Caecilia Metella was a daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (died 55 BC)

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus was a politically active member of theRoman upper class. He was praetor in 74 BC and pontifex from 73 BC until his death...

, who was Consul

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 in 69 BC

69 BC

Year 69 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hortalus and Metellus...

. She was apparently married to Marcus Licinius Crassus Junior or the Younger, a legate to Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

, the son and heir of the Triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who commanded the right wing of Sulla's army at the Battle of the Colline Gate, suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus, provided political and financial support to Julius Caesar and entered into the political alliance known as the...

 and his wife Axia Tertulla.

Their son was Marcus Licinius Crassus (consul 30 BC), who was denied the spolia opima

Spolia opima

Spolia opima refers to the armor, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general had stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat...

by Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 as part of a deliberate policy to stress the importance of the Emperor and reduce that of individual generals. This Caecilia Metella appears to have been rather different from the other more famous Caeciliae Metellae, in that she lived and died in obscurity apart from her famous son and the magnificent tomb which her husband erected in her memory.
Located at the top of a hill on the Appian Way

Appian Way

The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...

, the tomb dominates the surrounding landscape. Atop a quadrangular base seven meters high, it consists of a cylindrical body 11 meters in height, with a diameter of 29 meters; this is surmounted by fortifications added during the medieval period. The simple inscription facing the Appian Way reads: CAECILIAE / Q. CRETICI F. / METELLAE CRASSI, or "To Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Creticus, [and wife] of Crassus".

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