Agrippina the Younger attained a level of power in first-century Rome unprecedented for a woman. According to ancient sources, she achieved her success by plotting against her brother, the emperor Caligula, murdering her husband, the emperor Claudius, and controlling her son, the emperor Nero, by sleeping with him. Modern scholars tend to accept this verdict. But in his dynamic biography-the first on Agrippina in English-Anthony Barrett paints a startling new picture of this influential woman. Drawing on the latest archaeological, numismatic, and historical evidence, Barrett argues that Agrippina has been misjudged. Although she was ambitious, says Barrett, she made her way through ability and determination rather than by sexual allure, and her political contributions to her time seem to have been positive.

年轻的阿格里皮娜在一世纪的罗马获得了前所未有的女性权力。根据古代的资料，她通过密谋反对她的兄弟卡里古拉皇帝，谋杀她的丈夫克劳迪斯皇帝，并通过与儿子尼禄皇帝睡觉来控制他的儿子尼禄皇帝，从而取得了成功。现代学者倾向于接受这一结论。但安东尼·巴雷特（Anthony Barrett）在其充满活力的传记《阿格里皮纳》（英文版）中首次描绘了这位有影响力的女性令人震惊的新形象。根据最新的考古、钱币和历史证据，巴雷特认为阿格里皮纳被误判了。巴雷特说，尽管她雄心勃勃，但她是通过能力和决心而不是通过性诱惑获得成功的，她对这个时代的政治贡献似乎是积极的。