Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius, and the mother of Nero. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of the Roman general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, granddaughter of Augustus (the first Roman emperor). Her father, Germanicus, was the nephew and heir apparent of the second emperor, Tiberius. Agrippina's brother Caligula became emperor in 37 AD. After Caligula was assassinated in 41 AD, Germanicus' brother Claudius took the throne. Agrippina married Claudius in 49 AD. Agrippina functioned as a behind-the-scenes advisor in the affairs of the Roman state via powerful political ties. She maneuvered her son Nero into the line of succession. Claudius became aware of her plotting, but died in 54; it was rumoured that Agrippina poisoned him. Agrippina exerted a commanding influence in the early years of Nero's reign, but in 59 she was killed. Both ancient and modern sources describe Agrippina's personality as ruthless, ambitious, violent and domineering. Physically, she was a beautiful and reputable woman; according to Pliny the Elder, she had a double canine in her upper right jaw, a sign of good fortune. Family Agrippina was the first daughter and fourth living child of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus. She had three elder brothers, Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar, and the future emperor Caligula, and two younger sisters, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla. Agrippina's two eldest brothers and her mother were victims of the intrigues of the Praetorian Prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus. She was the namesake of her mother. Agrippina the Elder was remembered as a modest and heroic matron, who was the second daughter and fourth child of Julia the Elder and the statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. The father of Julia the Elder was the emperor Augustus, and Julia was his only natural child from his second marriage to Scribonia, who had close blood relations with Pompey the Great and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Germanicus, Agrippina's father, was a very popular general and politician. His mother was Antonia Minor and his father was the general Nero Claudius Drusus. He was Antonia Minor's first child. Germanicus had two younger siblings; a sister, named Livilla, and a brother, the future emperor Claudius. Claudius was Agrippina's paternal uncle and third husband.