A G R 



ever, alTcfTcd tlicmfclvcs at two ounces of brafs cadi, in order 

 to procure for l\im a nvagnificcnt funeral ; aid when the 

 fenate, unwilling to fanction this mode of raifuig money, 

 decreed a fum for the purpofe out of the treafui y, the people 

 refufed to receive back their money, but ordered it to be 

 paid to the children of the deceafed. Livy. lib. ii. c. i6. 

 32. 33. p. 308-381-389. Ed. Drakenb. Dionyf. Halicain. 

 torn. i. p. 390. 340. Ed. Oxon. 



AcRippA, mAncinil Giugrnphy, a colony of Bithynia in 

 Afia, formed by the ylgnl-penfcs. 



AGRIPPIADES.annmegivenbyHerodtoANTHEDON. 



ACIRIPPINA, tiie eider, in Biography and H'tjlory, 

 was the daughter of Marcus Agrippa, and wife of Gei- 

 rmacus Ca-far. 'When the German Legions revolted in 

 the bcijinning of the reign of Tiberius, ftie attended her 

 liufcand in the camp ; and though fhc had the charge 

 of an infant fon and was pregnant with a fecond child, 

 it was with difficulty t'lat fiie was perfuaded to retire 

 from the danger that threatened them ; and the commifera- 

 tion which her fituation excited induced the revolters to 

 return to their allegiance. On another occaiion, when the 

 viclorious Germans were on their march to make an irruption 

 into Gaul, and it was propofed to demolifli the bridge on the 

 Rhine, near Treves, in order to ftop their progrefs, Agrip- 

 pina prevented it, a;:d thus fecured a retreat for Cecina and 

 his legions. When they arrived, fhe met them at the head 

 of the bridge, returned them thanks for their valour, and 

 dillributed among them clothes and medicines. The jealous 

 fpirit of Tiberius took offence at this conduft, which me- 

 rited commendation, and aggravated the diflike with which 

 fhe was regarded at court, in confequence of her difagrec- 

 nient with Livia, the mother of the emperor. She afterwards 

 attended her hufband in his difficult and perilous cipedition 

 to the Eaftern provinces of the empire, and was the forrowful 

 witnefs of his lall conflift, which happened at Antioch, 

 A. D. IQ. The dying prince conjured her by the memory 

 of a hufband once dear to her, and by their children, the 

 product of mutual love, to reflrain her great fpirit, yield to 

 her hollile fortune, and take care at her return to Roine not 

 to irritate thofe in power by an ill-iudged rividihip. Agrip- 

 pina gathered the adics of her deceafed hufband, and braving 

 the dangers of the fea in the worft feafon of the year, haf- 

 tened home, and landed at Brundufium, carrying the fe- 

 pulchral urn, and accompanied by two of her children. 

 The mournful fpeclaele produced an imiverfal groan amidil 

 the multitude, who waited her landing ; nor were the lamen- 

 tations of relations to be diilinguiflied, as Tacitus has defel-ibed 

 the fcene, from thofc of ftrangers, nor of men from thofe 

 of women. Agrippina's fpirit was unfubdued ; after lier 

 return to Ron-,e, (lie forgot the dying charge of her hufband, 

 and fell a facrifice to the wicked arts of Sejanus. By his 

 agents he perfuaded her, that it was the intention of the 

 emperor to poifon her ; and file had the imprudence to dif- 

 clofe her fufpicion to the reigning tyrant. This circumftance 

 induced him to determine upon her ruin ; and immediately 

 after the death of his mother, Livia, he fent to the fenate 

 letters of accufation againil her and her fon Nero. The 

 fenate hefitated ; but Sejanus furnifhed the evidence that was 

 iiecefTar)- for their condemnation. She was banifhed to the 

 ifle of Pandatavia, now Santa Maria, lying off the coaft of 

 Terracina ; and her fon Nero was banifhed to the neighbour- 

 ing ifle of Pontia, where he foon died. Drufus, her fecond 

 fon, was confmed in the lower apartments of the palace, and 

 there famifhed. Agrippina furvived about four years ; and 

 her death, which happened through want of food, either 

 voluntarily or by eompulfion, A. D. 33, was announced by 

 Tiberius to tlie fenate ; and the favage tyrant accepted the 



A G R 



thanks of this body, for not ordering her to be flrangled, 

 and her body to be cxpofed like that of a common male- 

 faftor. This pretended clemency was more than counter- 

 balanced by a charge againfl her of adultciy with Alinius 

 Gallus, whofe death, he laid, had been the caufc of hers. 

 Her known charafter for chaftity repelled this infamous 

 charge ; and Tacitus funis it up in a few words, by obferving, 

 that " impatient of equality and greedy of domination, flie 

 had banifhed female frailties by her mafculine ambition." 

 Her remains were brought in great pomp from Pandataria, 

 by her fon Caligula, foon after his accellion, and depcfited 

 in the maufoleum of Auguftus, and all forts of honours 

 were paid to her memory — " an inftance, fays an excellent 

 biographer, of filial piety, which is one of the beft things 

 recorded of that imperial monfler !" Tacit. Annal. lib. i. li. 

 iii. iv. Crevier's Hill, of the Emperors, vol. ii. iii. 



Agrippina, the younger, was the daughter of Ger- 

 mauicus, by the preceding Agrippina, and the mother of 

 Nero. In the year 28 fhe was married by Tiberius to Cn. 

 Domitius, belonging to the imperial family, but faithlcf.;, 

 ferocious, and debauched ; and as Agrippina was no leis 

 profligate than her hufband, Domitius might well obferv.-, 

 as Suetonius informs us, (in Nero c. 6. torn. ii. p. 374. Ed. 

 Pitifc.) when he was congratulated on the birth of a fon, 

 that from him and that princefs nothing could be boni but 

 fome monfler, fatal to the human fpecies ; and his declaration 

 was too exaftly verified by the crimes and cruelties of Nero. 

 Agrippina was diflinguifhed with honours by her brother 

 Caligula, at his acceffion ; but loft her hufband before the 

 end of that reign. Before his death, however, fhe had an 

 intrigue with M. Lepidus, who was the companion of Ca- 

 ligula in his debaucheries, and who afpired to the empire ; and 

 was concerned with him in his confpiracy againft her brother. 

 For this crime fhe and her lifter Julia were depiived of the 

 honours, which were conferred upon them at the commence- 

 ment of this reign ; their pofTelTions were forfeited and fold 

 by an auftion in Gaul, at which Caligula prefided ; and they 

 were baniflied to the ifle of Pontus. Agrippina was com- 

 pelled to carry in her arms the urn that held Lepidus's afhes 

 all the way from Gaul to Rome ; and at the fame time Ti- 

 gellinus, under the charge of adultery with her, was exiled. 

 In the reign of Claudius, Agrippina was recalled from ba- 

 niflinient, and married to a fecond hufband, whofe name was 

 Crifpus Paffisnus, a celebrated orator, who had been twice 

 conful, and who was very rich ; and whom his wife poifoned 

 in order to obtain pofTefiion of his wealth, which he had 

 bequeathed to her by his will. After the death of MefTalina, 

 the third wife of Claudius, this emperor was induced A. D. 

 48, by the pcrfuafions of Pidlas, to marry his niece Agrippina, 

 who exercifed the new powers flie thus acquired with a degree 

 of haughtinefs, injuilice and cruelty, that might have been 

 reafonably expefted from her well-known charafter. She 

 did not blufh, fays Tacitus, to proftitute hcrfelf to Pallas, 

 in order to fecure her fon's elevation, and to gratify her owa 

 infatiable thirft for gold ; and beeaufe Lollia Paulina had 

 been her rival for the imperial dignity, fhe was banifhed and 

 put to death ; and Dion Caffius (lib. Ix. torn. ii. p. 970. 

 Ed. Reimari.) fays, that her head was brought to Agrip- 

 pina, who opened and examined the teeth, in which there 

 was fome particular mark, that flie might thus identify her 

 perfon. She manifefted her wifdom, however, in ufing her 

 influence for recalling Seneca from banifhment, and placing 

 her fon Nero under his tuition ; but regardlefs of every 

 principle of juftice, flie engaged the intereft of Pallas, and 

 prevailed with the weak emperor to adopt her fon Domitiu:.-, 

 then (Wz. A. D. 50.) called Nero Claudius C:efar, though 

 he had a fon of his own, Eritannicus, to whom he was af- 



ftdionately 



