Julia is the name of two daughters of praetor Gaius Julius Caesar and
Aurelia CottaAurelia Cotta or Aurelia was the mother of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. She was a daughter of Rutilia and Lucius Aurelius Cotta. Her father was consul in 119 BC and her paternal grandfather of the same name was consul in 144 BC. The Aurelii Cottae family were prominent during the Roman Republican...
, the parents of dictator Gaius
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. The sisters were born and raised in Rome.
The eldest of the two is sometimes named
Julia Major (
Major Latin for
the elder) by historians (but not to be confused with
Julia the ElderJulia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
, daughter of Emperor
AugustusGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
). Likewise, the younger of the two sisters of Julius Caesar is sometimes named
Julia Minor, (
Minor Latin for
the younger) but not to be confused with
Julia the YoungerJulia the Younger or Julilla was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
, Augustus‘ first granddaughter.
The elder of the two sisters of Julius Caesar the dictator is only known from a passage in which the biographer
SuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was an equestrian and a historian during the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum...
mentions her two grandsons,
Lucius PinariusLucius Pinarius Scarpus was a Roman that lived in the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire.According to Suetonius, Pinarius was a great nephew of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar through one his sisters...
and
Quintus PediusQuintus Pedius was a Roman who lived during the late Roman Republic. Pedius was the son of a Marcus or Quintus Pedius and nephew or great nephew of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar....
.
Julia is the name of two daughters of praetor Gaius Julius Caesar and
Aurelia CottaAurelia Cotta or Aurelia was the mother of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. She was a daughter of Rutilia and Lucius Aurelius Cotta. Her father was consul in 119 BC and her paternal grandfather of the same name was consul in 144 BC. The Aurelii Cottae family were prominent during the Roman Republican...
, the parents of dictator Gaius
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. The sisters were born and raised in Rome.
The eldest of the two is sometimes named
Julia Major (
Major Latin for
the elder) by historians (but not to be confused with
Julia the ElderJulia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
, daughter of Emperor
AugustusGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
). Likewise, the younger of the two sisters of Julius Caesar is sometimes named
Julia Minor, (
Minor Latin for
the younger) but not to be confused with
Julia the YoungerJulia the Younger or Julilla was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
, Augustus‘ first granddaughter.
First elder sister of Julius Caesar
The elder of the two sisters of Julius Caesar the dictator is only known from a passage in which the biographer
SuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was an equestrian and a historian during the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum...
mentions her two grandsons,
Lucius PinariusLucius Pinarius Scarpus was a Roman that lived in the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire.According to Suetonius, Pinarius was a great nephew of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar through one his sisters...
and
Quintus PediusQuintus Pedius was a Roman who lived during the late Roman Republic. Pedius was the son of a Marcus or Quintus Pedius and nephew or great nephew of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar....
. If the two men were actually her sons, as has been conjectured, she was married, in what order is uncertain, to a Pinarius, of a very ancient patrician family, and a Pedius. It is not known if it was the elder or the younger of the dictator's sisters who gave evidence against Publius Clodius Pulcher, when impeached for impiety in 61 BC. Nothing else is known about the life of the elder sister.
Second elder sister of Julius Caesar
Julia (101 BC-51 BC) was the second sister of
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. This Julia married
Marcus AtiusMarcus Atius Balbus was the son and heir of an elder Marcus Atius Balbus and Pompeia. Pompeia was a sister to consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, father of triumvir Pompey. The family of the elder Balbus came from a Roman senatorial family plebs status from Aricia . ‘Balbus’ in Latin means stammer...
Balbus, a praetor and commissioner who came from a senatorial family of
plebsThe Plebs was the general body of Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
status. Julia bore Balbus two daughters:
- Atia Balba Caesonia - mother of first Emperor Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
and of Octavia MinorOctavia 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....
.
- Atia minor.
Julia and her mother had given the court a detailed and truthful account about the affair between Pompeia (her sister-in-law) and politician
Publius Clodius PulcherPublius Clodius Pulcher , was a Roman politician known for his popularist tactics...
. Caesar divorced Pompeia over the scandal. Balbus died in 52 BC and Julia died a year later. Julia’s youngest grandson and grandchild then known as Octavian (future Emperor Augustus) at age 12 to her honor delivered her funeral oration as her funeral.
Sources
- Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was an equestrian and a historian during the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum...
- The Twelve Caesars - Caesar and Augustus.
- http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1748.html