All Topics  
Scribonia

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Scribonia
 
 
  Topics Scribonia Topic Home

Scribonia (68 BC-16) was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo
Lucius Scribonius Libo

There were three men of plebs status called Lucius Scribonius Libo who lived in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire who were members of the gens Scribonius:...
 and Cornelia Sulla (a granddaughter of triumvir Pompey
Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, commonly known as Pompey /'p?mpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman Republic....
 and dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , or simply Sulla, was a Roman general and politician, holding the office of consul twice as well as the Roman dictator....
). Her brother of the same name was consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia Caesaris
Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
. She was the grandmother of 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.....
, 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....
, Agrippina the Elder
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 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....
, great-grandmother to 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 Empress Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger

Julia Agrippina; known as Agrippina Minor , was a great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great niece and adoptive granddaughter of Emperor Tiberius, sister to Emperor Caligula, wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero....
, and great-great-grandmother of Emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
.

rding to Suetonius
Lives of the Twelve Caesars

De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman Emperor of the Roman Empire written by Suetonius....
, Scribonia's first two marriages were to former consuls.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Scribonia'
Start a new discussion about 'Scribonia'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Scribonia (68 BC-16) was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo
Lucius Scribonius Libo

There were three men of plebs status called Lucius Scribonius Libo who lived in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire who were members of the gens Scribonius:...
 and Cornelia Sulla (a granddaughter of triumvir Pompey
Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, commonly known as Pompey /'p?mpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman Republic....
 and dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , or simply Sulla, was a Roman general and politician, holding the office of consul twice as well as the Roman dictator....
). Her brother of the same name was consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia Caesaris
Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
. She was the grandmother of 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.....
, 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....
, Agrippina the Elder
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 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....
, great-grandmother to 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 Empress Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger

Julia Agrippina; known as Agrippina Minor , was a great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great niece and adoptive granddaughter of Emperor Tiberius, sister to Emperor Caligula, wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero....
, and great-great-grandmother of Emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
.

Life

According to Suetonius
Lives of the Twelve Caesars

De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman Emperor of the Roman Empire written by Suetonius....
, Scribonia's first two marriages were to former consuls. Her first husband is unknown, although it had been suggested that he was Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus was a Roman statesmen and consul of 56 BC. He was married at least twice. His first wife is unknown but his second wife was probably Scribonia, at least twenty years his junior, who would later become the second wife of Augustus....
 (consul 56 BC), as there is an inscription that refers to freedmen (post 39 BC) of Scribonia and her son Cornelius Marcellinus , indicating that she had a son from her previous marriage and that he was living with her after she divorced her third husband. He may have died young and ignored by historians. Her second husband perhaps was 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 Cornelius gens and a relative of Scipio Africanus, the Roman general who defeated Hannibal....
, a supporter of Pompey
Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, commonly known as Pompey /'p?mpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman Republic....
. . They had a daughter Cornelia Scipio
Cornelia Scipio

Cornelia Scipio or Cornelia Scipionis was the daughter of Scribonia and consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito. She married the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus....
 who married the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Scribonia may have also been the mother to Publius 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....
, cousul in 16 BC.

In 40 BC Scribonia was forced to divorce her husband and marry Octavian, who was younger than her by several years. Octavian in turn divorced his wife Clodia
Clodia Pulchra

Clodia Pulchra, also known as Claudia was the daughter of Fulvia and her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. She was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and half sister of Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius....
, marrying Scribonia to cement a political alliance with her uncle Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Ancient Rome general from the late Roman Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate....
. Their daughter 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 natural child of Augustus....
 was born in 39 BC, probably in October, and on that very same day Octavian divorced her . Their marriage had not been a happy one; Octavian felt she nagged him too much. She never remarried. Cassius Dio and 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 ....
 says that when her youngest child, Julia, was sent into exile for adultery
Adultery

Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse between a marriage and another person who is not his or her spouse, though in many places it is only considered adultery when a married woman has sexual relations with someone who is not her husband and in others it is only considered adultery when a married woman has sexual relations with someon...
 and treason
Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of loyalty to one's sovereignty or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife ....
, she requested that she be allowed to accompany her.

When Emperor 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....
 came into power, he separated Scribonia from her daughter, and allegedly starved Julia to death. When Scribonia died is unknown. It is mainly placed two years after Julia and Augustus. In Seneca
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....
, she is mentioned as being alive and in full possession of her wits as late as the end of 16 when she tried to convince her nephew Marcus Scribonius Libo
Marcus Scribonius Libo

Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus was a younger son of the consul Lucius Scribonius Libo by his wife who was a member of the gens Sulpicius, the family that the Roman Emperor Galba, had descended from his paternal side....
 not to commit suicide and face his punishment.

Scribonia's image as a shrew most likely is the product of propaganda
Propaganda

Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to Objectivity providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience....
 to divert the potentially scandalous circumstances of her divorce from Augustus. Seneca
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....
 describes her as a gravis femina; gravis meaning “dignified” and “severe”. Modern scholars are divided on her character; while some describe her as "tiresome" and "morose" most others view her as an ideal example of a Roman matron as she clearly had the "composure" and "calmness" to look after depressed and suicidal characters such as her daughter and nephew . Sextus Propertius
Sextus Propertius

Sextus Aurelius Propertius was a Latin elegy poet who was born around 50?45 BCE in Mevania and died shortly after 15 BCE.Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of elegy. He was friends with the poets Gallus and Virgil, and had with them as his patron Maecenas, and through Maecenas, the emperor Augustus....
 praises her motherhood referring to her as "sweet mother Scribonia" in Cornelia Scipio's funeral elegy in 16 BC.

Marriages and issues

  • Her first husband, Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus
    Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus

    Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus was a Roman statesmen and consul of 56 BC. He was married at least twice. His first wife is unknown but his second wife was probably Scribonia, at least twenty years his junior, who would later become the second wife of Augustus....
    • Cornelius Marcellinus
  • Her second husband, 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 Cornelius gens and a relative of Scipio Africanus, the Roman general who defeated Hannibal....
    (?)
    • Publius 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....
       (consul of 16 BC)
    • Cornelia Scipio
      Cornelia Scipio

      Cornelia Scipio or Cornelia Scipionis was the daughter of Scribonia and consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito. She married the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus....
  • Her third husband, Augustus
    • 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 natural child of Augustus....
       (wife 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....
       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....
      )


Her great-great-grandson, Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus
Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus

Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus was a consul that lived in the Roman Empire. Marcus was the first born son and child to Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus a member of the Silanus, a family of Ancient Rome....
, was born during her lifetime.

Literature
  • Scribonia is mentioned in 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....
    's novel 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...
     when he recalls Julia's birth and later when Julia is exiled. He describes her as a good, moderate and generally kind Roman matron. She is forbidden to see Julia and is only allowed to be with her once she is exiled. Livia convinces Augustus that Scribonia has been unfaithful to him causing him to divorce her faster than he cared to. Evidently Augustus believed she was innocent, as he kept Julia. Graves places Scribonia's death at least two years prior to when it is traditionally placed.


  • Scribonia occurs several times in Augustus by Allan Massie
    Allan Massie

    Allan Massie is a well-known Scottish people journalist, novelist and establishment figure....
    . Allan Massie portrays her stereotypically, being ugly, gap-toothed and fat. The novel suggests that Julia got her personality from Scribonia rather than Augustus as historians tend to claim.


  • Scribonia plays a major role in the novel 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....
     by Edward Burton, trying to aid Julia in her daily life. She is a very politically aware woman, with detailed information gathering and she plays patroness to many poets such as Horace
    Horace

    This article is about the Roman poet Horace. For other uses, see Horace .Quintus Horatius Flaccus, , known in the English language world as Horace, was the leading Roman Empire Lyric poetry during the time of Augustus....
     and 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....
     as well as being very popular with the people of Rome. Despite their differences, Augustus respects her.


  • Scribonia is mentioned in 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....
    . Augustus' reign is portrayed as a dictatorship and Scribonia is portrayed as a pretty, gentle, sensitive, warm and steadfast woman made a victim of her husband's cruelty but eventually makes herself a martyr
    Martyr

    The term martyr is most commonly used today to describe an individual who sacrifices his or her life in order to further a cause or belief for many....
     for her daughter, Julia.


  • She also is shown 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....
    . Scribonia is described a beautiful, kind and sensible. She remains friends with Octavia following her divorce and, contrary to historians accounts, is allowed to raise Julia herself. Augustus orders that Julia be educated in the manner of a man, rather than a woman.


In Betray the Night by Benita Kane Jaro, Scribonia is portrayed as an elderly woman of great strength and personal distinction and courage, who all her life, in spite of the handicaps imposed on women, has been an important player in the factional and family politics of the Augustan period.

Drama
  • Scribonia in Imperium: Augustus is only a few years older than Augustus, and he marries her for her money to pay his armies. Maecenas describes her as being "lovely" and "charming". Julia is loyal to Scribonia blaming Augustus for treating her badly and using her just to get a baby. However, Augustus claims he loved Scribonia in his own way because she gave him Julia.