Agrippina (opera) "moments of splendour when Handel applies the full "concerto grosso" treatment." "Agrippina", Handel's second Italian opera, was probably his last composition in Italy. On hearing that her husband, the Emperor Claudius, has died in a storm at sea, Agrippina plots to secure the throne for Nero, her son by a previous marriage. Nero is unenthusiastic about this project, but consents to his mother's wishes ("Con saggio tuo consiglio"). Agrippina obtains the support of her two freedmen, Pallas and Narcissus, who hail Nero as the new Emperor before the Senate. With the Senate's assent, Agrippina and Nero begin to ascend the
Agrippina the Elder the island of Pandateria, where she would remain until her death by starvation in AD 33. Following the Roman custom of parents and children sharing the same nomen and cognomen, women in the same family would often share the same name. Accordingly, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa had many relatives who shared the name "Vipsania Agrippina". To distinguish Marcus Agrippa's daughter from his granddaughter, historians refer to his daughter as Latin "Agrippina Maior", literally "Agrippina the Elder". Likewise, Agrippina's daughter is referred to as "Agrippina Minor", literally "Agrippina the Younger". Like her father, Agrippina the Elder avoided her cognomen and was never