Marcus Agrippa: Co-Emperor of the Roman Empire

Abstract

This thesis re-evaluates the political career of Marcus Agrippa (c. 63-12 BCE), arguing that he was not a subordinate agent of Augustus, but a constitutional co-ruler whose authority was publicly acknowledged and proved foundational to the creation of the Roman Principate. It challenges the traditional emperor or ‘great man’ centred narrative by demonstrating that Agrippa’s power—military, civic, legal, and symbolic—was deliberately constructed in parallel with Augustus’ own. By surveying fully Agrippa’s presence within the constitutional, visual, and ritual frameworks of early Empire, this thesis reframes the Principate as a shared construct, co-authored by a statesman whose influence was once visible across the Roman world—and whose legacy was later de-emphasized to serve the needs of dynastic continuity and imperial myth. This thesis considers a full array of ancient evidence: ancient texts, inscriptions, coinage, architecture, and the ideological performance of power in public ritual. In addition, this study presents the Principate as a constitutional partnership shaped by co-ordinated authority and mutual dependence, rather than by the unilateral supremacy of Augustus. One particular facet of this study is that it proposes a re-examination of ancient Roman sources (often shaped by imperial ideology) alongside Eastern and non-Roman primary sources that have only more recently begun to receive sustained scholarly attention. The former are invaluable in that they testify more openly to Agrippa’s greater role in the construction of the Principate, and therefore their inclusion allows for a more historically accurate picture of Agrippa’s position in the Augustan regime.