Domitia Lepida

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Domitia Lepida

Domitia Lepida (PIR² D 180), Domitia Lepida Minor (Minor Latin for the younger) or simply known as Lepida (c. 10 BC-54), was the younger daughter of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC) and Antonia Major

Antonia Major

Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome?s first Roman Emperor....
. Her elder siblings were Domitia

Domitia (aunt of Nero)

Domitia or Domitia Lepida Major was the oldest child of Antonia Major and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus , and the oldest granddaughter to Triumvir Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, a great-niece of Roman Emperor Augustus, second cousin to Emperor Caligula, first cousin to Emperor Claudius, aunt to Empress Valeria Messalina, aunt to Empero...
(with whom she's sometimes confused) and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of the emperor Nero

Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
). She was a great niece of Emperor Augustus and granddaughter of Octavia Minor

Octavia Minor

Octavia Minor , also known as Octavia the Younger or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half sister of Octavia Major, and fourth wife of Mark Antony....
and Mark Antony

Mark Antony

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Antonia Major

Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome?s first Roman Emperor....
. Her elder siblings were Domitia

Domitia (aunt of Nero)

Nero

Octavia Minor

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure (Tacitus, Annals, 12.64). Like her sister, she was also very wealthy. She had holdings in Calabria and owned the praedia Lepidiana (Raepsaet-Charlier, p.286).

Lepida was married three times. Her first husband was her cousin, the consul Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus

Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus

Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus was a Roman consul of ancient Rome. He was the father of the Roman Empress Valeria Messalina.He was son of Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus and Claudia Marcella Minor....
(PIR¹ V 88; Suetonius, Vita Claudii, 26.29). Lepida married Barbatus probably around 15 (Barrett, Agrippina, p. 287 n. 154). They had a son Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus (consul 58) and a daughter Valeria Messalina (c. 17

Year 17 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar....
/20

Year 20 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar....
-48

Year 48 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar....
) who became Empress and third wife to the Emperor Claudius

Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
. Barbatus died maybe in 20/21. Lepida's second husband was to Faustus (II) Cornelius Sulla

Faustus (II) Cornelius Sulla

Faustus Cornelius Sulla was a Roman Empire suffect consul in 31 AD, during the reign of emperor Tiberius. He was a descendant of the famous dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and father of Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix who himself served as consul in 52 and was married Claudia Antonia, daughter of the emperor Claudius....
(PIR² C 1459, see also Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus III

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus III

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus III was a son of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Faustus. He was a great-grandchild of the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla....
), cos. suff. in 31, a descendant of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , or simply Sulla, was a Roman general and politician, holding the office of consul twice as well as the Roman dictator....
. Their son Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix was one of the lesser known figures of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of ancient Rome. His grandmother was Antonia Major, the niece of Emperor Augustus by her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus ....
, born in 22, married Claudius' daughter Claudia Antonia

Claudia Antonia

Claudia Antonia was the daughter of the later Roman Emperor Claudius from his second marriage to Aelia Paetina. Until 37, she was raised by her paternal grandmother Antonia Minor ....
. (PIR² C 1464; Dio 60.30.6a) Faustus Cornelius Sulla died around 40.

At the beginning of the reign of her son-in-law Claudius

Claudius

Gaius Appius Junius Silanus

Gaius Appius Junius Silanus was a consul in 28 . In 41, when he was governor in Hispania Tarraconensis the new Emperor Claudius made him marry Domitia Lepida, the mother of Empress Valeria Messalina....
(consul of 28). In 42, Appius Silanus was summarily executed on the orders of Claudius. The reasons and circumstances of Appius Silanus' execution are not clear.

Lepida was the maternal grandmother to Messalina's children, who were future Empress Claudia Octavia

Claudia Octavia

Claudia Octavia was a Roman Empress, stepsister and first wife to Roman Emperor Nero....
and Prince Britannicus

Britannicus

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus was the son of the Roman Empire Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. He became the heir-designate of the empire at his birth, less than a month into his father's reign....
. In 48 Messalina, was executed on the orders of Claudius due to Messalina's mock marriage with her lover which later became a political coup. During the most part of Messalina's influence and prosperity at the imperial court, Lepida had argued with Messalina and they had become estranged (this might have followed Appius Silanus' murder). In Messalina's last hour in the Gardens of Lucullus, Lepida was at her side and encouraged her to end her own life (Tacitus, Annals 11.37). After Messalina was stabbed with a dagger by an officer, her body was given up to Lepida.

Lepida's former sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger

Agrippina the Younger

Julia Agrippina; known as Agrippina Minor , was a great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great niece and adoptive granddaughter of Emperor Tiberius, sister to Emperor Caligula, wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero....
, became Claudius' new wife in 49. Out of jealousy, Agrippina arranged the execution of Lepida sometime before the poisoning of Claudius, after which Nero became the new emperor. Agrippina charged Lepida with attempting her life by magic, disturbing Italian peace and failing to control her Calabrian slave-gangs. Agrippina thought that Lepida would use her 'kind' influence on Nero, to turn him against Agrippina.