Agrippina and Cologne: some glimpses
Nov. 29th, 2011 07:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakCologne was like all of Germany's larger cities heavily bombed in WW II, and like most of them the reconstruction isn't quite up to the pre WW II original, but there ARE some gorgeous places to see. First and foremost the cathedral, of course, which is why I always go there even if I'm only changing trains at Cologne. On this occasion, I also had time for some of the old city centre and the Roman museum.
Cologne was the main seat of the Romans in Britain and the birthplace of (Julia) Agrippina (aka Agrippina the Younger, Nero's mother), which is why they have some great antiquities on display, and an atypical attitude towards Agrippina, who far from getting her usual bad press here is honored for getting her birthplace city rights and making it Colonia Agrippinensium. They even have a small Agrippina exhibition right now, which can't have been that easy to assemble considering Nero had most of the artwork featuring his mother destroyed after murdering her. But as I said: local girl and city founder.
My own take on Agrippina is that I think she's not given due credit for her political skills. On the one hand, Roman historians make a great deal out of the fact that the first few years of Nero's reign were practically a golden age before everything went to hell in a hand basket. On the other, they complain about power mad Agrippina trying to co-rule with her son until he curbed her influence and then took, err, more drastic measures. But it doesn't seem to occur to anyone the first few good years might have been due to Agrippina. No, it must all have been due to Seneca, despite the fact Seneca stayed around Nero far longer before falling out with him, well into the bad years.
Don't mistake me: Agrippina was also ruthless (ask Claudius), and in no definition of the word innocent. But she survived uncle Tiberius and brother Caligula when a lot of other people did not, and the black comedy of her death (Nero sends her on a boat that's due to wreck so it will look like an accident; Agrippina is a superb swimmer and makes it to the shore alive, after ordering her freedwoman to claim "I'm Agrippina, mother of the Emperor, save me!" to the nearby "rescuers" who were sent along just in case, and sure enough, the freedwoman was killed; Nero finally gives up the pretense and sends soldiers, Agrippina tells them to go for the womb, since Nero came out of it) shows she died with her physical and mental skills at full peak. So, here she is, depicted as the goddes of fortune:
The coins depicting her (scandal! Not the done thing for Roman women):
Here she is looking very much like her son:
The family: Augustus, Livia, and their granddaughter (Vipsania)Agrippina, aka Agrippina the Elder, the one who married Germanicus and gave birth to Agrippina the Younger. ( And Caligula, and those other doomed sisters and brothers).
The Dionysius mosaic, which was found as recent as the 1940s, when the exhibits were supposed to be dug into the earth to protect them from the bombs. When lo and behold, they unearthed this:
Moving on from the Romans. This nativity scene, to be found at the Heumarkt, has to count as one of the most original around:
Like I said, most of the houses are reconstructed, but these here give a good idea how the old merchant residences with their high gables looked like:
And here's the city hall:
Another empress, a few centuries after Agrippina. Theophanu, who was a Byzantine marrying Otto II., and after his early death reigned for her son, the largest realm in Europe, no less.
A well depicting a famous legend, the Heinzelmännchen of Cologne. This, btw, is why if you're German you have a distinct advantage when reading Neil Gaiman's novel "American Gods".
And now for the jewel. The Cathedral of Cologne, from various sides:
Optional Roman is optional:
Let's go inside:
And outside again:
Over the rooftops of Cologne:
Cologne was the main seat of the Romans in Britain and the birthplace of (Julia) Agrippina (aka Agrippina the Younger, Nero's mother), which is why they have some great antiquities on display, and an atypical attitude towards Agrippina, who far from getting her usual bad press here is honored for getting her birthplace city rights and making it Colonia Agrippinensium. They even have a small Agrippina exhibition right now, which can't have been that easy to assemble considering Nero had most of the artwork featuring his mother destroyed after murdering her. But as I said: local girl and city founder.
My own take on Agrippina is that I think she's not given due credit for her political skills. On the one hand, Roman historians make a great deal out of the fact that the first few years of Nero's reign were practically a golden age before everything went to hell in a hand basket. On the other, they complain about power mad Agrippina trying to co-rule with her son until he curbed her influence and then took, err, more drastic measures. But it doesn't seem to occur to anyone the first few good years might have been due to Agrippina. No, it must all have been due to Seneca, despite the fact Seneca stayed around Nero far longer before falling out with him, well into the bad years.
Don't mistake me: Agrippina was also ruthless (ask Claudius), and in no definition of the word innocent. But she survived uncle Tiberius and brother Caligula when a lot of other people did not, and the black comedy of her death (Nero sends her on a boat that's due to wreck so it will look like an accident; Agrippina is a superb swimmer and makes it to the shore alive, after ordering her freedwoman to claim "I'm Agrippina, mother of the Emperor, save me!" to the nearby "rescuers" who were sent along just in case, and sure enough, the freedwoman was killed; Nero finally gives up the pretense and sends soldiers, Agrippina tells them to go for the womb, since Nero came out of it) shows she died with her physical and mental skills at full peak. So, here she is, depicted as the goddes of fortune:
The coins depicting her (scandal! Not the done thing for Roman women):
Here she is looking very much like her son:
The family: Augustus, Livia, and their granddaughter (Vipsania)Agrippina, aka Agrippina the Elder, the one who married Germanicus and gave birth to Agrippina the Younger. ( And Caligula, and those other doomed sisters and brothers).
The Dionysius mosaic, which was found as recent as the 1940s, when the exhibits were supposed to be dug into the earth to protect them from the bombs. When lo and behold, they unearthed this:
Moving on from the Romans. This nativity scene, to be found at the Heumarkt, has to count as one of the most original around:
Like I said, most of the houses are reconstructed, but these here give a good idea how the old merchant residences with their high gables looked like:
And here's the city hall:
Another empress, a few centuries after Agrippina. Theophanu, who was a Byzantine marrying Otto II., and after his early death reigned for her son, the largest realm in Europe, no less.
A well depicting a famous legend, the Heinzelmännchen of Cologne. This, btw, is why if you're German you have a distinct advantage when reading Neil Gaiman's novel "American Gods".
And now for the jewel. The Cathedral of Cologne, from various sides:
Optional Roman is optional:
Let's go inside:
And outside again:
Over the rooftops of Cologne:
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Date: 2011-11-30 06:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-30 09:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-30 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 08:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 08:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 05:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 06:29 pm (UTC)Disappointing season in every way, though. For the things I called were still numerous: Matthews as the one behind the prostitute, Quinn fucking up more badly and drawing dear Angel into his mess, plus the ridiculous intern ta-daa...
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Date: 2011-12-04 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 06:36 pm (UTC)Pretty much my conclusion too: While Dexter was often uneven, there were so many strong arc-related threads, plus of course solid characterisation...and either element is missing, now.