Ceionia Fabia
Encyclopedia
Ceionia Fabia was a noble Roman woman and a member of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

.

Fabia was the first born daughter to the Roman Senator Lucius Aelius
Lucius Aelius
Lucius Aelius Caesar became the adopted son and intended successor, of Roman Emperor Hadrian , but never attained the throne....

 Verus Caesar and Avidia Plautia
Avidia Plautia
Avidia Plautia Nigrini or most commonly known as Avidia Plautia , was a well-connected noble Roman woman. She is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire....

. Her father from 136-138, was the first adopted heir and successor of the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

 (117-138). Fabia had three siblings: a sister Ceionia Plautia
Ceionia Plautia
Ceionia Plautia was a Roman noblewoman and is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire....

 and two brothers: the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus , was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.-Early life and career:Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian . He was born and raised in Rome...

 who co-ruled with Marcus Aurelius from 161-169 and Gaius Avidius Ceionius Commodus. Her cognomen Fabia reveals that her father was related to the gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...

 Fabius
Fabius
The gens Fabia was one of the most ancient patrician families at Rome. The gens played a prominent part in history soon after the establishment of the Republic, and three brothers are said to have been invested with seven successive consulships, from BC 485 to 479...

. However, whom she was named after from the gens Fabius is unknown. Fabia was born and raised in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

Her maternal grandparents were the Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
Gaius Avidius Nigrinus was a Roman that lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries.Nigrinus’ paternal and maternal ancestors were Romans of the highest political rank. He was the son of an elder Gaius Avidius Nigrinus by an unnamed mother, his brother was the consul Titus Avidius Quietus and his...

 and the unattested noblewoman Ignota Plautia. Although her adoptive paternal grandparents were the Roman Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

 and Roman Empress Vibia Sabina
Vibia Sabina
Vibia Sabina was a Roman Empress, wife and second cousin, once removed, to Roman Emperor Hadrian. She was the daughter to Salonina Matidia , and suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus...

, her biological paternal grandparents were the consul Lucius Ceionius Commodus and noblewoman Aelia or Fundania Plautia.

Sometime in 136 after Hadrian announced that her father was to the Emperor’s official heir, on the wishes of Hadrian, the emperor betrothed Fabia to Hadrian’s great-nephew Marcus Aurelius. Although Fabia and Aurelius became engaged, the engagement didn’t last. The father of Fabia had died in early 138. Later in 138, Hadrian ended the engagement between Fabia and Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...

 in 138 as his second son and heir. Antoninus Pius adopted Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his sons and heirs. Marcus Aurelius became engaged to the daughter of Antoninus Pius, Faustina the Younger
Faustina the Younger
Annia Galeria Faustina Minor , Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger was a daughter of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and Roman Empress Faustina the Elder. She was a Roman Empress and wife to her maternal cousin Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius...

, whom he later married.

Fabia later married the nobleman Plautius Quintillus
Plautius Quintillus
Plautius Quintillus was a Roman Politician that lived in the Roman Empire in the 2nd century.The family of Plautius Quintillus was of consular rank from Rome and was politically active during the rule of Nerva–Antonine dynasty in the 2nd century. Quintillus’ birth name could have been Lucius...

 who came from a family of consular rank. During the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161), Quintillus served as an ordinary consul in 159. Fabia bore Quintillus a son called Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus
Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus
Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus was a Roman politician who lived in the 2nd century and the early 3rd century.Plautius was the son of the consul Plautius Quintillus and noblewoman Ceionia Fabia. The birth name of Plautius is unknown, he is known by his adoption name. Plautius was born and...

 who later married Annia Aurelia Fadilla
Fadilla
Annia Aurelia Fadilla, most commonly known as Fadilla was an influential Roman Princess and was one of the daughters born to Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger. She was a sister to Roman Empress Lucilla and Roman Emperor Commodus. Fadilla was named in honor of her...

, one of the daughters of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger.

Throughout the Roman Empire, various honorific inscriptions have survived being dedicated to Fabia and her family. These inscriptions honor Fabia as the mother of Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus; the sister of Roman Emperor Lucius Verus and the sister-in-law of Empress Lucilla
Lucilla
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla or Lucilla was the second daughter and third child of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger and an elder sister to future Roman Emperor Commodus....

 (the second daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger, whom was one of the sisters of Fadilla). According to an inscription found at Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...

, Fabia was present when Lucius Verus married Lucilla.

It appears by 175 her husband had died. When Faustina the Younger had died in 175, Fabia was said to have attempted to interest Marcus Aurelius in a second marriage. However, Marcus Aurelius preferred to take a mistress, who was a daughter of one of Faustina’s procurators.

Sources

  • From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192, by Albino Garzetti, 1974
  • Cassio Dione e l'impero romano da Nerva ad Antonino Pio: alla luce dei nuovi by Guido Migliorati, 2003 – Italian Historical Secondary Source
  • The Cambridge ancient history, Volume 11 By Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone Limited preview - Edition: 2 - Item notes: v. 11 – 2000
  • Marcus Aurelius, by Anthony Richard Birley, Routledge, 2000
  • http://www.roman-emperors.org/lverus.htm
  • http://www.roman-empire.net/highpoint/marcaurelius.html
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