Claudia Marcella Minor

Last updated
Claudia Marcella Minor
Spouse Publius Claudius Pulcher (possibly)
Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus
Paullus Aemilius Lepidus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus (possibly)
Issue Claudia Pulchra
Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus
Paullus Aemilius Regillus
Valeria Messallia (possibly)
House Julio-Claudian dynasty
Father Gaius Claudius Marcellus
Mother Octavia the Younger
Roman imperial dynasties
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Chronology
27 BC – AD 14
AD 14–37
AD 37–41
AD 41–54
AD 54–68
Preceded by
Roman Republic 		Followed by
Year of the Four Emperors

Claudia Marcella Minor [a] (PIR2 C 1103, born some time before 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor Augustus. She was the second surviving daughter of the emperor's sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. Marcella had many children by several husbands, and through her son Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus she became the grandmother of the empress Messalina.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Octavia was pregnant when she married Mark Antony in 40, and it is likely that the child was Marcella Minor - but this is not a certainty. If so, Marcella was born after the death of her father and she grew up part of the first post-Actium generation. [2] Her full siblings were older sister Claudia Marcella Major and her only surviving brother Marcus Claudius Marcellus. From her mother's second marriage to Mark Antony she would also gain two half sisters, Antonia Major and Antonia Minor.

Marriages

Marcella's first known marriage was to the former consul and censor Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, around 15 BC, when she was about 24. [2] Paullus was previously widowed, and had three children from his earlier marriage; [3] Marcella may also have been previously married. [2] Marcella bore him a son called Paullus Aemilius Regillus. [2] Eva Bayer-Niemeier proposed that the Lucius Aemilius Paullus who died in 14 may have been another son of Lepidus and Marcella, but J. Scheid and Ronald Syme thinks that this man was identical with the Lucius Aemilius Paullus who was consul in 1 AD, [4] but this identification is not universally agreed upon. [5] After the death of Lepidus, Marcella married Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus, by whom she had a son, Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus, and likely a daughter, Claudia Pulchra. [6]

There has been some speculation among historians such as George Patrick Goold [7] that her daughter Claudia Pulchra might have actually been the child of Publius Claudius Pulcher (the son of Clodius) from an earlier marriage, but others such as Syme have rejected this proposal. [8] Syme does on the other hand agree that Paullus (nor Appianus) likely wasn't Marcella's first husband, [9] as the marriage is recorded rather late, he instead proposed a marriage to a son of Lucius Marcius Philippus [b] who may have died or been repudiated before he was old enough to be consul or to Marcus Appuleius, Marcella's maternal half-cousin who is assumed to have died some time after his consulship in 20 BC. [10] Klaus Zmeskal believes that it was she and not her sister who was married to Iullus Antonius. [11]

In the next generation two Vipstani are known, with the cognomina "Messalla" and "Poplicola". This led Syme to observe that either Lucius or Marcus Vipstanus Gallus married a daughter of Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus and Claudia Marcella Minor, who is named (for convenience) Valeria Messallia. [12] French historian Christian Settipani endorsed this view. [13] However, Messallinus (son of Corvinus) was younger than Marcella. That fact does not prevent the marriage, but makes it unlikely, given Roman tradition. This alliance with the gens Valeria led to the prominence of the Vipstani during the first centuries of the Roman Empire. [14]

Legacy

In a tomb near Rome, numerous inscriptions have survived of slaves and freedmen of Marcella. [15] A columbarium located between the Via Appia and Via Latina in Rome belonged to the family of Marcella. [1] According to epigraphical evidence, the work on it was completed in 10, when the urns were divided among the shareholders of the company which had built the place. [1]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Also known by the names Marcella Minor, [1] Claudia Marcella the Younger [2] and Marcella the Younger.
  2. ↑ Lucius Marcius Philippus was married to Atia, the aunt of Marcella's mother Octavia. Philippus was also Octavia's step-brother.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonia the Elder</span> 1st century BC Roman noblewoman

Antonia the Elder was a niece of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, being the eldest daughter of Octavia the Younger and her second husband, the Triumvir Mark Antony. She married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and became the paternal grandmother of the emperor Nero.

Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus was a Roman senator who lived during the 1st century.

Paullus Aemilius Lepidus was a Roman senator.

Vipsania Marcella is a name retrospectively given by historians to a possible daughter or daughters of the ancient Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and his second wife Claudia Marcella Major, the eldest niece of emperor Augustus.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus was a Roman senator who was elected consul for 3 BC.

Cornelia was the daughter of Scribonia and her second husband. She was stepdaughter to Octavian through her mother's third marriage and half-sister to Julia the Elder, Augustus' only biological child.

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was a patrician Roman senator, politician and general, praised by the historian Tacitus.

Lucius Aemilius Paullus was the son of Paullus Aemilius Lepidus and Cornelia, the elder daughter of Scribonia. He was married to Julia the Younger, the eldest granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octavia the Younger</span> Roman noblewoman, full-sister of Augustus

Octavia the Younger was the elder sister of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Marcella Major</span> 1st-century BC noblewoman and eldest daughter of Octavia Minor

Claudia Marcella Major (PIR2 C 1102; born some time before 40 BC) was the senior niece of Roman emperor Augustus, being the eldest daughter of his sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. She became the second wife of Augustus' foremost general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and after that the wife of Iullus Antonius, the son of Mark Antony.

Faustus Cornelius Sulla was a Roman senator who lived during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He was suffect consul in AD 31 with Sextus Tedius Valerius Catullus as his colleague. Faustus was the son of Sulla Felix, a member of the Arval Brethren who died in AD 21, thus a direct descendant of the dictator Sulla. His mother was Sextia and his brother was Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus was a Roman Senator during the reign of Augustus. He was ordinary consul in 12 BC with Publius Sulpicius Quirinius as his colleague.

Lucius Vipstanus Poplicola Messalla was a Roman Senator.

Lucius Vipstanus Gallus was a Roman senator who is the first documented member of the gens Vipstana. His descendants and relatives include several consuls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Marcius Philippus (consul 38 BC)</span> Roman politician

Lucius Marcius Philippus was a Roman politician who was elected suffect consul in 38 BC. He was step-brother to the future emperor Augustus, as well as his uncle.

Paullus Aemilius Regillus or Regulus was a Roman Senator and grandnephew of the emperor Augustus.

Claudia Pulchra (14 BC – AD 26) (PIR2 C 1116) was a Patrician woman of Ancient Rome who lived during the reigns of the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius.

Vipsania was an ancient Roman noblewoman of the first century BC. She was married to the politician Publius Quinctilius Varus and was a daughter of Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and his second wife Claudia Marcella Major.

Vipsania was an ancient Roman noblewoman of the first century BC. She was married to the politician Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and was likely the daughter of Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and his second wife Claudia Marcella Major.

Vipsania was an ancient Roman noblewoman of the first century BC. She was married to the orator Quintus Haterius and was likely the daughter of Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and his first wife Pomponia Caecilia Attica.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kokkinos, Antonia Augusta: Portrait of a Great Roman Lady, p. 67
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p. 205
  3. ↑ Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, pp. 150-1
  4. ↑ Syme, Ronald (1989). "Two Nieces of Augustus". The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon paperbacks (new, illustrated, reworked ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 125. ISBN   9780198147312.
  5. ↑ Weber, Ernst Wilhelm (1985). Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. University of California: E. Weber.
  6. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p. 205; Gaius Stern, Women, Children and Senators on the Ara Pacis Augustae, Berk. diss. 2006, chapter 6.
  7. ↑ Goold, Patrick (1970). "Pulcher Claudius". Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. Vol. 74. Harvard University Press. p. 217. ISBN   9780674379206.
  8. ↑ Syme, Ronald (1989). "Two Nieces of Augustus". The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon paperbacks (new, illustrated, reworked ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 149. ISBN   9780198147312.
  9. ↑ Syme, Ronald (1979). Badian, Ernst; Birley, Anthony Richard (eds.). Roman Papers. Roman Papers: IV-V. 1981-1985. Vol. 4 (new ed.). University of Michigan: Clarendon Press. p. 427. ISBN   9780198148739.
  10. ↑ Syme, Ronald (1989). "Two Nieces of Augustus". The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon paperbacks (new, illustrated, reworked ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 151. ISBN   9780198147312.
  11. ↑ Zmeskal, Klaus (2009). Adfinitas: Die Verwandtschaften der senatorischen Führungsschicht der römischen Republik von 218-31 v.Chr (in German). Vol. 1. Czech Republic: Verlag Karl Stutz. p. 70. ISBN   9783888493041.
  12. ↑ In Table IX of The Augustan Aristocracy, Syme indicates Lucius Vipstanus Gallus as the husband of Valeria Messallia, but notes the relationship is "conjectural".
  13. ↑ Settipani, Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale
  14. ↑ Ronald Syme, "Missing Persons III", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , 11 (1962), pp. 149f
  15. ↑ CIL VI 4418-4880
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.