 27 BC 14 AD

Tiberius 1437 AD

Caligula 3741 AD

Claudius 4154 AD

Nero 5468 AD

Family

Gens Julia
 Gens Claudia
Julio-Claudian family tree
Category:Julio-Claudian dynasty

Succession

Preceded by Followed by
Roman Republic Year of the Four
Emperors

Vipsania Agrippina (/rpan, -pi-/; 36 BC 20 AD) was the first wife of

the Emperor Tiberius. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Pomponia
Caecilia Attica, granddaughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus.[1] By marriage, she was a great-niece
to Quintus Tullius Cicero.
She was betrothed by Augustus and her father to Tiberius before her first birthday. They were
married around 19 BC.[2] Their son Drusus Julius Caesar was born in 14 BC.
When her father died in March 12 BC, he was married to his third wife, Julia the Elder, the
daughter of Augustus. Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce Vipsania and marry Julia, despite his
love for the former and disapproval of the latter. At the time of their divorce, Vipsania was
pregnant with a second child, who did not survive.[3]
Tiberius divorced Vipsania against his will in 11 BC (non sine magno angore animi according
to Suetonius) and never ceased to rue his action. On one occasion Tiberius caught sight of
Vipsania and followed her with an intent and tearful gaze. [3] Precautions were taken to avoid
further embarrassing meetings with her.
In 11 BC she married Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus,[4] a Senator and son of the famous
orator Gaius Asinius Pollio. They had at least six sons. Vipsania Agrippina died in AD 20, a few
days after the ovation of her son Drusus,[5] which took place on 28 May.
Tiberius hated Gallus, not least because Gallus claimed that Drusus was his own son. In 30, at
Tiberius' instigation, the Senate was to declare Gallus a public enemy.[6] He died in prison in 33,
of starvation.
Vipsania and Gallus' known sons were:

Gaius Asinius Pollio - Consul in 23; exiled as an accuser of a conspiracy and later was
put to death on orders from Empress Valeria Messalina.

Marcus Asinius Agrippa - Consul in 25 and died in the end of 26. Tacitus (Annals 4.61)
describes him as "not unworthy of his ancestors". His son Marcus Asinius
Marcellus was Consul in 54 along with Marcus Acilius Aviola (at the time the
Emperor Claudius died).

Asinius Saloninus or (Gnaeus Asinius Saloninus) (sometimes wrongly

called Salonius), died in 22. Tacitus describes him as an eminent person. Saloninus was
intended to marry one of the granddaughters of Emperor Tiberius.[7]

Servius Asinius Celer. He was consul suffectus in 38. From Emperor Caligula he
purchased a fish at an enormous price. He is mentioned in the satire, by Seneca, The
Pumpkinification of Claudius, where he is listed among the many people killed by that
 emperor. His death probably occurred sometime before mid-47. Asinius Celer seems to have
had a daughter by the name of Asinia Agrippina, though her existence is obscure.

Asinius Gallus or (Lucius Asinius Gallus) (sometimes wrongly called Gallo). In 46 he

conspired against Claudius and was forced to go into exile. Cassius Dio (60.27.5) describes
him as being "very small and ugly". Later rehabilitated, he became Consul in 62.

Gnaeus Asinius. His existence is recorded by the townsfolk of Puteoli, whose patron he
was. Nothing else is known about him. He may have been identical with Asinius
Saloninus or the foregoing Asinius Gallus. Since the Asinius Gallus seems to have been
the Lucius Asinius Gallus who became a Consul in 60, by exclusion of parts the Gnaeus
Asinius must be the Asinius Saloninus.
A descendant of Vipsania and Gallus, Pomponia Graecina, became a distinguished lady.
Pomponia might have been a Christian and lived an unhappy long life. Pomponia married Aulus
Plautius. Plautius was a general in the conquest of Britain, which he received as a military
ovation. Nero murdered their son, reportedly because Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero,
was in love with him and encouraged him to bid for the throne.
Another descendant or otherwise relative, Gaius Asinius Lepidus Praetextatus (210 after 242),
became a Consul in 242, being the son of Gaius Asinius Lepidus, Suffect Consul of Rome in 222
and wife (Vettia) (born 190 or 195).
Tacitus states that Vipsania was the only one of Agrippa's children to die without violence. [8] She
was one of the leading women of her time, and between 21-23, her son Drusus honored her
memory with statues, coins and inscriptions.

Contents
[hide]

1In popular culture

2Ancestry

3Notes

4Sources

5External links

In popular culture[edit]
Robert Graves' novel I, Claudius mentions Tiberius following Vipsania with his eyes after their
divorce, referencing Suetonius. Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Tiberius. 7.
The television adaptation went somewhat further, the first episode included a fairly lengthy scene
between Tiberius and Vipsania on the eve of her second marriage, with Tiberius upset and
regretting their divorce. She was played by Sheila Ruskin.

Ancestry[edit]
(See also Julio-Claudian family tree)

[show]Anc
Notes[edit]
1. Jump up^ Nepos Atticus 12

2. Jump up^ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy (1987), 314.

3. ^ Jump up to:a b Suetonius Tiberius 7

4. Jump up^ Tacitus, The Annals 1.12

5. Jump up^ Tacitus, The Annals 3.19

6. Jump up^ Cassius Dio 58.3

7. Jump up^ Tacitus, The Annals 3.75

8. Jump up^ Tacitus Annals. 3.19.4-5.

Sources[edit]
Luz Paulo Manuel de Menezes de Mello Vaz de So-Payo, A Herana Gentica de Dom
Afonso I Henriques (Portugal: Centro de Estudos de Histria da Famlia da Universidade
Moderna do Porto, Porto, 2002).

Manuel Dejante Pinto de Magalhes Arnao Metello and Joo Carlos Metello de
Npoles, Metellos de Portugal, Brasil e Roma, Torres Novas, 1998

External links[edit]