HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Scribonia (c. 70 BC – c. AD 16) was the secondSuetonius, ''Life of Augustus'', 62.1-2. wife of Octavian, later the Roman Emperor
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, and the mother of his only biological child,
Julia the Elder Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), 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 Augus ...
. Through her youngest daughter she was the mother-in-law of the Emperor
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
, great-grandmother of the Emperor
Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanic ...
and Empress
Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claud ...
, and great-great grandmother of the Emperor
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...
.


Biography


Parentage

Scribonia's parentage is unclear. It is known for certain that the name of her mother was Sentia,: ''Sentia Lib
nis Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry of ...
mater Scr boniaeCaes
ris Ris may refer to the following: * Ris, Puy-de-Dôme, a commune in France * Ris, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Ris, Norway * Diane Ris (1932–2013), Catholic nun, educator and author * Friedrich Ris (1867–1931), Swiss physician and ...
'.
whose ancestors had been directors of the mint. Her father is another matter; it is known that her father was a
Lucius Scribonius Libo Several men of plebeian status were named Lucius Scribonius Libo during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire; they were members of the ''gens'' Scribonia. L. Scribonius Libo (praetor 204 BC) Lucius Scribonius Libo was a tribune of the plebs in 216 ...
. The most commonly cited possibility was the
praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
of that name of 80 BC. If this is so then she was the younger sister of a brother of the same name who was
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
in 34 BC, whose daughter, another Scribonia, married
Sextus Pompey Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the last ...
. Another less common hypothesis was that she was a second daughter of the consul of 34 BC, rather than his sister.


First two marriages

According to Suetonius, Scribonia was married three times; her first two husbands were consuls. The name of the first is unknown, but a number of authorities—including
Bartolomeo Borghesi Bartolomeo (also Bartolommeo) Borghesi (11 July 178116 April 1860) was an Italian antiquarian who was a key figure in establishing the science of numismatics. He was born at Savignano, near Rimini, and studied at Bologna and Rome. Having weak ...
,
Hermann Dessau Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the ''Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons t ...
,
Edmund Groag Edmund Groag (2 February 1873, in Prerau – 19 August 1945, in Vienna) was an Austrian classical scholar, who specialized in Roman history. From 1892 he studied history and philology at the University of Vienna, receiving his doctorate in 18 ...
and
Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...
—have suggested that he was
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus (''c.'' 90 BC – ''c.'' 48 BC) was a Roman statesman 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, ...
, consul 56 BC, because of the existence of an inscription that refers to freedmen of Scribonia and her son Cornelius Marcellinus after 39 BC. This indicates she had a son from her first marriage who was living with her after she was divorced from Octavian. Suetonius makes no mention of him, only acknowledging her children from her second and third marriages, leading these authorities to conclude the young Marcellinus had died young. Since she was married a second time, this led to the need to identify her second husband, by whom she had Cornelia, the wife of
Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus Lucius Aemilius Paullus (flourished 1st century BC) was a Roman politician. He was the brother of triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and son to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the consul of 78 BC. His mother may have been a daughter of Lucius Appuleius ...
(suffect consul 34 BC), and would die the year her brother ascended to the consulate. Since it had been assumed Cornelius Marcellinus had died young, another brother had to be found, and various candidates had been proposed, most recently Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul in 16 BC. This would provide the year that the young Cornelia died. However, no consular father could be identified for this Cornelia Scipio, which led Syme to remark that the problem of identifying the husbands of Scribonia "appears insoluble". However, as historian
John Scheid John Scheid (born 1946 in Luxembourg under the first name Jean) is a French historian. A specialist of ancient Rome, he has been a professor at the Collège de France since 2001. Biography After his secondary studies in Luxembourg, John Schei ...
has pointed out, all of them overlook that Suetonius clearly states there were no children by her first marriage. This would mean Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus was her second husband, not her first. Cornelia's brother was not the consul of 16 BC, but the consul of 18 BC, and that was the year Cornelia died.


Octavian

In 40 BC, Scribonia was forced to divorce her second husband and marry Octavian, who had recently divorced his wife Claudia. Octavian's motive in marrying Scribonia was to cement a political alliance with
Sextus Pompey Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the last ...
, husband to Scribonia's niece or sister. The marriage was brief and unhappy; he divorced her on the very same day as the birth of their daughter,
Julia the Elder Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), 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 Augus ...
, his only natural child. He allegedly wrote that he was "unable to put up with her shrewish disposition." He remarried to
Livia Drusilla Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14. Livia was the d ...
soon after. Scribonia herself never remarried and appears to have continued to be known as the wife of Caesar thereafter. In 6 BC or 5 BC, Augustus arranged a marriage between their granddaughter,
Julia the Younger Vipsania Julia Agrippina (19 BC – c. AD 29) nicknamed Julia Minor (Classical Latin: IVLIA•MINOR) and called Julia the Younger by modern historians, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was emperor Augustus' first grandda ...
, to Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Cornelia's son and Scribonia's grandson, demonstrating his desire to maintain connections with his second wife's family. Despite her reputation from some modern historians as being "tiresome" and "morose" based on Octavian's reasons for divorce, she appears to have been a figure of some repute and standing. In 16 BC, the same year that her son rose to the consulship, her daughter Cornelia died and became the subject of an elegy by
Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of '' Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the poets Gallu ...
, in which Scribonia is mentioned.
Nor have I wronged you, Scribonia, mother, my sweet origin: what do you wish changed in me, except my fate? My mother’s tears and the city’s grief exalt me, and my bones are protected by Caesar’s moans. He laments that living I was worthy sister to his daughter, and we have seen a god’s tears fall.
Suetonius also notes Scribonia's affiliation with
Scribonius Aphrodisius Scribonius Aphrodisius was a grammarian of ancient Rome. He was originally a slave and disciple of the grammarian Lucius Orbilius Pupillus, who was also the teacher of the Roman poet Horace. He was purchased by Scribonia, the second wife of the e ...
, slave and pupil of
Lucius Orbilius Pupillus Lucius Orbilius Pupillus (114 BC – c. 14 BC) was a Latin grammarian of the 1st century BC, who taught at school, first at Benevento and then at Rome, where the poet Horace was one of his pupils. Horace (''Epistles'', ii) criticizes his old sch ...
. He was afterwards purchased by Scribonia, possibly to educate her children or even herself, and he was subsequently manumitted by her. Based on this, it is possible that she encouraged him and others as a patroness. Aphrodisius is known to have written a now lost treatise on orthography, in opposition to
Verrius Flaccus Marcus Verrius Flaccus (c. 55 BCAD 20) was a Roman grammarian and teacher who flourished under Augustus and Tiberius. Life He was a freedman, and his manumitter has been identified with Verrius Flaccus, an authority on pontifical law; but for ch ...
.


Voluntary exile

In 2 BC, Julia was exiled to
Pandateria Ventotene (; locally ; la, Pandataria or , from grc, Πανδατερία, Pandatería, or ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality o ...
for adultery and possible treason. Scribonia accompanied her voluntarily into exile. Around AD 4, Julia and Scribonia were allowed to return to the mainland and moved to
Rhegium Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...
, where Augustus granted Julia property and a yearly income. Scribonia probably remained with her for the fifteen years Julia lived in exile. Julia died in AD 14, shortly after her father's death. Contemporary historians are vague regarding the circumstances of her death; while Dio Cassius indicates Tiberius had her killed,
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
writes that after her youngest son,
Agrippa Postumus Marcus Agrippa Postumus (12 BC – AD 14),: "The elder Agrippa died, in the summer of 12 BC, while Julia was pregnant with their fifth child. The boy was very likely born sometime after June 26 of the following year. When his grandfather adopted ...
, was murdered she succumbed to despair and her health slowly declined. Scribonia survived her daughter and appears to have returned to the family mansion in Rome.


Last years

She was about 86 when she died. Scribonia's last known activity was around AD 16; when her great-nephew,
Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus (died 13 September 16) was a Roman accused of treason against the emperor Tiberius. Biography Early life He was likely the son or paternal grandson of Marcus Livius Drusus Libo (adopted brother of empress Livia). It ...
, conspired against Tiberius she encouraged him to face trial and punishment rather than commit suicide, telling him, "What joy is there in doing another man's job?" Drusus did not listen and took his life shortly after. Although Seneca disapproves of Scribonia's advice, referring to her as ''"gravis femina; gravis"'', meaning “dignified and severe" in an old fashioned Roman manner, modern historians have praised her as an exemplary Roman matron with the composure to sustain her rejected daughter Julia and suicidal nephew Scribonius in their tragic misfortunes.Barrett, A.A. (2004) ''Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome''. "Yale University Press".


Marriages and issue

* An unknown consular; no children *
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus (''c.'' 90 BC – ''c.'' 48 BC) was a Roman statesman 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, ...
, consul 56 BC, died c. 49 BC. **
Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus (fl. 1st century BC – 1st century AD) was a Roman Senator who was elected Roman consul in 18 BC, with Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus as his colleague. During his consulship, the Senate and the Roman assembly aga ...
, consul 18 BC. ** Cornelia (between 48 BC and 41 BC - 18 BC) * Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
) **
Julia the Elder Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), 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 Augus ...
(39 BC - AD 14) Her great-great-grandson,
Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus was a Roman senator. He was consul in AD 19, with Lucius Norbanus Balbus as his colleague. Biography Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. His grandfather was Marcus Junius Silanu ...
, was born during her lifetime.


Cultural depictions

*In the novel, ''
I, Claudius ''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Ro ...
,'' Robert Graves incorrectly places Scribonia's death shortly before Augustus and Julia's, rather than after. *In
Allan Massie Allan Johnstone Massie (born 16 October 1938) is a Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has lived in the Scottish Borders for the last 25 years, and now lives in Se ...
's novel ''
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
'' she is portrayed stereotypically; ugly, gap-toothed and fat. The novel implies Julia's behaviour is the result of her mother Scribonia rather than a perceived hypocrisy of her father Augustus. *Scribonia is a main character in the novel '' Caesar's Daughter'' by Edward Burton. She is a patroness of the arts, and enjoys popularity with the Roman people and Augustus' respect. Contrary to contemporary and modern historians accounts, she plays an active role in Julia's life. *In Elisabeth Dored's novel ''
I Loved Tiberius {{Infobox book , name= I Loved Tiberius , title_orig= Jeg elsket Tiberius , translator= Naomi Walford , image= File:ILovedTiberius.jpg , caption= First UK edition , author= Elisabeth Dored , illustrator= , cover_artist= , country= Norwa ...
,'' Augustus' reign is portrayed as a dictatorship. Scribonia is portrayed as a motherly and steadfast woman forbidden any contact with Julia until her exile. *She appears in the final novel in the Master of Rome series, ''
Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
,'' by
Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being '' The Thorn Birds'' and '' The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Lif ...
. Octavius initially finds her very attractive and agreeable, but difficulties with the alliance and their marriage overall leads to its breakdown. Contrary to contemporary historians, Scribonia is allowed to partake in Julia's education. *Scribonia appears briefly in ''Cleopatra's Daughter'' (2009), by Michelle Moran. She is at a theater, watching her daughter, Julia, from afar because after the divorce they were not allowed to see each other; she is shunned by affluent society who are afraid of angering Augustus and Livia. *In ''Betray the Night: A Novel about Ovid'' 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. * In the TV series '' Domina'' (2021), Scribonia was played by Bailey Spalding and
Christine Bottomley Christine Bottomley (born 27 April 1979) is an English actress. Early life Born in Rochdale and grew up in an apartment above the family's chemist shop. She went to several local youth drama groups before embarking on a course at the Royal S ...
.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scribonia (wife of Octavian) Scribonii 16 deaths 70s BC births 1st-century BC Roman women 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Roman women Ancient Roman exiles Wives of Augustus