Marcus Agrippa (Rome Character) - Comparison To The Historical Agrippa

Comparison To The Historical Agrippa

The historical Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was born in either 64 BC or 63 BC in the countryside outside of Rome from a wealthy family holding equestrian rank. His father was Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa and his sister was Vipsania Polla. He was of the same age as Octavian and the two were close childhood friends; unlike the HBO representation, there is no evidence of a romantic relationship between Agrippa and Octavia Minor.

Agrippa was married three times; firstly to Caecilia Attica (daughter of Cicero's friend Atticus), secondly to Claudia Marcella (daughter of Octavia) both with whom he had daughters, Vipsania by Attica and Marcellina by Marcella. In 21 BC, he married Julia the Elder, the daughter of Octavian (by then named Augustus), twenty-four years his junior, with whom he fathered five children; Gaius, Julia the Younger, Lucius, Agrippina and Agrippa Postumus.

Additionally, no mention is made of Agrippa's military brilliance throughout the episodes in which he appears, with the exceptions being in the series finale, when the newsreader states that Agrippa had commanded Octavian's victorious naval forces at the Battle of Actium and the Battle of Mutina where Octavian said that the victory was mainly due to Agrippa. This omission is significant because Octavian would likely never have achieved power without Agrippa's celebrated talents as both a general and an admiral.

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