Clodia (born Claudia, c. 95 or 94 BC), nicknamed Quadrantaria ("Quarter", from ''quadrantarius'', the price of a visit to the public baths), Nola ("The Unwilling", from the verb ''nolo'', in sarcastic reference to her alleged wantonness), Medea Palatina ("Medea of the Palatine") by Cicero ( see below), and occasionally referred to in scholarship as Clodia MetelliMarilyn B. Skinner, "Clodia Metelli", '' Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 113 (1983), pp. 273–287, ("Metellus's Clodia"), was one of three known daughters of the

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher. Like many other women of the Roman elite, Clodia was very well educated in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and Philosophy, with a special talent for writing

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

.Wiseman, T. P.: "Catullus and His World: A Reappraisal".(1987) Her life, which was characterized by perpetual scandal, is immortalized in the writings of

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

and, it is generally believed, in the poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus.

Biography

Early life

Clodia Metelli was born into the ancient Roman family of Claudii. This was an established, aristocratic family whose history stretched back into the legends of Ancient Rome and who were active in the political construct of the City serving as consuls and senators onwards from the third century BCE. She was born circa 97 BC, a daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, but her mother is unknown. Many historians believe she was a Caecilia Metella, possibly Caecilia Metella Balearica, or her cousin, Caecilia Metella daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Diadematus.T. P. Wiseman, ''Celer and Nepos'', The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 21, No. 1 (May, 1971), pp. 180-182 Another theory is that she was a Servilia Caepione. Clodia had three brothers: Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul in 54 BC), Gaius Claudius Pulcher (praetor in 56 BC), and

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, on ...

(tribune of the plebs in 58 BC); and four sisters, the younger two of whom were married to Quintus Marcius Rex and Lucullus respectively. It is not certain whether Clodia was the eldest or a middle daughter, it is only known that she was not the youngest sister. Along with her brother Clodius, she changed her patrician name from Claudia to Clodia, with a

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins o ...

connotation. The Claudii Family History This was an ancient patrician family, meaning they belonged to the Roman elite. Roman society was divided into two groups, the patricians and the plebeians, the former carrying more political power than the latter. The Claudii family held an established place in the legends of Rome, all paying tribute to their courage and nobility. An example of such stories being when a statue of Phrygian Goddess Cybele was being transported to Rome on a barge, but the barge became grounded in the riverbank mud. The statue was accompanied by some of the noblest Roman women one of whom was a member of the Claudii family called Claudia. She prayed to be able to move the barge as proof of her chastity, and this she accomplished. Such stories laid the foundation for the high regard in which the Gens Claudii was held in the eyes of the general public.

Marriage

Clodia was married to

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer (before 103 BC or c. 100 BC – 59 BC), a member of the powerful Caecilius Metellus family (plebeian nobility, not patrician) who were at their zenith during Celer's lifetime. A son of Quintus Caecilius Metell ...

, her first cousin, with whom she had a daughter Caecilia Metella. The marriage was not happy. Clodia had several affairs with married men (probably including the poet Catullus) and slaves. Arguments with Metellus Celer were constant, often in public. When he died in strange circumstances in 59 BC, Clodia was suspected of poisoning him.

Controversies

As a widow, Clodia became known for taking several other lovers, including Marcus Caelius Rufus, Catullus's friend. This particular affair caused an immense scandal. After the relationship with Caelius was over in 56 BC, Clodia publicly accused him of attempted poisoning. The accusation led to a murder charge and trial. Caelius' defense advocate was Cicero, who took a harsh approach against her, recorded in his speech '' Pro Caelio''. Cicero had a personal interest in the case, as Clodia's brother Clodius was Cicero's most bitter political enemy. Cicero accused Clodia of being a seducer and a drunkard in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and in

Baiae Baiae ( it, Baia; nap, Baia) was an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples and now in the ''comune'' of Bacoli. It was a fashionable resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman ...

, and alluded to the persistent rumors of an incestuous relationship with Clodius. Cicero stated that he "would ttack Caelius' accusersstill more vigorously, if I had not a quarrel with that woman's lodia'shusband—brother, I meant to say; I am always making this mistake. At present I will proceed with moderation ... for I have never thought it my duty to engage in quarrels with any woman, especially with one whom all men have always considered everybody's friend rather than anyone's enemy." He declared her a disgrace to her family and nicknamed Clodia the

Medea In Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the ...

of the

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

. Caelius was found not guilty.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ...

claims that Cicero's own marriage to Terentia suffered from Terentia's persistent suspicions that Cicero was conducting an illicit affair with Clodia.

Death

After the trial no definite reference is heard of Clodia, and the date of her death is unknown. Cicero refers to a Clodia in 44 BC, but the lack of female personal names ('' praenomina'') in Latin makes it difficult to specify whether this refers to the infamous Clodia or a sister.

Identification with Lesbia

Sir Edward John Poynter lesbia and her sparrow

The poet

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical h ...

wrote several love poems about a frequently unfaithful woman he called '' Lesbia'', identified in the mid-second century AD by the writer

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern- ...

(''Apologia'' 10) as a "Clodia". This practice of replacing actual names with ones of identical metrical value was frequent in Latin poetry of that era. In modern times, the resulting identification of Lesbia with Clodia Metelli, based largely on her portrayal by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

, is usually treated as accepted fact, despite occasional challenges. The predominant view, however, identifies Clodia with Lesbia primarily on the basis of Catullus 79.1-2: "

Pulcher Pulcher is Latin for "beautiful", and may refer to: * Claudius Pulcher (disambiguation), Romans * Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman politician and street agitator * '' Pelvicachromis pulcher'' See also * * Pulchella ''Pulchella'' is a diato ...

", the Latin word for "beautiful" (see line 1 above), is also the cognomen of Clodia's brother,

. This is the only one of Catullus' poems in which a character named "Lesbius", the masculine form of the name, appears and Lesbia is present in close proximity. Accusations of incest (as here) against the brother and sister also appear in Cicero. Reading Publius Clodius Pulcher for "Lesbius" makes one element of the poem a pun on his name and another a reminder of one of the political attacks Cicero aimed at P. Clodius Pulcher.

Cultural depictions

* Clodia makes several appearances in the '' Roma Sub Rosa'' series of historical mystery novels by the American author Steven Saylor. * Clodia plays a significant role in several books of the '' SPQR series'' by John Maddox Roberts. * Clodia also plays a significant role in the novel ''

Lustrum A lūstrum (, plural lūstra) was a term for a five-year period in Ancient Rome. It is distinct from the homograph ''lustrum'' ( ): a haunt of wild beasts (and figuratively, a den of vice), plural ''lustra'' ( ).Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary (20 ...

'' (''Conspirata'' in the US) by Robert Harris, the second book in a trilogy about the life of

. She makes a final appearance in the third book, ''

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...

'', where Cicero shames her into obscurity as retribution for her actions against his wife, Terentia. * Clodia is a central character in the novel Clodia by Robert DeMaria. * Clodia plays a role in the '' Ides of March,'' an

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays '' Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

covering the events leading to the