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
Agrippina the Elder still survives (). Agrippina was fiercely independent, a trait she shared with her mother. Dio described her as having ambitions to match her pedigree. However, Anthony Barrett notes that Agrippina was fully aware that a woman in ancient Rome could not hold power in her own right. Instead, Agrippina followed the model of Livia in promoting the careers of her children. She and her daughter, Agrippina the Younger, are both described as being equally ambitious for their sons. Whereas the elder Agrippina's son failed to become emperor, the younger Agrippina's son, also named Nero, succeeds. In a contrast, Tacitus has