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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus (12 BC-14), also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
 and Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Augustus and his second wife Scribonia
Scribonia

Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo and Cornelia Sulla . Her brother of the same name was consul and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder....
.

In 17 BC, Augustus adopted his two older brothers, Gaius Caesar
Gaius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder.....
 and Lucius Caesar
Lucius Caesar

Lucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, his name was changed to Lucius Julius Caesar....
, as his sons and heirs. He ostensibly did not adopt Postumus as a sign of respect for his old friend Marcus (so that he would have one son left to carry on his family).

However, upon the death of Lucius and then Gaius Caesar, Augustus finally decided to adopt both Postumus and Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
 as his heirs.






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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus (12 BC-14), also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
 and Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Augustus and his second wife Scribonia
Scribonia

Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo and Cornelia Sulla . Her brother of the same name was consul and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder....
.

In 17 BC, Augustus adopted his two older brothers, Gaius Caesar
Gaius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder.....
 and Lucius Caesar
Lucius Caesar

Lucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, his name was changed to Lucius Julius Caesar....
, as his sons and heirs. He ostensibly did not adopt Postumus as a sign of respect for his old friend Marcus (so that he would have one son left to carry on his family).

However, upon the death of Lucius and then Gaius Caesar, Augustus finally decided to adopt both Postumus and Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
 as his heirs. Upon his adoption as the emperor's son and new designated heir, he became Marcus Julius Caesar Agrippa Postumus, while his stepfather became Tiberius Julius Caesar. The anxiety over who would follow in Augustus' footsteps naturally set up Postumus and Tiberius as enemies.

Although there is little clear contemporary account of him, virtually all Roman historians agree that he was considered a rude and brutish sort, with only Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
 paying him any sympathy. (Though even that is slight: [He was] the young, physically tough, indeed brutish, Agrippa Postumus. Though devoid of every good quality, he had been involved in no scandal.)

There has never been a clear consensus on why it happened, but sometime around 6 or 7, Augustus banished Agrippa to the small island of Planasia
Pianosa

The small island of Pianosa forms part of Italy's Tuscan Archipelago. Its name expresses the idea of the Italian word pianura : its highest point stands only about over sea-level....
. Tacitus suggests that he was always disliked and shunned by Livia
Livia

Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Julia Augusta was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women in the Roman Empire, being Augustus' faithful advisor....
, as he stood in the way of her son Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
 succeeding to the throne after Augustus. A banishment (and eventual execution) for merely being rude and unpleasant, though, is a harsh sentence, thus some modern historians theorize he was involved in a conspiracy against Augustus. Postumus was held under intense security. Postumus' sister Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger

Julia Minor or Julilla was a Roman Princess. She was the eldest daughter and second child born to Roman Statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
 was banished around the same time and her husband, Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 1) was executed in a conspiracy against Augustus. Also, a conspiracy to rescue Postumus and Julia was planned and was foiled.

In any case, Postumus's banishment did ensure Tiberius's priority as Augustus's heir. Tacitus (Ann.
Annals (Tacitus)

The Annals is a history book by Tacitus covering the reign of the four Roman Emperors succeeding to Caesar Augustus. The parts of the work that survived from antiquity cover the reigns of Tiberius and Nero....
 1.3) reports a rumor that Augustus paid a highly covert visit to the island in 13 to apologize to his adopted son and give him notice of plans to return him to Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
. Augustus was accompanied by a trusted friend, Fabius Maximus, and swore him to secrecy about the matter; Maximus then told his wife, Marcia, who mentioned it to Livia. Maximus was soon found dead, and Marcia subsequently claimed she was responsible for his death. Dio's version (56.30) reports the island visit as fact, though the brief account is likely based on Tacitus' account (Ann. 1.1) and does not mention Fabius and Marcia. It is dubious whether this tale has any veracity.

Regardless of Augustus' supposed visit, the emperor died the following year without having removed Postumus from Planasia and without including him in his will. Around Augustus' death, Postumus was executed by his guards with some accounts contradicting whether it happened before or after. Accounts are also inconsistent on who ordered the death and these existed almost from the start, when Tiberius immediately and publicly disavowed the act upon being notified of it (Tacitus, Ann. 1.5). Some suggested that Augustus may have ordered the execution, while others place the blame on either Tiberius or Livia (with or possibly without Tiberius's knowledge) (Suetonius, Lives, Tiberius 22), taking advantage of the confusing initial political situation upon Augustus' death.

In Fiction

Robert Graves
Robert Graves

Robert Ranke Graves was an England poet, translator and novelist. During his long life, he produced more than 140 works. He was the son of the Anglo-Irish writer Alfred Perceval Graves and Amalie von Ranke, a niece of the famous German historian Leopold von Ranke....
' work I, Claudius suggests that, through Livia's influence, Augustus grew to dislike him, and Graves even creates a fictional incident in which Postumus is framed by Livia and her granddaughter Livilla
Livilla

Livia Julia , most commonly known by her family nickname of Livilla was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. Her chief role in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty was as a bride ? and alleged murderer ? of the heir apparent to the Principate during the reigns of Augustus and her uncle Tiberius....
 for rape charges against the latter. In the television adaptation
I, Claudius (TV series)

I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves's I, Claudius. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time....
 of the novel he is portrayed by John Castle
John Castle

John Castle is an England actor....
.

External links

A statue of Agrippa Postumus can be seen at

Sources