Episode 51: The Rise of Agrippina the Younger

With Messalina out the picture, Claudius says he never wants to marry again. But that sentiment does not last long before he weds his niece, Agrippina the Younger. She brings her son Lucius to the marriage and begins to secure his future and eliminate potential competition.    SHOWNOTES: Legends about Messalina and her proclivities (Pliny, NH. 10.83) How Claudius chose his bride (Tacitus. Annals. 12.1-2) Lucius Vitellius (Dio 59.27.2-4). Junia Calvina as festivissima omnium puellarum, "the liveliest and most delightful of all young women." (Seneca, Apocol. 8.2).  Physiognomist pronouncing the futures of Britannicus and Titus  (Suet, Titus, 2)   Agrippina and Claudius (Tacitus, Annals, 12.3-8) Agrippina and Lollia Pollina (Tac Ann. 12.22; Dio 60.32.4)  Agrippina named 'Augusta' (Tacitus, Annals. 12.25-26) Agrippina renaming her birthplace Colonia Agrippina (Pliny, NH, 31 (17); Tacitus, Annals. 12.27), modern day Cologne, Germany