正文翻譯

Rome’s hardball politics were off-limits to women, yet this great-granddaughter of Augustus won power for herself and her son, Nero, who would later have her murdered.

羅馬強(qiáng)硬的政治對(duì)婦女來說是禁區(qū)，然而這位奧古斯都的曾孫女為自己和她的兒子尼祿贏得了權(quán)力，不過后來她卻是被她的親兒子親手了解。

BY ISABEL BARCELó

作者：伊莎貝爾·巴爾塞萊

Nobody could question Agrippina’s imperial credentials: great granddaughter of Augustus, great-niece of Tiberius (granddaughter of Drusus), sister to Caligula, wife of Claudius, and mother to Nero. Like her male relatives, she enjoyed great influence. Honored with the title Augusta in A.D. 50, she wielded political power like a man—and paid the price for it.

阿格里皮娜是奧古斯都的曾孫女，提比略的侄孫女(德魯斯的孫女)，卡里古拉的妹妹，克勞迪亞斯的妻子，尼祿的母親。和她的這些男性親戚一樣，阿格里皮娜也有很大的影響力。

Agrippina recorded her life in a series of memoirs, in which, according to first-century historian Tacitus, she “handed down to posterity the story of her life and of the misfortunes of her family.” Unfortunately, her writings—and her authentic perspective—have been lost.

阿格里皮娜用回憶錄記錄了自己的一生。據(jù)公元一世紀(jì)的歷史學(xué)家塔西佗說，她用回憶錄 “將自己的生平和家庭的不幸的故事一代代傳了下來。”不幸的是，她的作品，以及她真實(shí)的觀點(diǎn)都已經(jīng)丟失了。

Most of what is known about her comes from secondhand sources written after her death. Many contemporary historians condemned her for violating Rome’s patriarchal structure with her naked ambition. Many blamed her for the actions of her son, Nero.

人們對(duì)她的了解大多來自她死后的二手資料。許多當(dāng)代歷史學(xué)家譴責(zé)她用她赤裸裸的野心破壞了羅馬的父權(quán)社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)。還有許多人因她兒子尼祿的所作所為而指責(zé)她。

While describing her at times as irrational, perverted, and unscrupulous, some historians, however, bestowed a grudging admiration for Agrippina, such as Tacitus when describing the moment she became empress of Rome:

在描述她的荒謬、變態(tài)和肆無忌憚時(shí)，一些歷史學(xué)家卻對(duì)她給予了勉強(qiáng)的贊美，比如塔西佗在描述她成為羅馬女皇的那一刻是這樣說得:

From this moment, the country was transformed. Complete obedience was accorded to a woman—and not a woman . . . who toyed with national affairs to satisfy her appetites. This was a rigorous, almost masculine despotism. In public, Agrippina was austere and often arrogant. Her private life was chaste—unless there was power to be gained. Her passion to acquire money was unbounded. She wanted it as a stepping-stone to supremacy.?

從那一刻起，這個(gè)國(guó)家發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。人們完全服從了一個(gè)女人，這個(gè)女人并非通過玩弄國(guó)家大事來滿足她的欲望。這是一種嚴(yán)格的，幾乎是男性專屬的專制制度。在公眾面前，阿格里皮納是一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)樸而又常常很傲慢的人。她的私生活是樸素的，除非有權(quán)力可以攫取。她對(duì)賺錢的熱情是無限的。她想把金錢作為通往霸權(quán)的墊腳石。

Of course Agrippina is not the only powerful woman in history to have been treated unfairly by scholars, but this bias against her has motivated today’s historians to revisit her life and accomplishments to assess their effects on the Roman Empire.

當(dāng)然，阿格里皮娜并不是歷史上唯一一位受到學(xué)者不公平對(duì)待的有權(quán)勢(shì)的女性，但也正是這種對(duì)她的偏見促使今天的歷史學(xué)家開始重新審視她的一生和成就，以此評(píng)估這些事情對(duì)羅馬帝國(guó)的影響。

Famous family

有名望的家族

Around A.D. 15, Agrippina was born in a military camp on the banks of the Rhine to an influential Roman power: Germanicus, nephew and adopted son of the emperor Tiberius and a candidate to succeed him, and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus’ favorite granddaughter.

大約公元15年，阿格里皮娜出生在萊因河岸邊的一個(gè)軍營(yíng)里，他的父親是很有影響力的羅馬勢(shì)力Germanicus，他是提比略皇帝的外甥和養(yǎng)子，同時(shí)他也是提比略皇帝的繼承人;而阿格里皮娜的母親是奧古斯都最喜歡的孫女。

When Agrippina was just four years old, Germanicus died of poisoning in Syria, a crime that her mother always attributed to Tiberius. Agrippina the Elder claimed that the emperor Tiberius feared Germanicus’s popularity with the army, believing that military support would eventually allow Germanicus to usurp the emperor and take his place. Whether or not Tiberius was responsible for poisoning Germanicus, he did deny his adopted son the honor of a public funeral.

阿格里皮娜年僅四歲時(shí)，Germanicus就在敘利亞死于中毒，她的母親一直認(rèn)為這是提比略犯下的罪行。老阿格里皮娜聲稱，提比略皇帝之所以這么做是因?yàn)楹ε翯ermanicus在軍隊(duì)中受歡迎，認(rèn)為軍事支持最終會(huì)讓Germanicus篡奪他皇帝的位置。不管提比略是否對(duì)毒害Germanicus負(fù)有責(zé)任，但是他當(dāng)時(shí)確實(shí)拒絕為他的養(yǎng)子舉行公開的葬禮。

Germanicus’s widow, the indomitable Agrippina the Elder, arrived in Rome with her husband’s ashes, in what became an open challenge to the emperor. With the greatest dignity, she took the urn containing the ashes and, accompanied by her children and a huge crowd of mourning citizens, she led a silent procession through the streets of Rome to the mausoleum of Augustus, where she deposited it. Tiberius was furious at his daughter-in-law’s defiance and never forgave her.

作為Germanicus的遺孀，不屈不撓的老阿格里皮娜帶著她丈夫的骨灰來到了羅馬，這一舉動(dòng)是對(duì)羅馬皇帝的公開挑戰(zhàn)。她帶著極大的尊嚴(yán)手持裝有Germanicus骨灰的骨灰盒，在她的孩子和大批哀悼的市民的陪伴下，帶領(lǐng)一個(gè)沉默的隊(duì)伍穿過了羅馬的街道，來到奧古斯都的陵墓前，將骨灰放在了那里。提比略對(duì)兒媳的這一挑釁非常憤怒，他永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)原諒她。

The younger Agrippina apparently received a solid education, and there is no doubt of her intelligence, nor of her determination and strength. From an early age, she certainly understood the workings of the imperial court and how a woman could maneuver within it. Her great-grandmother Livia, grandmother Antonia, and her mother taught her the mechanisms and dangers of life at court.

小阿格里皮娜顯然受過良好的教育，她的智慧、決心和力量是毋庸置疑的。從很小的時(shí)候起，她就很清楚羅馬朝廷的運(yùn)作方式，也知道自己作為一名女性如何在其中周旋。她的曾祖母Livia，祖母Antonia和她的母親教會(huì)了她宮廷生活的生活機(jī)制和危險(xiǎn)。

BIRTHPLACE OF THE EMPRESS

皇后的出生地

Agrippina, in her role as Augusta, founded a Roman colony near her birthplace in what is today western Germany. Her father, Germanicus, had been stationed at a military outpost along the Rhine when Agrippina was born there in A.D. 15. After Agrippina elevated it, the colony was named Colonia Claudia Augusta Ara Agrippinensium (Colony of Claudius Near the Altar of the Agrippinians) but referred to as Colonia. The colony grew and became a major urban center, serving as the capital city of the Roman province Germania Inferior. Today it is known in English as Cologne, Germany’s fourth largest city.?

阿格里皮娜以其奧古斯都后裔的身份在她的出生地附近，也就是今天的西德，建立了一個(gè)羅馬殖民地。她的父親Germanicus在公元15年阿格里皮納出生時(shí)，曾駐扎在萊茵河沿岸的一個(gè)軍事前哨。在阿格里皮納將其提升后，該殖民地被命名為Colonia Claudia Augusta Ara Agrippinensium，簡(jiǎn)稱Colonia。

Agrippina the Elder would pay dearly for taking on Tiberius. A few years later, the emperor had her two eldest sons murdered and banished her to one of the Pontine Islands where she died. These horrors, observed by Agrippina the Younger, while still a child, scarred her deeply and left an indelible mark on her thinking. It was here that she grew up and where early trauma forged her character. She decided not to challenge power head-on, at least at first, as her mother had done, but rather to protect herself through marriage to a cousin, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.

老阿格里皮娜因?yàn)閷?duì)抗提比略皇帝而付出了高昂的代價(jià)。幾年后，皇帝殺死了她的兩個(gè)長(zhǎng)子，并將她流放到Pontine群島的一個(gè)島上，直到她在那里死去。小阿格里皮娜在還是個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候就目睹了這些可怕的事情，并給她留下了深深的傷疤，在她的思想上留下了不可磨滅的印記。

Brother and emperor

哥哥和皇帝

Agrippina began to make waves when her brother Caligula became emperor in A.D. 37. It is to this era that the earliest surviving image of her dates. A coin minted with Caligula’s effigy on the front features his three sisters on the back. Depicted as Securitas, the security and strength of the empire, Agrippina leans on a column alongside her sisters Drusilla and Livilla, representing Concord and Fortune.

公元37年，當(dāng)她的哥哥Caligula成為皇帝時(shí)，阿格里皮娜開始掀起軒然大波。如今發(fā)現(xiàn)的阿格里皮娜最早幸存的形象圖是在一枚硬幣上，一枚正面印著Caligula，背面印著他的三個(gè)姐妹的硬幣。圖像上，阿格里皮娜斜靠在一根柱子上，旁邊是她的姐妹德魯西拉(Drusilla)和里維拉(Livilla)，她們分別代表著和諧和財(cái)富。

The new emperor Caligula showered his three sisters with honors, included them in official prayers, and even had consuls conclude their proposals to the Senate with the formula “Favor and good fortune attend Gaius Caesar and his sisters.”

新皇帝Caligula向他的三個(gè)姐妹表示出了極大的敬意，他不但把她們列入了正式的祈禱中，他甚至讓執(zhí)政官在向元老院提出的提案中總結(jié)出這樣一句話:“蓋烏斯·愷撒和他的姐妹們將得到恩惠和好運(yùn)?！?/p>

Agrippina grew popular during this time. At age 22, she gave birth to her only biological child, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would become better known as Nero. From the very beginning, Agrippina was resolute in one aim: to see her son become emperor. It was not unreasonable, given her elite family credentials, nor was it unusual: Roman matrons were expected to promote their children’s interests.

在這段時(shí)間里，阿格里皮娜變得受歡迎起來。22歲的時(shí)候，她生下了自己唯一的孩子，Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus，也就是后來廣為人知的尼祿（古羅馬暴君）。從一開始，阿格里皮娜就有一個(gè)堅(jiān)定的目標(biāo)，即看著她的兒子成為皇帝?？紤]到她的精英家庭資歷，這并非不合理，也并非不尋常，畢竟羅馬的主婦們往往被期望著幫助自己的孩子們獲得更多的利益。

A bust depicts Nero, who in A.D. 54 became Roman emperor, at age 16. Initially promising reform, Nero was guided in the first few years by Agrippina until he gave orders for her murder in 59.

一個(gè)半身像描繪了公元54年16歲時(shí)成為羅馬皇帝的尼祿。最初尼祿承諾改革，改革的最初幾年由阿格里皮娜親自指導(dǎo)，直到59年尼祿下令謀殺了她。

In Agrippina’s case, she had a strong personal drive to get involved in politics. In a society that kept women out of government, it was unthinkable that she, by herself, could enter the arena. Through Nero, she had a chance to grasp power, but securing the imperial throne for him would be both difficult and dangerous.

在阿格里皮娜的處境中，她有強(qiáng)烈的個(gè)人動(dòng)機(jī)去參政。在一個(gè)將婦女排斥在政府之外的社會(huì)里，她憑一己之力進(jìn)入了政治舞臺(tái)，這在當(dāng)時(shí)是不可想象的。通過尼祿，她有機(jī)會(huì)掌握權(quán)力，但為他保住皇位既困難又危險(xiǎn)。

Caligula became seriously ill and, when he regained his health, began a bloody purge to eliminate rivals, reminiscent of the worst violence of Tiberius. Agrippina, having allegedly conspired in a plot to overthrow her brother, was accused of immoral conduct and exiled to the Pontine Islands.

Caligula當(dāng)時(shí)病得很重，當(dāng)他恢復(fù)健康后，就開始了一場(chǎng)針對(duì)對(duì)手的血腥的清洗，這讓人想起了提比略最惡劣的暴力手段。在這種情況下，阿格里皮娜也被指控密謀推翻她的哥哥，同時(shí)她也被指控品行不端而被流放到了Pontine群島。

A year later, Caligula’s assassination unleashed a new wave of chaos before Agrippina’s paternal uncle, Claudius, took over as emperor in January, A.D. 41. Rome’s new ruler reversed the sentence on his niece and allowed her to return to Rome. (Caligula thought he was a god, and it got him killed.)

一年后，Caligula遭遇暗殺，這又引發(fā)了新一輪的混亂，直到阿格里皮娜的叔叔Claudius在公元41年1月接任皇帝后，這場(chǎng)騷亂才得以停止。這位羅馬的新統(tǒng)治者推翻了前任皇帝對(duì)他侄女的判決，允許她返回了羅馬。(Caligula認(rèn)為自己是神，因此被殺。)

That same month, Agrippina became a widow after Ahenobarbus died, but she quickly remarried. Claudius arranged a unx with a wealthy, well-connected man, Crispus, who had served twice as consul. The marriage lasted until Crispus’ death in 47, which left Agrippina a very wealthy widow. Rumors spread that she had caused her husband’s demise after he named her his heir.

同月，阿格里皮娜的丈夫Ahenobarbus去世，于是阿格里皮娜成了寡婦，但她很快又再婚了。當(dāng)時(shí)的皇帝Claudius安排他與一位富有、出身名門的Crispus聯(lián)姻。Crispus曾兩次擔(dān)任執(zhí)政官。這段婚姻一直持續(xù)到公元47年Crispus去世，這使阿格里皮娜成為了一個(gè)非常富有的寡婦。有謠言說，在她丈夫指定她為繼承人后，阿格里皮娜謀殺了她的丈夫。

Uncle and niece

叔叔和侄女

A year later, Claudius was widowed and began looking for a new wife. Despite Agrippina being his biological niece, her imperial ancestry made her a strong marital candidate. She was beautiful, still young, and brought with her, her son, who, as Germanicus’s grandson, was, in the words of Tacitus, “thoroughly worthy of imperial rank.” Claudius hoped that in this way she “would not carry off the grandeur of the Caesars to some other house.”

一年后，Claudius喪偶，開始尋找新妻子。盡管阿格里皮娜是他的親生侄女，但她的帝國(guó)血統(tǒng)使她成為一個(gè)強(qiáng)有力的結(jié)婚人選。她美麗，年輕，還有一個(gè)有著Germanicus孫子的身份的兒子。用塔西佗的話來說，她“完全配得上皇后這個(gè)威嚴(yán)的地位?！?Claudius希望通過娶她，這樣她就“不會(huì)把皇家的威風(fēng)帶到別的什么人家去”。

Roman historians attributed Claudius’s choice to manipulation. Tacitus wrote that “Agrippina’s seductiveness was a help. Visiting her uncle frequently . . . she tempted into giving her the preference.” Writing in the second century, the historian Suetonius was more condemning in his language: “[I]t was Agrippina . . . who hooked him. She had a niece’s privilege of kissing and caressing Claudius, and exercised it with a noticeable effect on his passions.”

羅馬歷史學(xué)家將Claudius的選擇歸因于他人的操縱。塔西佗寫道:“阿格里皮娜的誘惑力是一種因素?！彼?jīng)常去看望她的叔叔…她吸引Claudius給予她偏愛?！惫兰o(jì)，歷史學(xué)家蘇埃托尼烏斯(Suetonius)用他的語言表達(dá)了更強(qiáng)烈的譴責(zé):“是阿格里皮娜……使得Claudius迷上了她。她有一個(gè)侄女的特權(quán)，所以可以親吻和愛撫Claudius，并對(duì)他的感情產(chǎn)生了明顯的影響?！?/p>

The marriage between Claudius and Agrippina, was celebrated in A.D. 49. With skill and tact she established a close relationship with the Senate, imposed order and moderation in the courts, and worked alongside her husband in imperial matters. She earned the title of Augusta and, in an unprecedented step, would appear standing beside the emperor in public.

Claudius和阿格里皮娜的婚禮在公元49年舉行。之后憑借其技巧和機(jī)智，她與元老院建立了密切的關(guān)系，在法庭上強(qiáng)制實(shí)行秩序和節(jié)制，并與丈夫一起處理帝國(guó)事務(wù)。她贏得了“奧古斯塔”的稱號(hào)，并史無前例地在公眾場(chǎng)合出現(xiàn)在皇帝身邊。

MESSALINA AND AGRIPPINA

梅莎利娜和阿格里皮娜

One of Agrippina’s most fearsome political rivals was Messalina, third wife of Claudius. Writing some 70 years after her death, Roman historians described Messalina as being powerful and influential but completely immoral and lascivious; her husband was in her thrall, unwilling to see her manipulations. Shortly after Claudius became emperor, Messalina gave birth to their son Britannicus, who had the strongest position to become his heir.

阿格里皮娜最可怕的政治對(duì)手之一是Claudius的第三任妻子梅莎利娜。在梅莎利娜死后大約70年，羅馬歷史學(xué)家將她描述為一個(gè)強(qiáng)大而有影響力的人，但她也完全是一個(gè)不道德和淫蕩的人;她丈夫受她支配，但極不愿就這樣受她操縱。Claudius成為皇帝后不久，梅莎利娜就生下了他們的兒子Britannicus，他是最有可能成為Claudius繼承人的人。

Messalina ruthlessly tried to eliminate potential rivals—including Agrippina and her son Nero—through gossip, exile, and even murder. Messalina would eventually be undone by her numerous intrigues and affairs. The Praetorian Guard would execute her after word spread of her involvement in a plot to overthrow Claudius and make Britannicus emperor. With her rival out of the way, Agrippina smartly maneuvered to become Claudius’s next wife, unseat Britannicus as heir, and secure succession for Nero.?

梅莎利娜無情地試圖通過流言蜚語、流放甚至謀殺來消滅包括阿格里皮娜和她的兒子尼祿等潛在的王位競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。不過梅莎利娜最終被她無數(shù)的陰謀詭計(jì)和風(fēng)流韻事毀掉。禁衛(wèi)軍在她參與密謀推翻Claudius并立Britannicus為皇帝的消息傳開后將她處死。當(dāng)她的對(duì)手被趕下臺(tái)后，阿格里皮娜就巧妙地成為了Claudius的下一任妻子，順便推翻了Britannicus的王位繼承權(quán)，確保了尼祿的繼承權(quán)。

On one occasion, a British king, Caratacus, together with his wife and children, were paraded in chains through the streets of the city as prisoners of war. They were finally brought before Claudius to beg for mercy. Enthroned on a dais, surrounded by praetors, the emperor was moved to hear the speech of the condemned man, spared him and his family, and set them free. Caratacus thanked the emperor and then went before Agrippina, seated in a separate gallery, and thanked her too.?

有一次，作為戰(zhàn)俘，英國(guó)國(guó)王Caratacus及其妻子兒女被銬著鎖鏈去游街示眾。最后他們被帶到Claudius面前乞求寬恕。皇帝坐在由裁判官簇?fù)淼母吲_(tái)上，聽了那個(gè)死刑犯的講話，深受感動(dòng)，于是赦免了他和他的家人，釋放了他們。Caratacus感謝了皇帝，然后走到坐在另一個(gè)走廊上的阿格里皮娜面前，也感謝了她。

“It was an innovation, certainly, and one without precedent in ancient custom, that a woman should sit in state before Roman standards: it was the advertisement of her claim to a partnership in the empire which her ancestors had created,” wrote Tacitus.

塔西佗后來寫道:“女人出現(xiàn)在如此莊重的場(chǎng)合，這是走在羅馬慣例的前端的，這當(dāng)然是一種創(chuàng)新，因?yàn)樵诠糯牧?xí)俗中是沒有先例的。這是一個(gè)廣告，表明她有權(quán)在她的祖先所建立的帝國(guó)中享有一種合作關(guān)系的廣告?！?/p>

Agrippina’s own history, shaped by violent power struggles, prompted her to plan for her son’s ascent to the imperial throne with as little violence as possible. She knew that the road to power was not straightforward given that Claudius already had a biological son named Britannicus. The empress knew it was important to establish in people’s minds that Nero, and not Britannicus, was the obvious successor.

阿格里皮娜自己深受暴力權(quán)力斗爭(zhēng)影響的經(jīng)歷，促使她為兒子登上皇位制定計(jì)劃中盡量減少了暴力沖突。她知道通往權(quán)力的道路并不簡(jiǎn)單，因?yàn)镃laudius當(dāng)時(shí)已經(jīng)有了一個(gè)名叫Britannicus親生的兒子?；屎笾溃匾氖且屓藗兿嘈拍岬摬攀秋@而易見的繼承人，而不是Britannicus。

Agrippina worked behind the scenes to ensure this outcome. Agrippina made it a condition of her marriage to Claudius, that Nero would marry Octavia, Claudius’s youngest daughter. Nero appeared in public with the imperial couple and was showered with commission and honors. As a last step he became the emperor’s legally adopted son. Nero’s preeminence over Claudius’s younger son, Britannicus, was assured.

阿格里皮娜通過幕后操縱確保了這一結(jié)果。阿格里皮娜自己嫁給克勞迪斯的條件之一，就是尼祿要娶Claudius最小的女兒Octavia。后來當(dāng)尼祿帶著皇家女婿的身份出現(xiàn)在公眾面前時(shí)，果然受到了大量的委任和榮譽(yù)。最終，他成為了皇帝合法的養(yǎng)子。尼祿與Claudius的小兒子Britannicus相比之下，其優(yōu)勢(shì)是毋庸置疑的。

Claudius’s health was generally poor and a death by natural causes would have been quite plausible. Even so, many blamed the emperor’s death in A.D. 54 on Agrippina and theorized that she ordered him to be poisoned to ensure he would not rescind the commitment to pass the throne to Nero. No proof of Agrippina’s involvement exists, but the story has stuck.

Claudius的健康狀況很差，所以自然死亡是很有可能的。即便如此，許多人仍將公元54年Claudius皇帝的死歸咎于阿格里皮娜，并推測(cè)是她下令毒死皇帝，以確保他不會(huì)取消將王位傳給尼祿的承諾。雖然沒有證據(jù)證明阿格里皮娜參與其中，但這個(gè)故事一直在流傳。

Mother and son

母親和兒子

Soon after Claudius’s death, Agrippina acted quickly. Within just a few hours, the teenaged Nero was being acclaimed emperor by the army and the Senate. His close relationship with his mother was well known and well scrutinized. Suetonius related how Nero announced during his funeral oration for Claudius that Agrippina would be taking over his public and private affairs.

Claudius死后不久，阿格里皮娜迅速采取行動(dòng)。僅僅幾個(gè)小時(shí)之內(nèi)，少年尼祿就被軍隊(duì)和元老院擁立為皇帝。他與母親的親密關(guān)系是眾所周知的，也受到密切關(guān)注。Suetonius講述了尼祿在他為Claudius的葬禮致辭中宣布阿格里皮娜將接管他的公共和私人事務(wù)。

An interesting detail: “On the day of his accession the password he gave to the colonel on duty was ‘The Best of Mothers’; and she and he often rode out together through the streets in her litter.” Rumors that the two were incestuously involved were reported by historians as well.

一個(gè)有趣的細(xì)節(jié)是:“在他即位的那天，他給值班上校的口令是‘最好的母親’;她和他經(jīng)常一起坐著她的轎子穿過街道。”歷史學(xué)家也曾報(bào)道過兩人亂倫的傳聞。

Agrippina’s influence and Nero’s gratitude would wane over time. Nero’s advisers Seneca and Burrus, who had been appointed by Agrippina, now held newfound power and used it to sideline her. Far from accepting her new role, Agrippina tried, unsuccessfully, to continue to influence her son.

阿格里皮娜的影響力和尼祿對(duì)她的感激之情會(huì)隨著時(shí)間的推移而減弱。尼祿的顧問Seneca和Burrus原本都是由阿格里皮娜任命的，后來他們掌握了新的權(quán)力，并利用手中的權(quán)力排擠她。不過阿格里皮娜非但沒有接受她的新角色，反而試圖繼續(xù)影響她的兒子，但沒有成功。

He enjoyed popularity at the start of his reign, but things would start to unravel. Familial tensions would increase over politics and Nero’s choice of companions. The already unbearable tension between mother and son was compounded when Nero had Britannicus assassinated.

尼祿在執(zhí)政之初廣受歡迎，但事情后來開始走下坡路。由于政治活動(dòng)和尼祿選擇伙伴的問題上，他們家族內(nèi)部的緊張關(guān)系加劇。當(dāng)尼祿派人暗殺Britannicus時(shí)，母子之間本已難以忍受的緊張關(guān)系更加惡化了。

According to sources, the ship that Nero provided Agrippina was designed to sink—and it did. Nero, however, had underestimated his mother being a proficient swimmer. 19th-century oil painting by Gustav Wertheimer

據(jù)消息人士透露，尼祿提供給阿格里皮娜的那艘船就是為了沉沒而設(shè)計(jì)的，而且它也確實(shí)沉沒了。然而，尼祿低估了他的母親是一個(gè)熟練的游泳好手的本事。

Within a year of Nero becoming emperor, Agrippina was ordered to leave the imperial residence and relocated to an estate in Misenum. She had been cast out from the inner circle of power, but she was not safe from her son. Nero tried to drown her by sabotaging a boat, but she survived. Undeterred, Nero sent assassins to the villa where Agrippina had taken refuge and had her murdered there in A.D. 59.

在尼祿成為皇帝的一年內(nèi)，阿格里皮娜被命令離開帝國(guó)官邸，并搬遷到Misenum的一個(gè)莊園。她被逐出了核心權(quán)力集團(tuán)，但在其兒子眼皮底下的她并不安全。尼祿企圖破壞小船淹死她，但她活了下來。尼祿并沒有被嚇住，他派刺客來到阿格里皮娜藏身的別墅，并在公元59年將她殺害。

There were no funeral honors. To cover up the matricide, Nero and his advisers crafted a misogynistic cover story, attributing various crimes to her, according to Tacitus, that included, “[aiming] at a share of empire, and at inducing the praetorian cohorts to swear obedience to a woman, to the disgrace of the Senate and people.” Her reputation lay shattered, and her birthday would be classed as an inauspicious day.

阿格里皮娜死后沒有葬禮上的榮譽(yù)。為了掩蓋弒母之舉，尼祿和他的顧問們精心制作了一個(gè)歧視女性的封面故事。根據(jù)塔西佗的說法，尼祿聲稱阿格里皮娜犯下了各種罪行，包括“(瞄準(zhǔn))帝國(guó)的一部分和引誘禁衛(wèi)軍成為其追隨者，并說這是元老院和人民的恥辱?！?自此，阿格里皮娜的名聲被毀了，她的生日也被歸為不吉利的一天。

Despite the innuendos and criticisms, begrudging respect for Agrippina was expressed by some Roman historians. Tacitus wrote: “This was the end which Agrippina had anticipated for years. The prospect had not daunted her. When she asked astrologers about Nero, they had answered that he would become emperor but kill his mother. Her reply was, ‘Let him kill me—provided he becomes emperor!’”

盡管也有影射和批評(píng)，一些羅馬歷史學(xué)家還是表達(dá)了對(duì)阿格里皮娜的勉強(qiáng)尊重。塔西佗寫道:“這是阿格里皮娜多年前就預(yù)料到的結(jié)局。但是這前景并沒有使她氣餒。當(dāng)她問占星家關(guān)于尼祿的事時(shí)，他們的回答是，他會(huì)成為皇帝，但會(huì)殺死他的母親。她的回答是:“那就讓他殺了我吧，只要他能當(dāng)上皇帝!”’”