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Julia the Elder (October 39 BC - 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin
Classical Latin

Classical Latin is the form of the Latin used by the ancient Rome in what is usually regarded as "classical" Latin literature. Its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature—broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD—possibly extending to the Silver Age—broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries....
: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA) was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus' second marriage with Scribonia
Scribonia

Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo and Cornelia Sulla . Her brother of the same name was consul and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder....
, her birth occurring on the same day as Scribonia's divorce from Augustus, who wished to marry Livia Drusilla.

st as soon as she was born, she was taken from her biological mother whom Augustus had divorced that very day: Augustus, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her.






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Julia the Elder (October 39 BC - 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin
Classical Latin

Classical Latin is the form of the Latin used by the ancient Rome in what is usually regarded as "classical" Latin literature. Its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature—broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD—possibly extending to the Silver Age—broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries....
: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA) was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus' second marriage with Scribonia
Scribonia

Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo and Cornelia Sulla . Her brother of the same name was consul and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder....
, her birth occurring on the same day as Scribonia's divorce from Augustus, who wished to marry Livia Drusilla.

Life


Early life

Almost as soon as she was born, she was taken from her biological mother whom Augustus had divorced that very day: Augustus, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her. Once she became old enough, she was sent to live with her stepmother Livia
Livia

Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Julia Augusta was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women in the Roman Empire, being Augustus' faithful advisor....
 and began her education as an aristocratic Roman girl. It was Augustus' desire that Julia should be exemplary, and so her education appears to have been strict and somewhat old-fashioned. Thus, in addition to her studies, Suetonius
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 on the battles of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled On the Life of the Caesars....
 informs us, she was taught spinning and weaving . Macrobius mentions 'her love of literature and considerable culture, a thing easy to come by in that household' .

Julia's social life was severely controlled, and she was allowed to talk only to people whom her father had vetted . However, Augustus had a great affection for his daughter and made sure she had the best teachers available. Macrobius preserves a remark of Augustus: "There are two wayward daughters that I have to put up with: the Roman commonwealth and Julia."

At the time of Julia's birth, Augustus had not yet received the title "Augustus" and was still known as Octavian. Octavian's career progressed steadily after Julia's birth. In 37 BC, during Julia's early childhood, Octavian's friends Gaius Maecenas
Gaius Maecenas

Gaius Cilnius Maecenas was a confidant and political advisor to Augustus as well as an important patron for the new generation of 'Augustan' poets....
 and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
 concluded an agreement with Octavian's great rival Mark Antony
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....
. It was sealed with an engagement: Antony's ten year old son Marcus Antonius Antyllus
Marcus Antonius Antyllus

Marcus Antonius Antyllus or Marcus Antonius Minor also known as Antonius or Antyllus . Antyllus was the eldest son and child of Ancient Rome Triumvir Mark Antony from his third wife Fulvia....
 was to marry Julia, then two years old.

The engagement never led to a marriage because civil war broke out. In 31 BC, at the Battle of Actium
Battle of Actium

The Battle of Actium was the final engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Augustus and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII....
, Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony and his mistress, Cleopatra VII of Egypt
Cleopatra VII of Egypt

Cleopatra VII Philopator was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt....
. In Alexandria
Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
, they both committed suicide, and Octavian thus became sole ruler of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.

First marriage

As was the case with most aristocratic Roman women of the period, Julia's life was focussed squarely on her successive marriages and family alliances
Alliances

Alliances can refer to:* The plural of...
. Like many Roman girls, she was first married off in her early teens. In 25 BC, at the age of fourteen, Julia married her cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul. He was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War....
, who was some three years older than she. There were rumors that Marcellus had been chosen as Augustus' successor, but Julia's father was not present: he was fighting a war in Spain and had fallen ill. Agrippa presided over the ceremony. Marcellus died in September 23 BC, when Julia was sixteen. The union produced no children.

Marriage to Agrippa
In 21 BC, having now reached the age of 18, Julia married Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
, a man from a modest family who had risen to become Augustus' most trusted general and friend. This step is said to have been taken partly on the advice of Maecenas, who in counseling him upon these very matters remarked: "You have made him so great that he must either become your son-in-law or be slain" . Since Agrippa was nearly 25 years older than she, it was a typical arranged marriage, with Julia functioning as a pawn in her father's dynastic plans. There is from this period the report of an infidelity with one Sempronius Gracchus, with whom Julia allegedly had a lasting liaison (Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate 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 that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
 describes him as "a persistent paramour") . This was the first of a series of alleged adulteries. According to Suetonius, Julia's marital status did not prevent her from conceiving a passion for Augustus' stepson, and thus her stepbrother, Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, so it was widely rumoured .

The newly-weds lived in a villa in Rome that has since been excavated near the modern Farnesina in Trastevere
Trastevere

Trastevere is Rioni of Rome XIII of Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber, south of Vatican City. Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber"....
. Agrippa and Julia's marriage resulted in five children: Gaius Caesar, Vipsania Julia (also known as Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger

Julia Minor or Julilla was a Roman Princess. She was the eldest daughter and second child born to Roman Statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
), Lucius Caesar
Lucius Caesar

Lucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, his name was changed to Lucius Julius Caesar....
, Vipsania Agrippina or Agrippina Major
Agrippina the elder

Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major was a distinguished and prominent Roman Princess that lived between the 1st century BC and 1st century....
 (mother of Emperor Caligula
Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
), and Agrippa Postumus
Agrippa Postumus

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus , also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
 (a posthumous son). From June 20 BC to the spring of 18 BC, Agrippa was governor of Gaul
Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
, and it is likely that Julia followed him to the country on the other side of the Alps. Shortly after their arrival, their first child Gaius was born, and in 19 BC, Julia gave birth to Vipsania Julia. After their return to Italy, a third child followed: a son named Lucius.

Nicolaus
Nicolaus of Damascus

Nicolaus of Damascus was a Syrian people historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustus age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus....
 and Josephus
Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
 mentions that during Julia's marriage to Agrippa, she was travelling to meet Agrippa where he was campaigning, was caught up in a flash flood in Ilium
Troy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer....
 (Troy), and almost drowned . Agrippa was furious, and in his anger he fined the locals 100,000 drachmae. The fine was a heavy blow but no one would face Agrippa for an appeal. It was only once Herod
Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great , was a Roman Empire client state of Israel. Herod is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient world, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple....
, king of Judaea, went to Agrippa to receive pardon that he withdrew the fine. In the spring of 16 BC, Agrippa and Julia started a tour through the eastern provinces, where they visited Herod
Herod

Herod is a name used of several kings belonging to the Herodian Dynasty of Roman Empire Iudaea Province:* Herod the Great , king of Judea who reconstructed the Second Temple in Jerusalem....
. In October 14 BC, the couple travelled to Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, where Julia gave birth to her fourth child, Agrippina. Augustus, who took care of their education personally, adopted the boys Lucius and Gaius Caesar after their father's death in 12 BC. Augustus adopted both the newborn Lucius and the three-year old Gaius in 17 BC.

After the winter, the family returned to Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. Julia quickly became pregnant again, but her husband died suddenly in March 12 BC in Campania
Campania

Campania is a Regions of Italy of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy, its total area of 13,595 km? makes it the most densely populated region in the country....
 at the age of 51. He was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus. Julia named the posthumous son Marcus in his honor. He was to be known as Agrippa Postumus
Agrippa Postumus

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus , also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
. Immediately after the boy was born, and while Julia was still in mourning, Augustus had her betrothed and then remarried to Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, her stepbrother.

Marriage to Tiberius

After the death of Agrippa, Augustus sought to promote his stepson Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, believing that this would best serve his own dynastic interests. Tiberius married Julia (11 BC), but to do so he had to divorce Vipsania Agrippina
Vipsania Agrippina

Vipsania Agrippina was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa from his first wife Caecilia Attica, granddaughter of Cicero's friend and knight Titus Pomponius Atticus....
 (daughter of a previous marriage of Agrippa), the woman he dearly loved. The marriage was thus blighted almost from the start, and the son that Julia bore him died in infancy . Suetonius alleges that Tiberius had a low opinion of Julia's character , while Tacitus claims that she disdained Tiberius as an unequal match and even sent her father a letter, written by Sempronius Gracchus, denouncing him. By 6 BC, when Tiberius departed for Rhodes
Rhodes

Rhodes is a Greece List of islands of Greece approximately southwest of Turkey in eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007 of which 53,709 resided in the Rhodes capital city of the island....
, if not earlier, the couple had separated.

Scandal
Even when Julia's husbands Marcus Claudius Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul. He was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War....
 and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
 were alive, and Augustus was thus not technically her pater familias
Pater familias

for the episode of Ghost Whisperer, see Pater Familias.The pater familias was the highest ranking family status in an Ancient Rome household, Patriarchy....
, he nevertheless exerted an enormous influence on her. His kin were expected to be paragons of Roman virtue. Under Roman morality, the obligations for a woman were different than those of a man; a married man could, for example, have sexual relations with slaves without reproach, whereas a woman was expected to be entirely sexually faithful to her husband.

As the daughter of Augustus, mother of two of his heirs, Lucius and Gaius, and wife of another, Tiberius, it must have seemed to Julia that her future was assured. Yet in 2 BC she was arrested for adultery and treason; Augustus sent her a letter in Tiberius' name declaring the marriage null and void. He also asserted in public that she had been plotting against his own life. Though at the time Augustus had been passing legislation to promote family values, he likely knew of her intrigues with other men but hesitated for some time to accuse her. Several of Julia's supposed lovers were exiled, most notably Sempronius Gracchus, while Iullus Antonius
Iullus Antonius

Iullus Antonius , also known as Iulus, Julus or Jullus, was the second son of Mark Antony and his third wife Fulvia. He is best known for being the famous lover of Julia the Elder....
 (son of Mark Antony
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....
 and Fulvia
Fulvia

Fulvia was a Ancient Rome woman who lived in the 1st century BC. According to Plutarch, Fulvia had no interest in spinning nor managing a household nor ruling a husband with no ambition for public life; Fulvia wanted to govern or to command and be a commander-in-chief....
) was forced to commit suicide. Others have suggested that Julia's alleged paramours were members of her city clique, who wished to remove Tiberius from favour and replace him with Antonius. This would explain the letter, written by Gracchus, asking Augustus to allow Julia to divorce Tiberius.

It is hard to reconstruct what actually happened, but historians agree that she had taken part in nightly drinking parties on the Roman Forum and that Antonius was her lover as he is the only lover mentioned by more than two contemporary historians. Several men were also reported to have enjoyed her favors, but this may have been mere gossip
Gossip

Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. It forms one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and other variations into the information thus transmitted....
.

Exile

Reluctant to execute her, Augustus decided on Julia's exile, in harsh conditions. She was confined on an island called Pandateria (modern Ventotene
Ventotene

Ventotene is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Campania, Italy. It is the remains of an ancient volcano, and is part of the Pontine Islands....
), with no men in sight, forbidden even to drink wine . The island itself measures less than . She was allowed no visitor unless her father had given permission and had been informed of the stature, complexion, and even of any marks or scars upon his body . Scribonia
Scribonia

Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo and Cornelia Sulla . Her brother of the same name was consul and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder....
, Julia's biological mother, accompanied her into exile . Upon any mention of her and Julia, he would say: aith ophelon agamos t'emeni agonos t'apolesthai meaning "Would I were wifeless, or had childless died!" [from the Iliad] . He rarely called her by any other name than that of his three imposthumes, or cancers. The exile of his daughter left Augustus both regretful and rancorous for the rest of his life.

Five years later, Julia was allowed to return to the mainland, though Augustus never forgave her and ordered her to remain in Rhegium (Reggio di Calabria). He explicitly gave instructions that she should not be buried in his Mausoleum of Augustus. When Tiberius became emperor, he cut off Julia's allowance, ordered that she be confined to the one room in her house, and that she should be deprived of all human company.

Death


Julia died from malnutrition
Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or inadequate diet and nutrition.According to the World Health Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases....
 some time after Augustus' death in 14, but before 15 . With her father dead and no sons to take the throne, Julia was left completely at the mercy of the new emperor, Tiberius, who was free to exact his vengeance. The circumstances of her death are obscure. One theory is that Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, who loathed her for dishonouring their marriage, had her starved to death. Another theory is that upon learning her last surviving son Agrippa Postumus
Agrippa Postumus

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus , also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
 had been murdered, she succumbed to despair. Simultaneously, her alleged paramour Sempronius Gracchus, who had endured 14 years of exile on Cercina (Kerkenna) off the African coast, was executed at Tiberius' instigation , or on the independent initiative of Nonius Asprenas, proconsul of Africa. Augustus in his will had forbidden Julia to be buried in his own Mausoleum of Augustus.

After her death


Suetonius claims that Caligula
Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, the son of Julia's daughter Agrippina
Agrippina the elder

Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major was a distinguished and prominent Roman Princess that lived between the 1st century BC and 1st century....
 and Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
's nephew Germanicus
Germanicus

Germanicus Julius Caesar Claudianus . Born in Lugdunum, Gaul , was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. At birth he was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle and received the agnomen Germanicus, by which he is principally known, in 9 BC, when...
, loathed the idea of being grandson of Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
, who came from comparatively humble origins. Hence, Caligula invented the idea that his mother Agrippina was the product of an incestuous union between Julia and Augustus .

Personality


Among ancient writers Julia is almost universally remembered for her flagrant and promiscuous conduct. Thus Marcus Velleius Paterculus
Marcus Velleius Paterculus

Marcus Velleius Paterculus was a Roman Empire historian, also known simply as Velleius. Although his praenomen is given as Marcus by Priscian, some modern scholars identify him with Gaius Velleius Paterculus, whose name occurs in an inscription on a north African milestone ....
 (2.100) describes her as "tainted by luxury or lust", listing among her lovers Iullus Antonius, Quintius Crispinus, Appius Claudius, Sempronius Gracchus, and Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 16 BC)

Publius Cornelius Scipio was perhaps the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito and Scribonia. He was possibly elder brother to Cornelia Scipio and the elder half-brother to Julia the Elder, who was the daughter of Emperor Augustus....
. Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Ancient Rome Stoicism philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature....
 refers to "adulterers admitted in droves" ; Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 calls her an “exemplum licentiae” (NH 21.9). Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius

Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English language as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a noted Roman Empire historian and public servant....
 mentions "revels and drinking parties by night in the Forum and even upon the Rostra
Rostra

In ancient Rome, the Rostra was a platform from which Roman Magistrates, politicians, advocates and other orators spoke to the assembled people of Rome and conducted criminal trials....
" (Roman History 55.10). Seneca (De Beneficiis 6.32) tells us that the Rostra was the place where "her father had proposed a law against adultery", and yet now she had chosen the place for her "debaucheries". Seneca specifically mentions prostitution: "laying aside the role of adulteress, she there [in the Forum] sold her favours, and sought the right to every indulgence with even an unknown paramour." Modern historians discredit these representations as exaggerating Julia's behaviour.

Macrobius
Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius

Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius was a Roman Empire grammarian and Neoplatonist philosopher who flourished c. 430 AD....
 provides invaluable details of her personality. Julia was well known for her gentle quick wit and sharp tongue. She was deeply loved by her father who admired her wit. Once, when asked her secret for having affairs while bearing children resembling her husband, she laughed as she stated that she took on new passengers only when the boat was already full,. Julia was equally celebrated for her beauty, intelligence and her shameless profligacy but mentions that "she abused the indulgence of fortune no less than that of her father." Despite Julia's soiled reputation, the people who knew her described her as a good-hearted and kind woman who was very popular with the Roman people not least because of "her kindness and gentleness and utter freedom from vindictiveness."

Julia in popular culture


Literature


  • In I, Claudius
    I, Claudius

    For other uses see I, Claudius .I, Claudius is a novel by England writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934 in literature, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and cynically with the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula...
    , a novel by Robert Graves
    Robert Graves

    Robert Ranke Graves was an England poet, translator and novelist. During his long life, he produced more than 140 works. He was the son of the Anglo-Irish writer Alfred Perceval Graves and Amalie von Ranke, a niece of the famous German historian Leopold von Ranke....
    , the description of Julia's life and personality is generally accurate. She is a sympathetic person who never intended any harm to others.
    • Julia is described as a child who was instantly snatched away from her mother and taken by her father's new wife, Livia.
    • As a child, her stepmother enforced strict discipline and an austere life of labor.
    • She was not allowed to have any friends, and if she was caught talking to people not approved by Livia, she was punished. (Graves describes an occasion, which is probably fiction, when a commoner introduces himself to Julia, and Julia has her hair cut off by Livia as punishment.)
    • Livia's cruelty is due to her desire for her line to rule (Tiberius and his descendants), not Julia's, as Julia was from Augustus's previous marriage.
    • Julia's behaviour resulted from Livia and her son (Julia's 3rd husband) Tiberius
      Tiberius

      Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
      ' mistreatment of her.
    • In the end, Livia manages to turn even Augustus against Julia and, as historical fact proves, she was sent into exile. Augustus initially allows Livia to select the island, and Julia was sent to tiny Pandataria
      Ventotene

      Ventotene is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Campania, Italy. It is the remains of an ancient volcano, and is part of the Pontine Islands....
      . He later relents and asks where she is; upon discovering that she is stuck on that desolate, tiny isle, he selects the pleasant town of Reggio
      Reggio Calabria

      Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is a city in southern Italy Italy, the Capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria as well as the largest and oldest city in the Calabria region....
       off the strait of Messina instead.
  • In Caesar's Daughter
    Caesar's Daughter

    Caesar's Daughter ISBN 0-7541-0493-1 a 1999 novel by Edward Burton centred on Julia the Elder, the daughter of Augustus. The novel is set in 1st century BC Rome and focuses on how rumours can elevate into something more than they really are, as the result of gossip....
    , a novel by Edward Burton, Julia is a three-dimensional character. Julia is described as a rebellious little girl who is willful and passionate but with a gentleness and compassion for the people of Rome. She is dearly beloved by nearly everyone she meets except her stepmother, Livia. Loyal to her father, but not afraid to criticize his decisions she is (after Livia) his favourite consort. Julia grows up among intrigue and ultimately becomes its victim. Despite her tragic fate, Julia remains very cheerful and kind nonetheless.
  • In Augustus a novel by Allan Massie
    Allan Massie

    Allan Massie is a well-known Scottish people journalist, novelist and establishment figure....
    , Julia is a beautiful
    Beautiful

    Beautiful is an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty.Beautiful can also refer to one of the following.In music:...
    , desirable and happy-go-lucky character who is spoilt by her father. They still both love each other deeply. She is jealous of her father's relationship with her first husband Marcellus
    Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

    Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul. He was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War....
    , disgusted with her marriage to Agrippa (who is thrilled with his younger and beautiful wife) and furious by her marriage to Tiberius
    Tiberius

    Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
    . Her adulteries are justified by Augustus' bad treatment of her and she decides finally to rebel
    Rebel

    A rebel is a participant in a rebellion.Rebel may also refer to:...
    , which he denies as true though he is distraught by her banishment.
  • Julia is the heroine of I Loved Tiberius
    I Loved Tiberius

    Jeg elsket Tiberius is a 1959 romance novel by Elisabeth Dored. It was first translated into English language by Naomi Walford in Great Britain by Methuen and United States by Pantheon Books in 1963 under the name I Loved Tiberius....
     by Elisabeth Dored
    Elisabeth Dored

    Elisabeth Braadland Dored was a Norway author.She won the Bokhandlerprisen award in 1964 for her novel Jeg elsket Tiberius translated into English by Naomi Walford as I Loved Tiberius....
    .
  • Julia appears in The Poetaster
    Poetaster

    Poetaster, like rhymester or versifier, is a contemptuous name often applied to bad or inferior poets. Specifically, poetaster has implications of unwarranted pretentions to artistic value....
    , a play by Ben Jonson
    Ben Jonson

    Benjamin Jonson was an England English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satire plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist , and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his Lyric poetry poems....
     about the poet Ovid
    Ovid

    Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
    .
    • The character of Corinna in Ovid's poems have widely been thought to be Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus.
  • William Auld
    William Auld

    William Auld was a Scotland author and the deputy director of a grammar school. He began to study Esperanto in 1937, but only became active in the propagation of the language in 1947, and from then on wrote many works in Esperanto....
     wrote a short poem called Julia on Pandataria
    Julia on Pandataria

    Julia on Pandataria is a poem by William Auld and translated from Esperanto by Roy MacDonald about Julia the Elder, who was daughter of Caesar Augustus....
     which takes a brief look on Julia's tragedies.
  • Julia is mentioned in Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough
    Colleen McCullough

    Colleen McCullough Order of Australia is an internationally acclaimed Australian author. McCullough was born in Wellington, New South Wales in central west New South Wales to James and Laurie McCullough....
    . She is described as very pretty from a young age and intelligent. Augustus is not discouraged by the fact she is a girl and demands that she be educated in the manner of a man rather than a woman, describing her as a queen in waiting.


Film/Television

  • In the BBC Television
    Television

    Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
     mini series adaptation of I, Claudius, Julia was portrayed by Frances White
    Frances White

    'Frances White' is a United Kingdom actress, perhaps best known for her role as Miss Flood in the BBC sitcom May to December. She has also appeared in "The Pumpkin Eaters", Trevor's World of Sport; Crossroads ; Dangerfield ; A Very Peculiar Practice; as Cassandra, prophetess of Troy, in the Doctor Who story The Myth M...
     as the overly optimistic, witty and beloved daughter of Augustus. Julia is one of the few major female characters that doesn't plot to kill or actually murder someone.


  • In the Italian
    Italy

    Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
     mini series, Imperium: Augustus, Julia was portrayed by Vittoria Belvedere
    Vittoria Belvedere

    Vittoria Belvedere is an Italy actress from Vibo Valentia in Calabria, southern Italy. She has appeared in several films but most of her work is television based....
     as a very tragic character, a victim of domestic abuse and rape
    Rape

    Rape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
    . For a majority of the story, Julia and her father, Augustus, are at the centre of the story as Augustus recalls his life to her just before she is about to marry Tiberius
    Tiberius

    Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
    . The character in question has lost her husband and both of her two boys to illness. She is at first innocent, loving, and beloved deeply by her father, but she gets mixed up in an affair with her father's enemy as the result of depression
    Depression (mood)

    In the fields of psychology and psychiatry, the terms depression or depressed refer to sadness and other related emotions and behaviours. It can be thought of as either a disease or a syndrome....
     brought on by Tiberius' cruelty towards her. The series took a more modern view of her affairs, that among her lovers, she had only one true love: Iullus Antonius
    Iullus Antonius

    Iullus Antonius , also known as Iulus, Julus or Jullus, was the second son of Mark Antony and his third wife Fulvia. He is best known for being the famous lover of Julia the Elder....
    .


  • In the film, The Robe
    The Robe (film)

    The Robe is a 1953 in film Bible epic film that tells the story of a Roman Empire military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus....
    , she is played by Rosalind Ivan
    Rosalind Ivan

    Rosalind Ivan was a stage and film character actress. Ivan appeared in 14 US films from 1944 to 1954. She had a memorable role as the nagging wife of a bank teller in Fritz Lang's film Scarlet Street ....
    , making an inaccurate appearance as Tiberius' wife.


Marriages and Births


  • 25 BC, Julia marries her cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus
    Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

    Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul. He was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War....
    . Marcellus died in September 23 BC. They have no children.
  • 21 BC, Julia marries Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
    Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

    Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus....
    . They have the following children:
    • Gaius Caesar
      Gaius Caesar

      Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder.....
       in 20 B.C.
    • Vipsania Julia Agrippina (also known as Julia the Younger
      Julia the Younger

      Julia Minor or Julilla was a Roman Princess. She was the eldest daughter and second child born to Roman Statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
      ) in 19 B.C.
    • Lucius Caesar
      Lucius Caesar

      Lucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, his name was changed to Lucius Julius Caesar....
       in 17 B.C.
    • Julia Vipsania Agrippina or Agrippina Major
      Agrippina the elder

      Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major was a distinguished and prominent Roman Princess that lived between the 1st century BC and 1st century....
       (mother of Emperor Caligula
      Caligula

      Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
      ) in 14 B.C.
    • Agrippa Postumus
      Agrippa Postumus

      Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus , also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder....
       (born after Agrippa's death).
  • 11 BC, Julia marries her stepbrother Tiberius
    Tiberius

    Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
    . Their union produces the following:
    • Infant son, not named in contemporary sources (by some later historians dubbed Tiberillus), died before adulthood.


See also


  • Julio-Claudian family tree
    Julio-Claudian family tree

    The Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire has a family tree complicated by multiple marriages between the members of the gens Julia and the gens Claudia....
  • I, Claudius
    I, Claudius

    For other uses see I, Claudius .I, Claudius is a novel by England writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934 in literature, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and cynically with the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula...
  • Lex Julia
    Lex Julia

    Lex Julia are Ancient Rome laws, introduced by any member of the Julii.In the narrow sense they refer to a series of laws relating to marriage and morals, introduced by Augustus in 18 BC-17 BC....
  • Lex Papia Poppaea
    Lex Papia Poppaea

    The Lex Papia Poppaea was a Roman law introduced in AD 9 to encourage and strengthen marriage. It included provisions against adultery and celibacy and complemented and supplemented Augustus' Lex Julia de Maritandis Ordinibus of 18 BC and the Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis of 17 BC....
  • Scandal
    Sex scandal

    A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the person involved and/or non-sexual norm nature of the sexuality....


External links