There is always the problem here that all the guys who are the sources for our accounts of Julio-Claudian hijinks were trying to suck up to their very much post-Julio-Claudian patrons, kind of like Shakespeare trashing Richard III via Thomas More where both of them were also saying "Yay Tudors, you da best". Plus Suetonius especially liked to hype up the dirtbaggery just because that's what he did, which was sort of like the world longest Buzzfeed listicle ranking of the emperors based on how much dirtbaggery they did. So there are historians who think Nero and Caligula were actually not so bad--say, that Caligula appointing his horse as a Senator wasn't so much "I am a crazy mofo who thinks my horse is just that great" as it was "These Senators suck so bad that I'm going to point out that my horse could do a better job, and since I can't draw and there aren't any newspapers to put an editorial cartoon in, I'm going to just do the emperor thing and make the joke via imperial dictate".
But on the other hand, Suetonius and Tacitus didn't just make stuff up out of nothing, so it feels pretty much like Agrippina the Younger was indeed a quick hand with the poison and much else besides.
You had me laughing and entertained all the way. That was priceless. Have you seen Rome on HBO? Not anywhere near the quality of I Caludius, but, to answer the Maximus/Gladiator question, Yes,
God I love Wikipedia lists and that one did not disappoint!
There is always the problem here that all the guys who are the sources for our accounts of Julio-Claudian hijinks were trying to suck up to their very much post-Julio-Claudian patrons, kind of like Shakespeare trashing Richard III via Thomas More where both of them were also saying "Yay Tudors, you da best". Plus Suetonius especially liked to hype up the dirtbaggery just because that's what he did, which was sort of like the world longest Buzzfeed listicle ranking of the emperors based on how much dirtbaggery they did. So there are historians who think Nero and Caligula were actually not so bad--say, that Caligula appointing his horse as a Senator wasn't so much "I am a crazy mofo who thinks my horse is just that great" as it was "These Senators suck so bad that I'm going to point out that my horse could do a better job, and since I can't draw and there aren't any newspapers to put an editorial cartoon in, I'm going to just do the emperor thing and make the joke via imperial dictate".
But on the other hand, Suetonius and Tacitus didn't just make stuff up out of nothing, so it feels pretty much like Agrippina the Younger was indeed a quick hand with the poison and much else besides.
The body language in the statue of Agrippina and Nero! 😆
I went ahead and liked this after the opening paragraph and it only got better! Many laugh out loud moments. Wonderful!
You had me laughing and entertained all the way. That was priceless. Have you seen Rome on HBO? Not anywhere near the quality of I Caludius, but, to answer the Maximus/Gladiator question, Yes,
I was entertained.
This is one of the best blurbs ever, and explains so much about modern politics!
Senator (right): yes, sire, your mother is dead. Nero (left): ok but do you think she is mad at me
So funny. Watch “Rome” from 2005. There may be some dirtbag inspirations.
...Drusi and Germanici. Trying to be helpful. But out with Edward Gibbon, let's have an Allison Epstein take on the fall of the Roman Empire.