Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)
Encyclopedia
Julia Caesaris 83 or 82 BC-54 BC, was the daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar
the Roman dictator
, by his first wife, Cornelia Cinna
, and his only child in marriage. Julia became the fourth wife of Pompey
the Great and was renowned for her beauty and virtue.
. Her father engaged her to Quintus Servilius Caepio, who could have been Marcus Junius Brutus
(Caesar's most famous assassin) who, after being adopted by his uncle Quintus Servilius Caepio, was known as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus for an unknown period of time. Caesar broke off this engagement and married her to Pompey
in April 59 BC, with whom Caesar sought a strong political alliance in forming the First Triumvirate
. This family-alliance of its two great chiefs was regarded as the firmest bond between Caesar and Pompey, and was accordingly viewed with much alarm by the optimates
(the oligarchal
party in Rome), especially by Marcus Tullius Cicero
and Cato the Younger
.
Pompey was supposedly infatuated with his bride. The personal charms of Julia were remarkable: she was a woman of beauty and virtue; and although policy prompted her union, and she was twenty-three years younger than her husband, she possessed in Pompey a devoted husband, to whom she was, in return, devotedly attached. A rumor suggested that the aging conqueror was losing interest in politics in favor of domestic life with his young wife. In fact, Pompey had been given the governorship of Hispania Ulterior
, but had been permitted to remain in Rome to oversee the Roman grain supply as curator annonae, exercising his command through subordinates.
Julia died before a breach between her husband and father had become inevitable. At the election of aediles in 55 BC, Pompey was surrounded by a tumultuous mob, and his gown was sprinkled with blood of the rioters. A slave carried the stained toga to his house on the Carinae
and was seen by Julia. Imagining that her husband was slain, she fell into premature labor, and her constitution received an irreparable shock. In August of the next year, 54 BC, she died in childbed, and her infant—a son, according to some writers, a daughter, according to others,—survived her only a few days. Caesar was in Britain, according to Seneca, when he received the tidings of Julia's death.
Pompey wished her ashes to repose in his favourite Alban
villa, but the Roman people, who loved Julia, determined they should rest in the field of Mars
(Campus Martius). For permission a special decree of the senate was necessary, and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
, one of the consuls of 54 BC, impelled by his hatred for Pompey and Caesar, procured an interdict from the tribunes. But the popular will prevailed, and, after listening to a funeral oration in the forum, the people placed her urn in the field of Mars. Ten years later the official pyre for Caesar's cremation would be erected near the tomb of his daughter, but the people intervened after the funeral oration by Marcus Antonius
and cremated Caesar's body in the Forum.
After Julia’s death Pompey and Caesar’s alliance began to fade which resulted in Caesar's civil war
. It was allegedly remarked, as a singular omen
, that on the day Augustus
entered Rome as Caesar's adoptive son (in May 44 BC), the monument of Julia was struck by lightning. Caesar himself vowed a ceremony to her manes
, which he exhibited in 46 BC as extensive funeral games including gladiatorial combats. The date of the ceremony was chosen to coincide with the ludi Veneris Genetricis on September 26, the festival in honor of Venus Genetrix
, the divine ancestress of the Julians.
The Italian Renaissance
poet Carlo Marsuppini
wrote a eulogy about Piccarda Bueri
, in which he compared her to Julia. He names her as an example of great marital devotion.
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 Roman dictator
Roman dictator
In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
, by his first wife, Cornelia Cinna
Cornelia Cinna minor
Cornelia Cinnilla , daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna , and a sister to suffect consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna, was married to Gaius Julius Caesar, who would become one of Rome's greatest conquerors and its dictator...
, and his only child in marriage. Julia became the fourth wife of Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
the Great and was renowned for her beauty and virtue.
Life
Julia was born around 83 BC–82 BC. After her mother died in childbirth –68 BC, she was raised by her paternal grandmother Aurelia CottaAurelia Cotta
Aurelia Cotta or Aurelia was the mother of Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar .-Family:...
. Her father engaged her to Quintus Servilius Caepio, who could have been Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
(Caesar's most famous assassin) who, after being adopted by his uncle Quintus Servilius Caepio, was known as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus for an unknown period of time. Caesar broke off this engagement and married her to Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
in April 59 BC, with whom Caesar sought a strong political alliance in forming the First Triumvirate
First Triumvirate
The First Triumvirate was the political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Unlike the Second Triumvirate, the First Triumvirate had no official status whatsoever; its overwhelming power in the Roman Republic was strictly unofficial influence, and...
. This family-alliance of its two great chiefs was regarded as the firmest bond between Caesar and Pompey, and was accordingly viewed with much alarm by the optimates
Optimates
The optimates were the traditionalist majority of the late Roman Republic. They wished to limit the power of the popular assemblies and the Tribunes of the Plebs, and to extend the power of the Senate, which was viewed as more dedicated to the interests of the aristocrats who held the reins of power...
(the oligarchal
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
party in Rome), especially by Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
and Cato the Younger
Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...
.
Pompey was supposedly infatuated with his bride. The personal charms of Julia were remarkable: she was a woman of beauty and virtue; and although policy prompted her union, and she was twenty-three years younger than her husband, she possessed in Pompey a devoted husband, to whom she was, in return, devotedly attached. A rumor suggested that the aging conqueror was losing interest in politics in favor of domestic life with his young wife. In fact, Pompey had been given the governorship of Hispania Ulterior
Hispania Ulterior
During the Roman Republic, Hispania Ulterior was a region of Hispania roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of modern Spain and extending to all of Lusitania and Gallaecia...
, but had been permitted to remain in Rome to oversee the Roman grain supply as curator annonae, exercising his command through subordinates.
Julia died before a breach between her husband and father had become inevitable. At the election of aediles in 55 BC, Pompey was surrounded by a tumultuous mob, and his gown was sprinkled with blood of the rioters. A slave carried the stained toga to his house on the Carinae
Carinae
Carinae was an area of ancient Rome. It was one of its most exclusive neighborhoods.The Carinae was the northern tip of the Oppian Hill on its western side; it extended between the Velian Hill and the Clivus Pullius. Its outlook was southwestern, across the swamps of the Palus Ceroliae toward the...
and was seen by Julia. Imagining that her husband was slain, she fell into premature labor, and her constitution received an irreparable shock. In August of the next year, 54 BC, she died in childbed, and her infant—a son, according to some writers, a daughter, according to others,—survived her only a few days. Caesar was in Britain, according to Seneca, when he received the tidings of Julia's death.
Pompey wished her ashes to repose in his favourite Alban
Alban Hills
The Alban Hills are the site of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio.The dominant peak is Monte Cavo. There are two small calderas which contain lakes, Lago Albano and Lake Nemi...
villa, but the Roman people, who loved Julia, determined they should rest in the field of Mars
Campus Martius
The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome...
(Campus Martius). For permission a special decree of the senate was necessary, and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 54 BC)
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul 54 BC, was an enemy of Julius Caesar and a strong supporter of the aristocratic party in the late Roman Republic.He is first mentioned in 70 BC by Cicero as a witness against Verres...
, one of the consuls of 54 BC, impelled by his hatred for Pompey and Caesar, procured an interdict from the tribunes. But the popular will prevailed, and, after listening to a funeral oration in the forum, the people placed her urn in the field of Mars. Ten years later the official pyre for Caesar's cremation would be erected near the tomb of his daughter, but the people intervened after the funeral oration by Marcus Antonius
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
and cremated Caesar's body in the Forum.
After Julia’s death Pompey and Caesar’s alliance began to fade which resulted in Caesar's civil war
Caesar's civil war
The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
. It was allegedly remarked, as a singular omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
, that on the day 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...
entered Rome as Caesar's adoptive son (in May 44 BC), the monument of Julia was struck by lightning. Caesar himself vowed a ceremony to her manes
Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the Manes or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent the souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Genii, and Di Penates as deities that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult...
, which he exhibited in 46 BC as extensive funeral games including gladiatorial combats. The date of the ceremony was chosen to coincide with the ludi Veneris Genetricis on September 26, the festival in honor of Venus Genetrix
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, the divine ancestress of the Julians.
Chronology
- 83 BC–82 BC — Julia's birth
- 69 BC–68 BC — Cornelia CinnaCornelia Cinna minorCornelia Cinnilla , daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna , and a sister to suffect consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna, was married to Gaius Julius Caesar, who would become one of Rome's greatest conquerors and its dictator...
(Julia's mother and CaesarJulius CaesarGaius 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....
's first wife) dies in childbirth - 59 BC — marriage to PompeyPompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
- 55 BC — Julia has a miscarriage
- 54 BC — Julia dies in child bed, her child only survives a few days
Literature
- In Dante AlighieriDante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
's epic poem The Divine ComedyThe Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature...
(14th century), Julia was encountered by Dante in the first circle of Hell, the Limbo (where rest souls who are not in torture, the pagans that lived righteous existences):
-
- [...] The foremost circle that surrounds the abyss. [...]
- [...] I knew, who in that Limbo were suspended. [...]
- [...] LucretiaLucretiaLucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. According to the story, told mainly by the Roman historian Livy and the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus , her rape by the king's son and consequent suicide were the immediate cause of the revolution that overthrew the...
, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia, [...]
The Italian Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
poet Carlo Marsuppini
Carlo Marsuppini
Carlo Marsuppini , also known as Carlo Aretino and Carolus Arretinus, was an Italian Renaissance humanist and chancellor of the Florentine Republic....
wrote a eulogy about Piccarda Bueri
Piccarda Bueri
Piccarda Bueri was an Italian noblewoman of the Renaissance.-Life:She was the daughter of Edward Bueri, a member of a family of ancient lineage from Florence with economic interests in other cities; the family was in fact in Verona in the first half of the fourteenth century when she was born...
, in which he compared her to Julia. He names her as an example of great marital devotion.
Television
- In Julius CaesarJulius Caesar (TV miniseries)Julius Caesar is a 2002 mini-series about the life of Julius Caesar. It was directed by Uli Edel, and written by Peter Pruce and Craig Warner. It is a dramatization of the life of Julius Caesar through 82 BC to his death in 44 BC...
(2002 television movie), the role of young Julia is played by Alexandra Morris, while the role of grown-up Julia is played by Italian actress Nicole GrimaudoNicole GrimaudoNicole Grimaudo is an actress born on 22 April 1980, in Caltagirone, Sicily, Italy. She began her career on the Italian television show "Non è la Rai" in 1994-1995, and later moved to TV and cinema films and theatre....
. - Julia's death is portrayed in the premiere episode of HBO's 2005 television series RomeRome (TV series)Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
. However, Julia actually died in childbirth in 54 BC, at least 2 years before the events of this episode.
Primary sources
- LivyLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, Periochae. - TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, AnnalsAnnals (Tacitus)The Annals by Tacitus is a history of the reigns of the four Roman Emperors succeeding Caesar Augustus. The surviving parts of the Annals extensively cover most of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. The title Annals was probably not given by Tacitus, but derives from the fact that he treated this...
. - AppianAppianAppian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
, Civil Wars. - CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
- Letters to Atticus.
- Oration for Publius Quinctius.
- PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, Parallel LivesParallel LivesPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
- Life of CaesarParallel LivesPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
. - Life of PompeyParallel LivesPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
. - Life of Cato the YoungerParallel LivesPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
.
- Life of Caesar
- SuetoniusSuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
, Life of Julius Caesar. - SenecaSeneca the YoungerLucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, To Marcia, On consolation. - Augustine of HippoAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, The city of God. - Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri iv.6.4
Secondary sources
- This entry incorporates public domain text originally from:
- William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870.
- William SmithWilliam Smith (lexicographer)Sir William Smith Kt. was a noted English lexicographer.-Early life:Born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents, he was originally destined for a theological career, but instead was articled to a solicitor. In his spare time he taught himself classics, and when he entered University College...
(ed.), A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology and Geography, 1851.
- Dante AlighieriDante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
, The Divine Comedy, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. - Thomas Robert Shannon BroughtonThomas Robert Shannon BroughtonThomas Robert Shannon Broughton was a Canadian classical scholar and leading Latin prosopographer of the twentieth century. He is especially noted for his definitive three-volume work, Magistrates of the Roman Republic ....
, Magistrates of the Roman Republic, vol. 2, 132, New York, (1951–1986). - Matthias Gelzer, Caesar, Politician and Statesman, (translated by Peter Needham), Oxford, 1968.
- John T. Ramsey, A. Lewis Licht, Comet of 44 B.C. and Caesar's Funeral Games, Oxford University Press US, 1997.