Classical Wisdom Litterae - May 2020

her (and Sejanus’s) death as a national holiday and ordered an annual sacrifice be made to Jupiter each year in observance. Agrippina, however, may have had the last laugh. In a fitting denouement, Caligula is believed to have murdered the Princeps in 37 CE. By this time, Tiberius was in his seventy-eighth year and had served as emperor for twenty- three long, hard and arduous years. Although Tiberius did everything to prevent it, he was succeeded by of one of Agrippina’s sons, after all. In spite of the fact that his golden family was in tatters—or perhaps because of it—the people loved Caligula for no other reason than being the personification of their long-lost golden couple. Once he ascended the throne, Caligula capitalized on the public’s nostalgia for his family and made Agrippina the star in his campaign to restore them. With coins and statuary crafted in Agrippina’s image, the granddaughter of the Divine Augustus and mother to the extant emperor was made the centerpiece of the Julia- Claudian dynasty. Ev e n t u a l l y , h e r l e g a c y wou l d s p a n generations and include two emperors (a son and a grandson) and a daughter—"impatient for equality” like her mother—who was the driving force behind the reigns of her emperor husband (Claudius) and her emperor son (Nero). For centuries, Agrippina’s indelible image of strength and fortitude could be found throughout the empire, rendering her as famous in death as she had been in her abbreviated life. Tribunes: an official in ancient Rome chosen by the plebeians to protect their interests. A Roman legionary officer and a popular leader; a champion of people's rights. Centurions: a professional officer of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Centurions commanded a century of around 80 legionaries. Praetorian: The Praetorian Guard (Latin: cohortes praetoriae) was an elite unit of the Imper i a l Roman army whose members served as personal bodyguards and intelligence for the Roman emperors. Prefect: A prefect was a type of military or civil official in Ancient Rome. Prefects ranged from low to very high-ranking military of civil officials of the Roman Empire. Princeps: Princeps (plural: principes) is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person". I t i s pr imar i l y associated with the Roman emperors as an unofficial title first adopted by Augustus in 23 BC. DECODING ROMAN ROLES LXII