Julia the Younger
Encyclopedia
Julia the Younger (Classical Latin
: IVLIA•MINOR) or Julilla (little Julia), 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
. Along with her sister Agrippina the Elder
, Julia was raised and educated by her maternal grandfather Augustus
and her maternal step-grandmother Livia Drusilla
.
Julia the Younger was the elder granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus
, sister-in-law, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius
, maternal aunt of the Emperor Caligula
and Empress Agrippina the Younger
, second cousin of the Emperor Claudius
, and maternal great-aunt of the Emperor Nero
.
as grandmother: Julia's mother was a daughter of Scribonia by Augustus; Paullus' mother, Cornelia Scipio
, was a daughter of Scribonia resulting from her earlier marriage to Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito
.
Paullus and Julia had a daughter, Aemilia Lepida
and (possibly) a son, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
(although the latter may also have been the son to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 6). According to Suetonius, she built a large pretentious country house. Augustus disliked large overdone houses and had it demolished.
In 8, according to ancient historians, Julia was exiled for having an affair with Decimus Junius Silanus
, a Roman Senator. She was sent to Trimerus
, a small Italian island, where she gave birth to a child. Augustus rejected the infant and ordered it to be exposed, or left on a mountainside to die. Silanus went into voluntary exile, but returned under Tiberius' reign.
Sometime between 1 and 14, her husband Paullus was executed as a conspirator in a revolt. Modern historians theorize that Julia's exile was not actually for adultery but for involvement in Paullus' revolt. Livia
Drusilla plotted against her stepdaughter's family and ruined them, according to some. This led to open compassion for the fallen family. In 29 AD, Julia died on the same island where she had been sent in exile twenty years earlier. Due to the adultery that Julia committed, Augustus stated in his will that she would never be buried in Rome. She was survived by daughter, (possibly) a son, and by several grandchildren.
by birth: being the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa made her a Vipsania Agrippina by birth, although there are no contemporary sources that show that that name was ever used for her. She came to belong to the household of the Julio-Claudian dynasty
as she was raised and instructed by her maternal grandfather Augustus. Further, Augustus adopted Tiberius
as his son (and heir), and while Tiberius was remarried to Julia the Elder. Augustus became something of a paternal grandfather to Julia the Elder's children, too, including Julia the Younger. A formal adoption "in the family of the Caesar
s" among the offspring of Agrippa and Julia the Elder is however only recorded regarding Vipsania Julia's brothers Gaius — hence Gaius Caesar
— and Lucius — hence Lucius Caesar
. Her younnger sister Agrippina the Elder
and youngest full brother, Agrippa Postumus
, were named after their natural father. Likewise, her eldest half-sisters, Vipsania Agrippina
and Vipsania Marcella
, were named after their father. Her younger half-brother, unnamed in contemporary sources, was later sometimes dubbed "Tiberillus," after his father Tiberius, and died young.
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•MINOR) or Julilla (little Julia), Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman
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....
noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty
Julio-Claudian Dynasty
The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...
. She was the first daughter and second child of 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...
and Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti 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...
. Along with her sister 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...
, Julia was raised and educated by her maternal grandfather 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...
and her maternal step-grandmother Livia Drusilla
Livia
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...
.
Julia the Younger was the elder granddaughter of the Emperor 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...
, sister-in-law, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law 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 aunt 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 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...
, second cousin 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-aunt 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....
.
Life
About 5 BC or 6 BC, Augustus arranged her to marry Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Paullus had a family relation to her as her first half-cousin, as both had ScriboniaScribonia
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...
as grandmother: Julia's mother was a daughter of Scribonia by Augustus; Paullus' mother, Cornelia Scipio
Cornelia Scipio
Cornelia was the daughter of Scribonia and consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito. She was married twice. Her first husband was Sextus Julius Caesar III. Together they had one son born in 32 BC, named Sextus Julius Caesar IV. Her second husband was the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus, with whom...
, was a daughter of Scribonia resulting from her earlier marriage to Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito
Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito
Publius Cornelius Scipio ‘Salvito’ was a consul who lived in the late Roman Republic. He was a member of the Cornelia gens and a relative of Scipio Africanus, the Roman general who defeated Hannibal....
.
Paullus and Julia had a daughter, Aemilia Lepida
Aemilia Lepida (fiancee of Claudius)
For other women with this name, see Aemilia Lepida.Aemilia Lepida was a noble Roman woman and matron. She was the eldest daughter and first born child of Julia the Younger and consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Her father was of a distinguished and ancient patrician family...
and (possibly) a son, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (executed 39)
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, was the son of consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus. He and his sister Aemilia Lepida were both married to siblings of the Emperor Caligula...
(although the latter may also have been the son to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 6). According to Suetonius, she built a large pretentious country house. Augustus disliked large overdone houses and had it demolished.
In 8, according to ancient historians, Julia was exiled for having an affair with Decimus Junius Silanus
Decimus Junius Silanus
Decimus Junius Silanus may refer to various members of the Roman gens Junia:* Decimus Junius Silanus , who lived in the 2nd century BC, and was an expert in Punic language and literature...
, a Roman Senator. She was sent to Trimerus
Tremiti Islands
The Isole Tremiti are an archipelago in the Adriatic Sea, north of the Gargano Peninsula. They constitute a comune of Italy's Province of Foggia and form part of the Gargano national park...
, a small Italian island, where she gave birth to a child. Augustus rejected the infant and ordered it to be exposed, or left on a mountainside to die. Silanus went into voluntary exile, but returned under Tiberius' reign.
Sometime between 1 and 14, her husband Paullus was executed as a conspirator in a revolt. Modern historians theorize that Julia's exile was not actually for adultery but for involvement in Paullus' revolt. Livia
Livia
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...
Drusilla plotted against her stepdaughter's family and ruined them, according to some. This led to open compassion for the fallen family. In 29 AD, Julia died on the same island where she had been sent in exile twenty years earlier. Due to the adultery that Julia committed, Augustus stated in his will that she would never be buried in Rome. She was survived by daughter, (possibly) a son, and by several grandchildren.
Unusual naming variants
Julia the Younger was not a Julia CaesarisJulia Caesaris
Julia Caesaris is the name of all women in the Julii Caesares patrician family , since feminine names were their father's gens and cognomen declined in the female form...
by birth: being the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa made her a Vipsania Agrippina by birth, although there are no contemporary sources that show that that name was ever used for her. She came to belong to the household of the Julio-Claudian dynasty
Julio-Claudian Dynasty
The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...
as she was raised and instructed by her maternal grandfather Augustus. Further, Augustus adopted 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...
as his son (and heir), and while Tiberius was remarried to Julia the Elder. Augustus became something of a paternal grandfather to Julia the Elder's children, too, including Julia the Younger. A formal adoption "in the family of the Caesar
Julii Caesares
Julii Caesares is a subdivision of the patrician Julii family in the Roman Republic, and the beginnings of the Julian side of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty...
s" among the offspring of Agrippa and Julia the Elder is however only recorded regarding Vipsania Julia's brothers Gaius — hence 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...
— and Lucius — hence 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...
. Her younnger sister 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...
and youngest full brother, 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...
, were named after their natural father. Likewise, her eldest half-sisters, Vipsania Agrippina
Vipsania 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...
and Vipsania Marcella
Vipsania Marcella
Vipsania Marcella Agrippina or Marcellina was the only daughter to Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa from his second wife Claudia Marcella Major. She was the first grandchild to Octavia Minor and first great-niece to Roman Emperor Augustus.About 14 BC, she married the Roman general and...
, were named after their father. Her younger half-brother, unnamed in contemporary sources, was later sometimes dubbed "Tiberillus," after his father Tiberius, and died young.
Ancestry
External links
- The Archeological museum of the University of Innsbruck displays a sculpted head that is presumably Vipsania Julia's: Inv. Nr. I/506 – Image at the university's website.