According to the Roman historian Tacitus, Claudius's wife Agrippina the Younger had a secret door installed in the room used for the senate meetings, leading to a hiding-place from which she could listen to them. Thompson considers this account less as factual and more as symbolic of Agrippina's influence over the senate.
Tacitus claims that Claudius's wife Agrippina the Younger had a hidden passage installed in the room where the senate convened, allowing her to discreetly eavesdrop on their discussions. Thompson disputes this account, instead seeing it as an allegorical representation of Agrippina's dominant role in the senate.