Sempronia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Died | |
| Spouse | Decimus Junius Brutus |
| Children | Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (possibly) [1] |
Sempronia was an Ancient Roman woman of the late Republic who was the wife of Decimus Junius Brutus, the consul of 77 B.C. and step-mother of his son Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus who became one of Julius Caesar's assassins. [2]
It has been speculated that she may have been the daughter of Gaius Gracchus, [3] [4] although historian Erich Gruen considers this unlikely. [5] Others instead believes that she was the sister of Fulvia's mother Sempronia, [6] but this is unsure as well. [7] [8] A third option put forward is that she could have been the daughter of Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus, the consul of 129 BC. [9]
Sempronia was described as a distinguished, witty, beautiful, accomplished, and passionate woman, who spoke Greek and Latin. She could sing, play the lyre and dance very well. The historian Sallust states she was extremely fortunate in life, marriage, and children, yet had a profligate character. According to him she had "masculine daring" and involved herself in politics. Without the knowledge or consent of her husband, she participated in the conspiracy of Catiline and allowed the conspirators to meet in her home to plan. [10] Sempronia and women like her represented a "new woman" in Rome, with abilities and interests that would become common for women of Rome in later years, a contrast to classical Roman women like Cornelia who stood for values from the earlier Republican period. [11] She was said to have had many male lovers and Sallust stated that she "sought out men more than she was sought out by them". [12]
Sempronia knew Julius Caesar [13] and was likely one of his mistresses. [14] [15] [16] Her step-son Decimus Albinus has been considered as one of Caesar's potential illegitimate children and it is likely Caesar knew them well. [17]
In the past she has sometimes been conflated with another woman by the same name who was the sister of the Gracchi brothers. [18]
Johann Caspar von Orelli supposed that this Sempronia may be the same Sempronia who, according to Asconius, gave testimony at the trial of Titus Annius Milo in 52 B.C. This Sempronia was the daughter of a Sempronius Tuditanus, and supposedly the mother of Publius Clodius Pulcher. However, as Clodius' wife was Fulvia, the daughter of a Sempronia and granddaughter of Sempronius Tuditanus, it seems that she was not the same Sempronia who married Brutus, and that the woman witnessing was actually Clodius' mother-in-law, not mother. [19]
Sempronia is a focal character in the 1600s play by Ben Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy . [20]
She is the title character of the short story "The Consul's Wife" by Steven Saylor where she and her lover are plotting to have her husband murdered. She also appears in Saylor's novel Catilina's Riddle . [21] In Saylor's works she is indeed depicted as the daughter of Gaius Gracchus, Saylor notes that he is aware that this is considered debatable among historians, but that he enjoys to speculate on the possibility due to it being interesting and fitting for her character, as the Gracchi were known for their rebellious nature. [22]
Sempronia is mentioned, but does not appear, in the novel The October Horse and appears in Caesar's Women , by Colleen McCullough. [23] In the novel Respublica: A Novel of Cicero's Roman Republic Sempronia is portrayed as a vile woman who murders her husband and mentally and sexually abuses her son Decimus. [24] She is the point of view character in the novel Catilinas sammansvärjning by Göran Hägg. [25] She plays a major part in the novel A Slave of Catiline by Paul Anderson. [26] She is also a character in the novel The Roman Traitor by Henry William Herbert. [27]
Lucius Sergius Catilina, known in English as Catiline, was a Roman politician and soldier best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy—a failed attempt to violently seize control of the Roman state in 63 BC.
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust, was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius Caesar, circa 50s BC. He is the earliest known Latin-language Roman historian with surviving works to his name, of which Conspiracy of Catiline on the eponymous conspiracy, The Jugurthine War on the eponymous war, and the Histories remain extant. As a writer, Sallust was primarily influenced by the works of the 5th-century BC Greek historian Thucydides. During his political career he amassed great and ill-gotten wealth from his governorship of Africa.
Servilia was a Roman matron from a distinguished family, the Servilii Caepiones. She was the daughter of Quintus Servilius Caepio and Livia, thus the maternal half-sister of Cato the Younger. She married Marcus Junius Brutus, with whom she had a son, the Brutus who, along with others in the Senate, assassinated Julius Caesar. After her first husband's death in 77 BC, she married Decimus Junius Silanus, and with him had a son and three daughters.
Fulvia was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio, and Mark Antony. All of these men would go on to lead increasingly promising political careers as populares, tribunes, and supporters of Julius Caesar.
The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the middle Republic; the first to attain the consulship was Lucius Fulvius Curvus in 322 BC. From that time, the Fulvii were active in the politics of the Roman state, and gained a reputation for excellent military leaders.
Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus was a consul of the Roman Republic for the year 138 BC together with Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio. He was an optimate politician and a military commander in Hispania and in Illyria. He was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus and brother of Marcus Junius Brutus. He had a son also named Decimus Junius Brutus and his grandson was Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus.
Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was a Roman general and politician of the late republican period and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination. He had previously been an important supporter of Caesar in the Gallic Wars and in the civil war against Pompey. Decimus Brutus is often confused with his distant cousin and fellow conspirator, Marcus Junius Brutus.
Julia Minor was the second of two daughters of Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia. She was an elder sister of the dictator Julius Caesar, and the maternal grandmother of Rome's first emperor Augustus.
The gens Sempronia was one of the most ancient and noble houses of ancient Rome. Although the oldest branch of this gens was patrician, with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus obtaining the consulship in 497 BC, the thirteenth year of the Republic, but from the time of the Samnite Wars onward, most if not all of the Sempronii appearing in history were plebeians. Although the Sempronii were illustrious under the Republic, few of them attained any importance or notice in imperial times.
Publius Sempronius C.f. Tuditanus was a Roman Republican consul and censor, best known for leading about 600 men to safety at Cannae in August, 216 BC and for the Treaty of Phoenice which ended the First Macedonian War, in 205 BC.
The Philippics are a series of 14 speeches composed by Cicero in 44 and 43 BC, condemning Mark Antony. Cicero likened these speeches to those of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon; both Demosthenes' and Cicero's speeches became known as Philippics. Cicero's Second Philippic is styled after Demosthenes' On the Crown.
The political career of Marcus Tullius Cicero began in 76 BC with his election to the office of quaestor, and ended in 43 BC, when he was assassinated upon the orders of Mark Antony. Cicero, a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, and Roman constitutionalist, reached the height of Roman power, the Consulship, and played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. A contemporary of Julius Caesar, Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC.
Publius Claudius Pulcher was a son of Publius Clodius Pulcher and his wife Fulvia. He was briefly the brother-in-law of Octavian through Octavian's marriage to his sister Claudia.
Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus was a Roman senator and consul in 25 BC as the colleague of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the emperor Augustus.
Decimus Junius Brutus was a Roman politician who was elected consul in 77 BC.
The gens Cornificia was a plebeian family at Rome. No persons of this name occur until the last century of the Republic; and the first who obtained any of the higher honours of the state was Quintus Cornificius, praetor in 66 BC.
The gens Gratidia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Originally coming from Arpinum, members of this gens are known from the final century of the Republic.
