#agrippina au julii

[darrowsrising]

Red Rising AU where Nero and Agrippina live to witness everything that is happening, but can do nothing and lament in their personal, powerless and limited hell.

[sad-endings-suck]

Why do I get the sense that this is what it was like growing up in the Julii household??

[thehaemanthus]

According to Pierce only the Red have patriarchal mind sets, because the males are raised to carry the whole family's well being. When they marry the wife lives with him. As for Nero, he looks like the exception from the rule. The most powerful people in the galaxy are women. Octavia, Aja and Moira, Agrippina au Julii, even Julia au Bellona. On the other hand, Darrow learnt pretty quickly that the women around him are as capable as him or even more. No matter the Color.

oh dear i barely remember what i’ve said about this. but yes, I agree with basically everything you’ve said

now my questions are basically centered on why Nero is the way he is. And the whole structure of the Augustus family. If you live in a society where women are generally respected and treated equally, what happened to make you think differently?

Nero, why do you hate your daughter???? Things would have been so much better for him if he threw all of his support behind Mustang.

socialization is weird, y’all

[womanfemale]

RI5 Ein seltener und prächtiger römischer Orichalcum Sestertius von Agrippina Senior, Mutter von Germanicus und Großmutter von Gaius (37-41 C. E.), unter den am besten bekannten dieser Ausgabe mit einer atemberaubenden Patina - https://www.womanfemale.com/?p=22777 - Sestertius 37-41, ≈ 30,51 g. AGRIPPINA M F M C CAESARIS AVGVSTI Drapierte Brust r., Haar fällt in langen Zopf hinterher. Rev. S P Q R / MEMORIAE / AGRIPPINAE Carpentum mit verzierter Seite gezeichnet l. durch zwei Maultiere; die Abdeckung wird von stehenden Figuren an den Ecken gestützt. C 1. BMC Gaius 85. CBN Gaius 128. RIC Gaius 55. Kent-Hirmer pl. 47, 164. Sehr selten und unter den besten bekannten Exemplaren. Eine herrliche Münze von Erhabenheit Stil mit einer schönen unberührten braun-roten Patina, gut vorzüglich Ex Leu 45, 1988, 313 und Triton IV, 2000, 458 Verkäufe. Zu Ehren von Agrippina Senior, einer der tragischsten unglücklichen Frauen der römischen Geschichte, wurden drei Sestertii-Hefte gedruckt. Sie begann das Leben als ein bevorzugtes Mitglied der Julio-Claudian Familie während der Herrschaft ihres Großvaters Augustus, und nach ihrer Heirat mit Livias Enkel Germanicus schien sie dazu bestimmt, den höchstmöglichen Status zu erreichen. Nach Augustus 'Tod und dem Eintritt Tiberius' verschlechterte sich jedoch ihr Leben: Die höchste Macht hatte sich von den Blutlinien der Julii auf die Claudii verlagert. Obwohl ihre Ehe eine ideale Verbindung von Julian und Claudian darstellte, war sie nicht dazu bestimmt, Tiberius 'Herrschaft zu überleben. Germanicus starb Ende 19 unter ungeklärten Umständen, nach denen Agrippina das nächste Jahrzehnt ihres Lebens dem offen gegenüberstehenden Tiberius widmete, bis er 29 sie der Freiheit und 33 des Lebens selbst beraubte. Die Sestertii, die Agrippina gewidmet sind, sind leicht zu trennen. Die erste, von ihrem Sohn Caligula produziert, zeigt auf der Rückseite ein Carpentum; die zweite, von ihrem Bruder Claudius herausgegeben, zeigt SC umgeben von einer claudischen Inschrift, und die dritte ist einfach eine Restauration des claudischen Typs durch Titus, auf der stattdessen die umgekehrte Inschrift diesem Kaiser gewidmet ist. Obwohl sowohl Caligula als auch Claudius Agrippina darstellten, tat jeder dies aus ihrer eigenen Perspektive, basierend auf der Art ihrer Beziehung zu ihr. Die Inschrift auf Caligulas Münze, AGRIPPINA M F CATESARIS AVGVSTI, beschreibt sie als die Tochter von Marcus (Agrippa) und die Mutter von Gaius (Caligula). Während Claudius sie auch als Agrippas Tochter identifiziert, endet seine Inschrift mit GERMANICI CAESARIS und unterstreicht damit ihre Rolle als Ehefrau seines Bruders Germanicus. Es ist auch erwähnenswert, dass Agrippina in der Frage von Caligula ein schlankes Profil wie das ihres Sohnes hat, während auf Claudius 'Sesterzien ihr Gesicht robuster ist, in Übereinstimmung mit seinem Aussehen. Die Carpentrum Reverse ist nicht nur eine hervorragend ausgeführte Art, sondern hat eine Grundlage in den aufgezeichneten Ereignissen des Tages. Suetonius (Gaius 15) beschreibt die Maßnahmen, die Caligula zu Beginn seiner Regierungszeit zu Ehren seiner Familie ergriffen hatte. Dazu gehörte die Sammlung der Asche seiner Mutter und seiner Brüder, die während der Regierungszeit des Tiberius alle Opfer der Verfolgung waren. Nach seiner Rückkehr nach Rom, Caligula, mit seinen eigenen Händen, übertragen zu einer Urne die Asche seiner Mutter "mit der äußersten Verehrung"; er setzte dann zu ihren Ehren Zirkusspiele ein, bei denen "... ihr Bild in einer gedeckten Kutsche vorgeführt wurde". Es kann wenig Zweifel bestehen, dass das carpentum auf diesem sestertius sich auf die besondere von Caligula begonnene Praxis bezieht. Die Inschrift, SPQR MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE, ist selbst vom Senat und dem römischen Volk zum Gedenken an Agrippina gewidmet. NAC51, 176 - #hair restoration

[darrowsrising]

Yeah i imagine Agrippina very badass but in a different way than Nero. She probably didn't think much of Antonia, which can be recognized from Antonia's personality (house Mars).

I was joking, but truth be told, Agrippina and Nero are quite similar, except Nero got more page time. They both have a child whose capabilities they refuse to acknowledge and they play favourites with the other children. They are both highly influencial and rich af and they go where the opportunity presents itself, where the advantages are better. They don't look twice when it comes to cutting losses - both human and non-human. Honor is quite far on their list, they want power, but the way towards that is quite different to each of them.

Anyway, I am not saying they are the same or that they are badass in the same way (Agrippina truly loves her Victra enough to switch sides, something I don't see Nero ever doing because he likes to be a power player, not a mean to an end, so he would do whatever is in his best interest), but they are quite similar.

Howl on!

[darrowsrising]

So if Romulus is dead, shouldn't Diomedes rule the House Raa?

No, because by that logic, Cassius should have been Primus of House Bellona after Tiberius died. Tiberius died in the Lion Rain and Julia became the Primus. Cassius remained the heir. His self-imposed exile could be interpreted as him giving up his rights, but 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Now, I believe that Dido is Consul and Primus of House Raa after Romulus died. I think it would have been mentioned if Diomedes became Primus.

It's not unheard of - Virginia is Sovereign and Primus of House Augustus, Nero was ArchGovernor and Primus, and so on.

Julia and Dido have been treated as outsiders - Julia had to get what she wanted behind the scenes, because she is originally from a less powerful House and she had to stay in Tiberius shadow. Dido comes from an equally powerful House, but from the wrong part of the Solar System, ao she too had to grab power in her own ways. Yet, just like Servilla au San, no one questioned their capabilities to be Primus of the House the married into, because they earned the right.

Servilla married into House Arcos and led it ever since Lorn died. She is dead now and Alexandar and his cousins too, but there are another two Arcos women who kick arse, so one of them is surely Primus.

In the medieval era, it would be normal for the male heir to take the role of head of the house after his father died, but this is not that era or the ASOIAF medieval inspired fantasy. This is the 8th century PCE, the mother/widow has all the rights.

I think it's different for people with multiple marriages. Agrippina au Julii had two husbands, but after she died, none of them touched her stuff or her position. Victra was her heir, so that made it easier for her to get back her birthright from Antonia. Or, let's say, Nero's 3rd wife, she never claimed the Primus position, maybe because she had no child of her own, or maybe because she knew not to stand in Adrius's way 🤷🏻‍♀️.

I think Agrippina au Julii is way too underestimated in the fandom...STAN THE OG JULII QUEEN, YOU COWARDS! She was as awful as Nero, that's why they never married. I bet they were too similar, lol.

Later edit: Basically anyone can be heir, though. Karnus was the oldest Bellona child, but Cassius was his father's favourite. It's not exactly the rule of the firstborn. It's a prefferance thing more than anything. Although Kavax certainly loves all of his children, he most probably thought that Daxo would be the best suited to be Primus one day. He was already helping his father, especially in political matters.

Howl on!

[darrowsrising]

I do want more Victra and Virginia working together in the last book, but are we really going to pretend that there is actually no content about them, when...there is!

In Iron Gold, Victra greets Virginia with a hug and a kiss on her forehead (it also indicates Virginia is used to this kind of thing), Virginia fuses over her little goddaughters at dinner, they have that sweet back and forth about protests, where Victra teases a lot, but Virginia knows her enough that she she laughs at her 'yeah, yeah, I'll respect the New Compact', because she may complain, but she won't go Agrippina au Julii on her workers...ever. Darrow and Victra exchange promises and Victra promises to help Virginia if she lets her. They also go to official events together and Victra is part of her unofficial inner circle.

We don't get that much, because Virginia isn't a pov in Iron Gold, but the content is there, they do have a relationship, it's just that it gets complicated in certain circumstances. We will certainly see more, I mean we didn't get that much Sevro and Virginia in Iron Gold, but we got more in Dark Age. It just depends on when it works on page, it can't just be there for fanservice, it has to make sense for the plot and the characters.

[darrowsrising]

The ending of Golden Son is a literary master-piece. Everything that happened, every major death (and even minor death like Thesalia au Raa's and Agrippina au Julii's) influenced not only other characters, but also the plot. It was beautifully forshadowed, emotionally charged and well-written. Everything it constructed for Morning Star was great plot-wise. It made sense and did not, for a second, fall into the current tragedy trend of edgelord™️ writing (when writers try to replicate shakespeare's tragedies without paying attention to how he did it).

That being said, I still can't muster the courage to read it every single time I do a re-read, because IT HURTS.

[darrowsrising]

I think Vitra thinks money is honest

What do you mean?

If you think she is like the those scums in the Zenith Circle, she is not. She is complaining about strikes and shit (especially when she's heavily pregnant and her husband is coming home after a long campaign and she obviously wants to spend time with family), but she does treat her staff with care and respect - see Paxton's words. She actually genuinely cares, otherwise she would bother at all.

She listened to the workers' demands and did her best to calm down spirits diplomatically. She says that her mother would have killed them, but that's just it...she isn't her mother. Agrippina au Julii is also responsible for Harmony's family's horrible deaths. While Victra was privileged and still is, she isn't responsible for her mother's sins, just her own.

Also, I know that in universe people comment on 'being rich like a Julii', but...Darrow's family is now rich too. The Telemanuses are rich, always have been. They still risk their lives and put a lot on the line to protect the Republic and their families, though. Also the entire Peerless mentality (that remained within the Republic, not the horrible stuff from the Society) is that one must not be spoiled or corrupted by riches. Thing is, none of these characters are either bad or good for being rich. Sure, it's questionable that Golds and other rich (not THAT questionable from a practical pov, tho), non-Gold people kept their wealth if they were associated with the Rising, but instead of Victra, I'd rather look to the Zenith Circle and Quicksilver especially, because he abused his position and is the primary reason why Reds on Mars are refugees, while he decorates meeting rooms with sculptures inssured by 23 companies.

The living costs on Hyperion were getting impossible to bear, so strikes were necessary, that is uncontestable. Still, while Victra does complain, she does it in the privacy of her home, alongside trusted people. She was joking too. If she were actually serious, she would have showed it, as she isn't one to mince either words or actions.

If anyone thinks that their money is honest, when it's not, it's the Zenith Circle with Quicksilver as their leader.

[darrowsrising]

Best Gold House - rated by yours truly

House Augustus:

Standard: golden lion on red and white

Words: Hic sunt leones - Here be lions

City of power: Aegea, Mars

Rating: The Very Best

When it comes to aesthetics and complex characters, House Augustus is the very best. From the 13th generation to the 15th (yes, I like all Augustus members from Nero to Pax, obviously I love Virginia and Pax the most out of them, I am basically spoiled with Augustus content every book - I'll include Addy as a cool villain, why not). Hail Augustus! Hic sunt leones!

House Arcos:

Standard: purple griffin on snow field

Words: Honor in the first. Honour in the last

City of power: Elysium, Mars (later a mansion on Europa)

Rating: 'Amazing, Fierce, Spectacular, One of a Kind' House

House Arcos needs more limelight, that is why they haven't beaten House Augustus - I mean...they have live griffins, can't fuck with that. Also...Alexandar and the Arcos Knights? They all have my poor, beaten heart forever.

House Telemanus

Standard: red fox

Words: -

City of power: Zephyria, Mars

Rating: 'The Absolute Best, everyone else, go home' House

However, when it comes to the best family dynamics and unconditional love and over all badass characters, House Telemanus is absolute perfection. Everyone in that family is absolutely great and great human beings too. Kavax and Niobe are the best parents in the galaxy and their kids are just as awesome! The aesthetics for Daxo and Thraxa? Their whole fam's attitude? Sign me the fuck up! (Don't salt my wounds, please, I am still in denial.)

House Bellona

Standard: silver eagle on blue and silver

Words: Alis Aquilae - on eagle wings

City of power: Olympia

Rating: 'Half Trash, Half Gold - Discard the Trash and Enter the New Bloodydamn Era already' House / 'Cassius make House Bellona great again, please' House

I feel like House Bellona is in between - good aesthetics, one parent honorable and true, one parent downright annoying viper who uses emotional blackmail to manipulate the kids, half of members (I'll include nieces, nephews and the lot) are mindless brutes, the other half is quite awesome with Cassius at the front. Not too crazy, but not too great either(Cassius can't keep them all up to his level and Julian tragically died...).

House Raa

Standard: four-headed white dragon (Seto Kaiba would have a fit about it, lol)

Words: Pulvis et Umbrae - Dust and Shadows

City of power: Nessus, Io

Rating: Drama, True Honor and Conflicts House

House Raa has great aesthetics and real dragons - again, can't fuck with that. But I feel like they always shoot themselves in the foot with family drama and betrayals. I am for unity and loyalty, so maybe that's why I'd rank them lower...aesthetics only get you so far. They do love each other, which is interesting af to see.

House Julii

Standard: a sun weeping blood

Words: - ...(can I hope that they adopted the Barca's Omnis Vir Lupus/Hic est lupus after Victraa married Sevro?)

City of power: Hippolyte, The Jade City

Rating: Queen House

House Julii gets props for aesthetics and mother-daughter relationship, because Victra and Agrippina were badass. Victra's complex relationship with Antonia was cool too. Unity is kinda medium level in this family, but the aesthetics are all on point.

House Rath-Valii

Standard: purple

Words: -

City of power: in Thessalonica, Mars/moved to Venus after they lost the Battle on Mars during the Solar War

Rating: 'Quality Fuckboy Trash' House

Tharsus is anticlimatically bland in this family, but other than that Tactus and Apollonius are some very complex and interesting characters on their own. That is why I think that this fucked up and very separated and shallow family deserves a spot on this list.

House Grimmus:

Standard: pearl skull on black

Words: 🤷🏻‍♀️

City of power: Africa, Earth

Rating: 'JUST DIE ALREADY' House (mkay, maybe give a chance to Ajax...but just one)

We don't know much about Moira, but it is pretty clear that onky Aja and Atalantia have the aesthetics in the family. As for relationships between members...they all suck. ALL OF THEM. Ok, maybe Aja and Ajax's relationship saves a bit of face, but that is it. Kinda like the complexity of the aforementioned sisters and their father. Aja was the best out of that family, truth be told. I think there are a parallels between Atalantia and Magnus and Adrius and Nero, so that gives this House more depth and interest. Ajax is more of a victim than anything else, maybe he can change...maybe, not really sure. Still, they are no fun...

House Lune:

Standard: crescend moon on gold and white

Words: ...

City of Power: Hyperion, Luna

Rating: 'Not that bad over all, I guess' House

We know Brutus and Anastasia were pretty cool people, but do I need to go over how awful Octavia and Lysander are? Different degrees of awful that is true. Ovidius au Lune, Octavia's father was awful too. Silenius sounds a bit better...not by much. The relationships between members is not touched upon much, but they did love each other, I guess. Not a fan,though, I think that House Grimmus is way better. And they are all very questionable, but at least they are truthful about it. Anyway, over all they are not that bad - Octavia and Lysander are very complex characters and the glimpses we get into some things are worth the hassle, because they balance the awful.

Bonus: House Barca

Standard: a sun weeping blood

Words: Omnis Vir Lupus/Hic Est Lupus

City of power: Hippolyte, The Jade City

Rating: 'Feral, Rich and Better than you' House

This House is incredible from Fitchner to Ulysses (*cries forever*). Everything is amazing about every member. The complexity, the pain, the love, the tragedy, the everything. This House DESERVES HAPPINESS. This House is blessed and blesses us. This House makes a very wonderful triumvirate with House Augustus and House Telemanus and if anyone has anything to complain about that, please grab a chair and wait for me to care.

...

I kinda forgot some House words (if Grimmus and Lune have some words please message me to edit them into this post) and this kinda became a diss towards the end, but that is what you get when I listen to rap for 3 days straight. 😁😁😁

Howl on!

[darrowsrising]

Awesome things in Red Rising (part 2)

Yes, I am THAT obssessed.

1. Acnee - as a person who struggled (and still does) with acnee, Cassius au Bellona, The Golden Beauty, having acnee because of the climate at the Institute was so satisfying, I paused from reading and applauded.

2. Body hair - or an explanation as to why there isn’t any. According to Matteo, Gold, especially those on Luna, use a hair eating folicule. Fashion and beauty demand sacrifices even 800 year into the future (Matteo ended up with an elbow in the jaw when he got below the Reaper’s belt with that epilating thingy). Also there are Golds (and other Colors) who are described as having hair on their bodies.

3. Complicated relationships - my father isn’t power hungry, but there are like 5, maybe less, similarities between him and Nero au Augustus. So having a character like Virginia au Augutus who comes from an abusive familial atmosphere and who fights for what is right is simply amazing. Also the fact that she still protects those she loves, despite everything gives her more dimention. Life isn’t black and white. We have to live with our decisions.

4. Lack of overused and annoying thropes concerning love stories. The ‘love triangle’ between Cassius - Mustang - Darrow? Just Mustang’s way of making sure she keeps her enemies closer. (No, I don’t care Cassius loved/loves her. She put an arrow through his neck when he tried to kill Darrow. She knew exactly what she was doing. She’s amazing!). That Romeo x Juliet/ Bellona x Augustus shit? Fake af as I said. The 'don’t get near my daughter, you peasant!’? Nero doesn’t give a shit about your social standing as long as you are useful (speaking of Golds especially). The beauty and the beast where the beast becomes a handsome prince? Sevro pisses on that. As does Victra who loves Sevro even when he has beef stuck between his teeth for 3 days.

5. Carvings are hard to do and donors aren’t always compatible. So if someone gets a body part pulled out, cut etc. they use bionic prothesises (hope I wrote that write). How cool is that!

6. Sexism isn’t a thing. I mean, the most powerful being in the Society is Aja au Grimmus, the Protean Knight. Her master is Octavia au Lune, who rules an empire. Mustang is a bloodydamn genius. Victra au Julii is heiress to her mother’s incredible corporatist empire and fortune (don’t mess with Agrippina au Julii). Sefi and her Valkyries rule the ice and scares every Gold in the galaxy. I could go on, but you get the idea. There is Lorn’s comment of Mustang’s fatigue, but no one agrees with him. (She shows him Pliney’s eye that she kept in her pocket after she pulled it out and escaped👸🏼)

7. Geography - it’s so bloodydamn amazing I can’t even begin.

8. Politics - If I remember corectly, Pierce has a bachelors degree in Political Sciences. It shows, because the political games are insanely good written and so realistic. I have learned from his books more than from school, I swear.