When studying both ancient and modern interpretations of Agrippina three obvious standpoints emerge, the defensive, the moderate and the hostile. Of all the ancient sources, the works of Tacitus in his Annals provides both the most complete ancient interpretation of Agrippina, and one that is at times decidedly hostile, reflecting the majority of ancient sources. Of the modern historians, the moderate standpoint can be seen in Susan Woods interpretation, whereby she does not repute the nature of Agrippina's actions or motives, but instead offers a feministic view on many of them. Amongst the defensive interpretations, Guglielmo Ferrero presents a flawed yet valiant revisionary defence.

Guglielmo Ferrero in his Characters and Events of Roman History presents one of the first examples of a revisionary defence of Agrippina and her life. His interpretation of Agrippina and her life however is flawed by his disregard of sources in favour of his...