Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata also known as Cornelia Volusia Torquata Licinia was a noble Roman woman who lived in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

in the second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd century.

Family background and early life

Torquata's ancestry is based on inference. According to Rudolf Hanslik, she is the granddaughter of Volusia Torquata and a Marcus Licinius; their surmised son, also named Marcus Licinius, who was also

pontifex In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any hi ...

, was Torquata's father. "Volusius (27)", '' RE'', Supplementary volume 9, col. 1865 The name element "Torquata" comes from her great-grandmother Torquata, the wife of

Quintus Volusius Saturninus Quintus Volusius Saturninus (born AD 25) was a Roman Senator who lived in the Roman Empire during the Principate. He was consul in the year 56 with Publius Cornelius Scipio as his colleague. Family background The Volusii, according to Tacitus, ...

Marriage and offspring

Torquata married her cousin Lucius Volusius Saturninus, an

Augur An augur was a priest and official in the ancient Rome, classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the List of Roman deities, gods by studying events he observed within a predetermined s ...

during the second century AD, and a

Suffect consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

during the reign of

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

. Marcus Metilius Aquillius Regulus Nepos Volusius Torquatus Fronto who served as a consul in 157, is thought to be their descendant.

Inscriptional evidence

The name of Torquata has been found in a funerary inscription in Rome now on display at the

National Museum of Rome The National Roman Museum (Italian: ''Museo Nazionale Romano'') is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological ...

. The inscription is dated from the second half of the 1st century through the first half of the 2nd century and reads in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

(English translation follows): : Licinia Cornelia/M(arci) f(ilia) Volusia/Torquata/L(uci) Volusi co(n)s(ulis)/auguris : Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata, the daughter of Marcus, the wife of Lucius Volusius, consul, augur.

References

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Sources

Funerary inscription of Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata
*Biographischer Index der Antike (Google eBook), Walter de Gruyter, 2001 *J. Elsner & J. Huskinson ''Life, Death and Representation: Some New Work on Roman Sarcophagi'', Walter de Gruyter, 2011 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Roman women Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata