Claudia Antonia (

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...

: ANTONIA•CLAUDII•CAESARIS•FILIA (edd), ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933 - A 886) (c. AD 30–AD 66) was the daughter and oldest surviving child of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the only child of his second wife Aelia Paetina. Antonia was a great great-niece of the 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 Pr ...

, great-niece 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 ...

, first cousin of the Emperor Caligula, half-sister to

Claudia Octavia Claudia Octavia (late 39 or early 40 – June 9, AD 62) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of the Emperor Claudius and Valeria Messalina. After her mother's death and father's remarriage to her cousin Agrippina the Younger, she becam ...

and Britannicus (her father's children by his third marriage to

Valeria Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputatio ...

), and cousin, stepsister and sister-in-law 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 unti ...

Childhood and first marriage

Until 37, she was raised by her paternal grandmother Antonia Minor (who died that year). From then until 43, she was raised by her father, who became Roman Emperor in 41. In 43, she first married Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, a descendant of Pompeia (daughter of Pompey the Great). His parents were consul Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi and Scribonia. According to Suetonius Pompeius was stabbed to death a few years later (AD 46/47), when he was caught in bed with a favorite boy.

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

states that Antonia's stepmother Empress

ordered his execution out of fear that Pompeius might become a rival to her son Britannicus. The death of Pompeius left Antonia free to marry Messalina's half-brother Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix.

Second marriage and death

Faustus Sulla and Antonia married in 47. They had a son who was frail and died before his second birthday. In 58, Faustus Sulla was exiled, and in 62 he was murdered at the order of the Emperor

. In 65,

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

records the rumour that Gaius Calpurnius Piso intended to marry Antonia, as an element of his conspiracy against Nero. After the death of the Empress

Poppaea Sabina Poppaea Sabina (AD 30 – 65), also known as Ollia, was a Roman empress as the second wife of the Emperor Nero. She had also been wife to the future emperor Otho. The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrigues ...

, Nero's second wife,

asked Antonia to marry him. When Antonia refused, Nero had her charged with an attempt of rebellion and executed. She was the last living grandchild of

Nero Claudius Drusus Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (38–9 BC), also called Drusus the Elder, was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian on his birth father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the ...

and Antonia Minor, from whom Nero also was descended but one generation more distantly (i.e. their great-

grandchild Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

Cultural depictions

Antonia briefly appears in Robert Graves' novel ''

Claudius the God ''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 Rom ...

''. In the story, she reveals that her first marriage with Gnaeus Pompey was never properly consummated in the two years they lived together; instead, he forced her to take part in unnatural sexual practices. Claudius, outraged by this mistreatment of his daughter, orders Pompey's death (the only moment that he orders death for personal grievances). Antonia is surprised by this act, as she thought her father cared more for his children with Messalina. Antonia and Pompey are omitted entirely in the 1976 television adaptation.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Biography

* (edd.), ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933 - . (''PIR²'') * Levick, Barbara, ''Claudius'', Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990. * Barrett, Anthony A., ''Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Roman Empire'', Yale University Press, New Haven, 1996. * Griffin, Miriam, ''Nero. The End of a Dynasty'', Batsford, London, 1984 * Poulsen, Vagn, ''Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Les portraits romains I: République et dynastie julienne'', Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1962, 111 Nr. 74 Taf. 128 ff. * Boschung, Dietrich, ''Überlegungen zum Liciniergrab'', JdI 101, 1986, pp. 257–287.

External links

Various portraits of Claudia Antonia
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072937/http://www.kleio.org/de/geschichte/jc_dynastie/antonia4.html , date=2014-10-06 30s births 66 deaths

Antonia Antonia may refer to: People * Antonia (name), including a list of people with the name * Antonia gens, a Roman family, any woman of the gens was named ''Antonia'' * Antônia (footballer) * Antônia Melo Entertainment * ''Antonia's Line'', or ...

1st-century Roman women Executed ancient Roman women People executed by the Roman Empire Year of birth unknown Children of Claudius Daughters of Roman emperors