| Livia Orestilla | |
|---|---|
 Imaginary depiction of Orestilla in the Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum | |
| Roman empress | |
| Tenure | c. 37–38 |
| Spouse | Gaius Calpurnius Piso Caligula |
Livia Orestilla, alternately Cornelia Orestilla or Orestina, was the second wife of the Roman emperor Caligula in AD 37 or 38.
Her name is given in ancient sources in several variants. Suetonius calls her "Livia Orestilla", but Cassius Dio and later historians call her "Cornelia Orestina", although the cognomen "Orestina" could be a corruption of "Orestilla". [1]
Christian Settipani has speculated that her mother may have been a Livia, and thus Orestilla chose to use the more imperial name "Livia" instead of "Cornelia" to identify herself, similar to Livia Medullina. [2] An inscription at the Capitoline Museums records a Cornelia Lemnias who was a relative (likely sister) of a Cornelia Orestina, but it is not certain if this woman is the same as the empress. [3]
Orestilla's father may have been Lucius Cornelius Scipio Orestinus. He was descended from a branch of the Scipiones who were adopted from the Cornelii Lentuli; he might also be descended from the Mucia gens and the obscure Livii Ocellae. [4] A relation to the Lentuli would help to explain why Orestilla was chosen to become the mother of Julian heirs. [5]
She was originally married to Gaius Calpurnius Piso, who was later involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Nero in AD 65. [6] However, Piso was persuaded or forced to annul the marriage so that Caligula could marry her. According to both Dio and Suetonius, this occurred during Piso and Orestilla's wedding celebrations. Suetonius claims that Caligula issued a proclamation the next day that he had acquired a new wife in the tradition of Romulus and Augustus, who had both stolen wives from other men. Orestilla was apparently an unwilling Empress, and remained loyal to her first husband. [7] On the next day Caligula divorced Orestilla; however, he also prohibited her from returning to her relationship with Piso.
Later both Orestilla and Piso were banished for adultery to a distant island. Piso returned to Rome, one year later, after Caligula's assassination.
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Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known by his nickname Caligula, was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in AD 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Agrippina the Elder, members of the first ruling family of the Roman Empire. He was born two years before Tiberius was made emperor. Gaius accompanied his father, mother and siblings on campaign in Germania, at little more than four or five years old. He had been named after Gaius Julius Caesar, but his father's soldiers affectionately nicknamed him "Caligula".
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Junia Calvina was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century AD.
Julia Livilla was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.
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Marcus Livius Drusus Libo was an ancient Roman consul of the early Roman Empire. He was the son of Lucius Scribonius Libo and adopted brother of the empress Livia. His natural paternal aunt was Scribonia, the second wife of Augustus, as a consequence of which he was a maternal first cousin of Julia the Elder.