Agrippina condotta a morire or Dunque sarà pur vero exactly when or where the cantata, to a text by an anonymous author, was first performed, but it is probable that it was one of the many secular cantatas Handel composed for entertainment at the palace of Cardinal Ruspoli in Rome, at some point between 1707- 08. The soloist was probably the soprano castrato Pasqualino Tiepoli. The historical Roman empress Agrippina the Younger, wife of the emperor Claudius, had plotted to make her son by another marriage, Nero, Claudius' heir to the throne and had finally poisoned her husband, according to various Roman historians, to ensure the success of her
Emperor Yang of Sui Emperor Yang had Li Hun, Li Min, and their clansmen executed, and further poisoned Yang Lihua's daughter Yuwen Eying (宇文娥英). Later in 615, Emperor Yang carried out a tour of the northern provinces with the Empress Xiao and much of the imperial court. Shibi Khan, angered that the imperial advisor Pei Ju had promised a princess to his brother Ashina Chiji () and had executed his close advisor Shishu Huxi () under false pretenses, launched a surprise attack on Yanmen Commandery. In accordance with Turkish customs, Princess Yicheng had married him as her husband's successor; having been well treated by