Vipsania Agrippina

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"Vipsania" redirects here. For other women named Vipsania or Agrippina, see Agrippina.
Roman imperial dynasties
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Vipsania Agrippina
Augustus 27 BC14 AD
Tiberius 1437 AD
Caligula 3741 AD
Claudius 4154 AD
Nero 5468 AD
Gens Julia
Gens Claudia
Julio-Claudian family tree
Category:Julio-Claudian dynasty
Preceded by
Roman Republic
Followed by
Year of the Four Emperors

Vipsania Agrippina (/ˌæɡrəˈpnə, -ˈp-/; 36 BC – 20 AD) was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa from his first wife Pomponia Caecilia Attica, granddaughter of Cicero's friend and knight Titus Pomponius Atticus.[1] By marriage, she was a great-niece to Quintus Tullius Cicero.

Octavian and her father betrothed her to Tiberius before her first birthday. In approximately 19 BC she married Tiberius.[2] Their son Drusus the Younger was born in 14 BC.

Agrippa died in March 12 BC. He was then married to his third wife, Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus. Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce Vipsania and marry Julia. Tiberius reportedly loved Vipsania and disapproved of Julia. Vipsania was pregnant with a second child in 12/11 when the couple divorced. The second child did not survive.[3]

Tiberius divorced Vipsania against his will in 11 BC (non sine magno angore animi according to Suetonius) and never ceased to rue his action. On one occasion Tiberius caught sight of Vipsania and followed her with an intent and tearful gaze.[3] Precautions were taken to avoid further embarrassing meetings with her.



Vipsania and Gallus' known sons were:

  • Asinius Gallus or (Lucius Asinius Gallus) (sometimes wrongly called Gallo). In 46 he conspired against Claudius and was forced to go into exile. Cassius Dio (60.27.5) describes him as being "very small and ugly". Later rehabilitated, he became Consul in 62.



Tacitus states that Vipsania was the only one of Agrippa's children to die without violence.[8] She was one of the leading women of her time, and between 21-23, Julius Caesar Drusus honored her memory with statues, coins and inscriptions.

Vipsania in popular culture[edit]


The television adaptation went somewhat further, the first episode included a fairly lengthy scene between Tiberius and Vipsania on the eve of her second marriage, with Tiberius upset and regretting their divorce. She was played by Sheila Ruskin.


(See also Julio-Claudian family tree)


  1. ^ Nepos Atticus 12
  2. ^ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy (1987), 314.
  3. ^ a b Suetonius Tiberius 7
  4. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 1.12
  5. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 3.19
  6. ^ Cassius Dio 58.3
  7. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 3.75
  8. ^ Tacitus Annals. 3.19.4-5.


  • Luíz Paulo Manuel de Menezes de Mello Vaz de São-Payo, A Herança Genética de Dom Afonso I Henriques (Portugal: Centro de Estudos de História da Família da Universidade Moderna do Porto, Porto, 2002).

External links[edit]

  • Roman coinage and additional information on Vipsania Agrippina can be seen at [1]