Julia the Elder
Encyclopedia
Julia the Elder known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin
: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA) was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus
, the first emperor of the Roman Empire
. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus' second marriage with Scribonia
, her birth occurring on the same day as Scribonia's divorce from Augustus, who wished to marry Livia Drusilla.
She was the daughter of the Emperor Augustus, stepsister and second wife of the Emperor Tiberius
, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula
and the Empress Agrippina the Younger
, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius
, and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero
.
and began her education as an aristocratic Roman girl. Her education appears to have been strict and somewhat old-fashioned. Thus, in addition to her studies, Suetonius
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, Octavian 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."
In 37 BC, during Julia's early childhood, Octavian's friends Gaius Maecenas
and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
concluded an agreement with Octavian's great rival Marc Antony. It was sealed with an engagement: Antony's ten-year-old son Marcus Antonius Antyllus
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
, Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony and his mistress, Cleopatra VII of Egypt
. In Alexandria
, they both committed suicide, and Octavian became sole ruler of the Roman Empire
.
. 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
, 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.
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
, so it was widely rumoured.
The newlyweds lived in a villa in Rome that has since been excavated near the modern Farnesina
in Trastevere
. Agrippa and Julia's marriage resulted in five children: Gaius Caesar, Vipsania Julia (also known as Julia the Younger
), Lucius Caesar
, Vipsania Agrippina or Agrippina the Elder
(mother of Emperor Caligula
), and Agrippa Postumus
(a posthumous son). From June 20 BC to the spring of 18 BC, Agrippa was governor of Gaul
, 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
and Josephus
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), 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
, 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. In October 14 BC, the couple travelled to Athens
, 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
. Julia quickly became pregnant again, but her husband died suddenly in March 12 BC in Campania
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. Immediately after the boy was born, and while Julia was still in mourning, Augustus had her betrothed and then remarried to Tiberius, her stepbrother.
(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
, if not earlier, the couple had separated.
which was rare at this point in time.
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
(son of Mark Antony
and Fulvia
) 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
. Memoirs from Julia's time in exile quote her saying, "My time here is horrid, there's no wine to ease my stress and no lesser class people for me to make a ridicule of them."
), with no men in sight, forbidden even to drink wine. The island itself measures less than 1.75 square kilometre (0.675678777536936 sq mi). 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
, 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.
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
, who loathed her for dishonouring their marriage, had her starved to death. Another theory is that upon learning her last surviving son Agrippa Postumus
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
. Julia's daughter Julia the Younger
was also exiled on a charge of adultery on the same island as her mother in 8 A.D. -but actually for involvement in her husband's Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 1) attempted revolt-and died in 29 AD after 20 years of exile; she was also forbidden to be buried in Augustus' tomb by his will.
, the son of Julia's daughter Agrippina
and Tiberius
's nephew Germanicus
, loathed the idea of being grandson of Agrippa
, 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.
(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
. Seneca the Younger
refers to "adulterers admitted in droves"; Pliny the Elder
calls her an “exemplum licentiae” (NH 21.9). Dio Cassius
mentions "revels and drinking parties by night in the Forum and even upon the Rostra
" (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
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 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 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."
, published a tract (later quoted by Kepler) which for the first time suggested that Jesus Christ was in fact born around 4 BC, not AD 1, as the Christian era would have it. Julia's expulsion from Rome in 2 BC was featured in Suslyga's chronological argument.
Julia is one of the narrators in Augustus, by John Williams. There are a number of contributions in her name, written as part of a diary she wrote while in exile in Pandateria. She narrates events from her point of view, including her feelings about her father, her marriages, the restrictions on her as a prominent Roman materon, her relationships with her lovers and members of her family.
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA) was the daughter and only biological child of 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...
, the first emperor 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....
. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus' second marriage with Scribonia
Scribonia
Scribonia was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. She was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and...
, her birth occurring on the same day as Scribonia's divorce from Augustus, who wished to marry Livia Drusilla.
She was the daughter of the Emperor Augustus, stepsister and second wife of the Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
and the Empress Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
.
Early life
At the time of Julia's birth, Augustus had not yet received the title "Augustus" and was known as Octavian until 27 BC, when Julia was 12. Octavian divorced Julia's mother the day of her birth and took Julia from her soon thereafter. Octavian, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her. Once she became old enough, she was sent to live with her stepmother LiviaLivia
Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
and began her education as an aristocratic Roman girl. 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 a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
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, Octavian 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."
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 Octavian 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 defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
concluded an agreement with Octavian's great rival Marc Antony. It was sealed with an engagement: Antony's ten-year-old son Marcus Antonius Antyllus
Marcus Antonius Antyllus
Marcus Antonius Antyllus was known as Marcus Antonius Minor to distinguish him from his famous father, the Roman Triumvir Marc Antony . He was also called Antyllus — a nickname given to him by his father...
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 decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...
, Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony and his mistress, Cleopatra VII of Egypt
Cleopatra VII of Egypt
Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period...
. In Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, they both committed suicide, and Octavian became sole ruler 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....
.
First marriage
As was the case with most aristocratic Roman women of the period, Julia's life was focused on her successive marriages and family alliancesAlliances
Alliances may refer to:* The plural of alliance, an agreement between two or more parties* Airline alliances, agreements between two or more airlines to cooperate on a substantial level...
. 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...
, 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 Agrippa, 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 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 her elder, 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 (TacitusTacitus
Publius 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...
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 , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, so it was widely rumoured.
The newlyweds lived in a villa in Rome that has since been excavated near the modern Farnesina
Farnesina
- Architecture :* Casa della Farnesina, an historic building of the ancient Rome, in the neighborhood of Trastevere, Rome.* Palazzo della Farnesina, the headquarters of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the Republic of Italy....
in Trastevere
Trastevere
Trastevere is rione 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". The correct pronunciation is "tras-TEH-ve-ray", with the accent on the second syllable. Its logo is a golden head of a lion on a...
. Agrippa and Julia's marriage resulted in five children: Gaius Caesar, Vipsania Julia (also known as Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of 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 between 14 of June and 15 July 17 BC with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar...
, Vipsania Agrippina or Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
(mother of Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
), 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. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor Augustus and his second wife Scribonia.Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus was born on June 26, 12 BC, the...
(a posthumous son). From June 20 BC to the spring of 18 BC, Agrippa was governor of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, 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 Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was born around 64 BC....
and Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
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 was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
(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 the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
, 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. In October 14 BC, the couple travelled to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, 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 languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Julia quickly became pregnant again, but her husband died suddenly in March 12 BC in Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² 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. Immediately after the boy was born, and while Julia was still in mourning, Augustus had her betrothed and then remarried to Tiberius, her stepbrother.
Marriage to Tiberius
After the death of Agrippa, Augustus sought to promote his stepson Tiberius, believing that this would best serve his own dynastic interests. Tiberius married Julia (11 BC), but to do so he had to divorce Vipsania AgrippinaVipsania Agrippina
Not to be confused with Agrippina the Elder, Agrippa's daughter by Julia the Elder.Vipsania Agrippina was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa from his first wife Pomponia Caecilia Attica, granddaughter of Cicero's friend and knight Titus Pomponius Atticus. Her maternal grandmother was a...
(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 an island in Greece, located in the 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, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, if not earlier, the couple had separated.
Scandal
Because Augustus was her legitimate father, having married her mother with conubium, Augustus had Patria Potestas over her. Patria Potestas lasted until either the Pater Familias, Augustus, died, or emancipated his child. Marriage had no effect on Patria Potestas, unless it was Manus MarriageManus Marriage
Manus is Ancient Roman marriage, of which there were two forms: cum manu and sine manu. In a cum manu marriage the wife was placed under the legal control of the husband. In a sine manu marriage the wife was still under the legal control of her father...
which was rare at this point in time.
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 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 Fulvia
Fulvia
Fulvia Flacca Bambula , commonly referred to as simply Fulvia, was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Through her marriage to three of the most promising Roman men of her generation, Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio and Mark Antony, she gained...
) 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 rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
. Memoirs from Julia's time in exile quote her saying, "My time here is horrid, there's no wine to ease my stress and no lesser class people for me to make a ridicule of them."
Exile
Reluctant to execute her, Augustus decided on Julia's exile, in harsh conditions. She was confined on an island called Pandateria (modern VentoteneVentotene
Ventotene, in Roman times known as Pandataria or Pandateria from the Greek Pandoteira, is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy...
), with no men in sight, forbidden even to drink wine. The island itself measures less than 1.75 square kilometre (0.675678777536936 sq mi). 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 second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. She was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and...
, 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
Mausoleum of Augustus
The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The Mausoleum, now located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, is no longer open to tourists, and the ravages of time and carelessness have stripped the ruins bare...
. 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 malnutritionMalnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
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 , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, 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. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor Augustus and his second wife Scribonia.Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus was born on June 26, 12 BC, the...
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
Mausoleum of Augustus
The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The Mausoleum, now located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, is no longer open to tourists, and the ravages of time and carelessness have stripped the ruins bare...
. Julia's daughter Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
was also exiled on a charge of adultery on the same island as her mother in 8 A.D. -but actually for involvement in her husband's Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 1) attempted revolt-and died in 29 AD after 20 years of exile; she was also forbidden to be buried in Augustus' tomb by his will.
After her death
Suetonius claims that CaligulaCaligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, the son of Julia's daughter Agrippina
Agrippina the elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
and Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
's nephew Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
, 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 defense 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 PaterculusMarcus Velleius Paterculus
Marcus Velleius Paterculus was a Roman 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 .-Biography:Paterculus belonged...
(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 the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito and Scribonia. He was elder brother to Cornelia Scipio and the elder half-brother to Julia the Elder, who was the daughter of Emperor Augustus. Scipio claimed to be a descendent of Scipio Africanus and boasted himself about...
. Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger
Lucius 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...
refers to "adulterers admitted in droves"; Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
calls her an “exemplum licentiae” (NH 21.9). Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
mentions "revels and drinking parties by night in the Forum and even upon the Rostra
Rostra
The Rōstra was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to those assembled in between...
" (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
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius was a Roman grammarian and Neoplatonist philosopher who flourished during the early fifth century. He is primarily known for his writings, which include the Saturnalia, a compendium of ancient Roman religious and antiquarian lore, the Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis...
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 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 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."
Role in Anno Domini chronology
In 1605, the Polish historian Laurentius SuslygaLaurentius Suslyga
Laurentius Suslyga or Laurence Suslyga , was a Polish Jesuit historian, chronologist, and an author of Baroque visual poetry. He was the first person to claim that Jesus Christ was in fact born around 4 BC, not in AD 1, as the Christian era would imply...
, published a tract (later quoted by Kepler) which for the first time suggested that Jesus Christ was in fact born around 4 BC, not AD 1, as the Christian era would have it. Julia's expulsion from Rome in 2 BC was featured in Suslyga's chronological argument.
Literature
- In I, ClaudiusI, ClaudiusI, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
, a novel by Robert GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
, 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) TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
' 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 PandatariaVentoteneVentotene, in Roman times known as Pandataria or Pandateria from the Greek Pandoteira, is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy...
. 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 ReggioReggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
off the strait of Messina instead. - In Caesar's DaughterCaesar's DaughterCaesar's Daughter ISBN 0-7541-0493-1 a 1999 novel by Edward Burton centred on Julia Caesaris, 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, LiviaLiviaLivia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
. 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 MassieAllan MassieAllan Massie is a well-known Scottish journalist, sports writer and novelist.-Early life:Born in 1938 in Singapore, where his father was a rubber planter for Sime Darby, Massie spent his childhood in Aberdeenshire...
, Julia is a beautifulBeautyBeauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...
, 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 MarcellusMarcus 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...
, disgusted with her marriage to Agrippa (who is thrilled with his younger and beautiful wife) and furious by her marriage to TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. Her adulteries are justified by Augustus' bad treatment of her and she decides finally to rebel, which he denies as true though he is distraught by her banishment. - Julia is the heroine of I Loved TiberiusI Loved TiberiusJeg elsket Tiberius is a 1959 romance novel by Elisabeth Dored. It was first translated into English by Naomi Walford in Great Britain by Methuen and United States by Pantheon Books in 1963 under the name I Loved Tiberius. The novel was written as a careful reappraisal of the contemporary sources,...
by Elisabeth Dored. - Julia is portrayed in the novel Cleopatra's Daughter, by Michelle MoranMichelle MoranMichelle Moran is an American novelist. She was born in California's San Fernando Valley. She took an interest in writing from an early age, purchasing Writer's Market and submitting her stories and novellas to publishers from the time she was twelve...
. In the novel she is a young girl. It shown how her stepmother, Livia, did not give her much freedom, and how she was surrounded by all of the plots and people in Rome while she was growing up. She is described as beautiful, generous and kind-hearted, but also spoilt by privilege. - Julia appears in The PoetasterPoetasterPoetaster, 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. The word was coined in Latin by Erasmus in 1521...
, a play by Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
about the poet OvidOvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
.- The character of Corinna in Ovid's poems have widely been thought to be Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus.
- William AuldWilliam AuldWilliam Auld was a Scottish poet, author, translator and magazine editor who wrote chiefly in Esperanto. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999, 2004, and 2006 making him the first and only person to be nominated for works in Esperanto...
wrote a short poem called Julia on PandatariaJulia on PandatariaJulia 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 McCulloughColleen McCulloughColleen McCullough-Robinson, , is an internationally acclaimed Australian author.-Life:McCullough was born in Wellington, in outback central west New South Wales, in 1937 to James and Laurie McCullough. Her mother was a New Zealander of part-Māori descent. During her childhood, her family moved...
. 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. - Julia appears in Taylor CaldwellTaylor CaldwellJanet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell was an Anglo-American novelist and prolific author of popular fiction, also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner, and by her married name of J. Miriam Reback....
's novel Dear and Glorious Physician, as the unhappy wife of TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
and a seductress of Lucanus, the young evangelist St. Luke.
Julia is one of the narrators in Augustus, by John Williams. There are a number of contributions in her name, written as part of a diary she wrote while in exile in Pandateria. She narrates events from her point of view, including her feelings about her father, her marriages, the restrictions on her as a prominent Roman materon, her relationships with her lovers and members of her family.
Film/Television
- In the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TelevisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
adaptation of I, Claudius (1976), Julia was portrayed by Frances WhiteFrances WhiteFrances White is a British actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Kate Hamilton in Crossroads and as Miss Flood in the BBC sitcom May to December....
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 ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
mini series, Imperium: AugustusImperium: AugustusImperium: Augustus is a 2003 joint British-Italian production, and part of the Imperium series. It tells of the life story of Octavian and how he became Augustus...
, Julia was portrayed by Vittoria BelvedereVittoria BelvedereVittoria Belvedere is an Italian 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 rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
. For a majority of the story, Julia and her father, AugustusAugustusAugustus ;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...
, are at the centre of the story as Augustus recalls his life to her just before she is about to marry TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. 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 depressionDepression (mood)Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
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 AntoniusIullus AntoniusIullus 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 RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
, she is played by Rosalind IvanRosalind IvanRosalind 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 MarcellusMarcus 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...
. Marcellus died in September 23 BC. They have no children. - 21 BC, Julia marries Marcus Vipsanius AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
. They have the following children:- Gaius CaesarGaius CaesarGaius 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 BC - Vipsania Julia Agrippina (also known as Julia the YoungerJulia the YoungerJulia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
) in 19 BC - Lucius CaesarLucius CaesarLucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born between 14 of June and 15 July 17 BC with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar...
in 17 BC - Julia Vipsania Agrippina or Agrippina MajorAgrippina the elderVipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
(mother of Emperor CaligulaCaligulaCaligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
) in 14 BC - Agrippa PostumusAgrippa PostumusMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus , also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor Augustus and his second wife Scribonia.Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus was born on June 26, 12 BC, the...
(born after Agrippa's death).
- Gaius Caesar
- 11 BC, Julia marries her stepbrother TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. Their union produces the following:- Infant son, not named in contemporary sources (by some later historians dubbed Tiberillus), died before adulthood.
Ancestry
See also
- I, ClaudiusI, ClaudiusI, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
- Julio-Claudian family treeJulio-Claudian family treeThe 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.-Family tree:...
- Lex JuliaLex JuliaLex Julia are ancient Roman laws, introduced by any member of the Julian family....
- Lex Papia PoppaeaLex Papia PoppaeaThe 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. The lex...
- ScandalSex scandalA sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about possibly-immoral sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, famous athletes or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the...