Caecilia Metella (died around 80 BC) was a Roman matron at the beginning of the 1st century BC. The daughter of the
pontifex maximus Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus
Lucius Caecilius Metellus Delmaticus (born ) was a Roman politician and general. He was a son of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus and brother of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. He was consul in 119 BC; during his year, he opposed Gaius ...
, she married two of the most prominent politicians of the period, first the
princeps senatus Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, then
Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
Life
Caecilia belonged to the
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians or 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 of the gro ...
family of the
Caecilii Metelli, at the time the most important family of the late second century. Her father was
Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus
Lucius Caecilius Metellus Delmaticus (born ) was a Roman politician and general. He was a son of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus and brother of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. He was consul in 119 BC; during his year, he opposed Gaius ...
, consul in 119 BC and pontifex maximus ''circa'' 114.
Her first marriage was to
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, an ageing politician at the peak of his power. Scaurus was a
patrician, the ''
princeps senatus'' (leader of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
) and a traditional ally of her family. Caecilia bore Scaurus two children:
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and
Aemilia.
Following Scaurus' death in 89, Caecilia married
Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was fifty. In his account of the life of Sulla,
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
wrote that this was a prestigious marriage for Sulla due to Caecilia being the daughter of the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Roman state religion. The marriage was ridiculed by the people and many leading men were dissatisfied because they thought that it was unworthy of Caecilia. She became Sulla's third wife and he married her only a few days after divorcing
Cloelia for 'barrenness'. Because of this and despite the fact that Sulla praised Cloelia and gave her gifts, many thought that he had accused her unfairly. However, he always showed Caecilia great deference. Because of this, when Sulla refused the request of the people to restore the exiled supporters of
Marius (after Sulla's march on Rome in 88 BC) they asked Caecilia for help. Plutarch wrote that it "was thought also that when
ullatook the city of Athens, he treated its people more harshly because they had scurrilously abused Caecilia from the walls." In another passage, Plutarch specified that the scurrilous abuse against Sulla and Caecilia was from
Aristion, the tyrant of Athens.
Sulla had her daughter Aemilia marry to
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...
to forge an alliance with him.
While Sulla was in Greece, the supporters of
Gaius Marius seized Rome and perpetrated violence against those of Sulla. Caecilia thus fled with her and Sulla's children with difficulty, informed Sulla that his villas had been burned and offered to help the
Optimates
''Optimates'' (, ; Latin for "best ones"; ) and ''populares'' (; Latin for "supporters of the people"; ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated ...
(who supported Sulla) at home. After Sulla celebrated his triumph for his victory in Greece, Caecilia bore him twin children, "
ullanamed the male child
Faustus, and the female
Fausta; for the Romans call what is auspicious and joyful, 'faustum.'"
While Sulla was devoting a lavish feast in honour of the god Hercules, Caecilia was sick and dying. The priests forbade Sulla "to go near her or to have his house polluted by her funeral." Sulla divorced her and had her taken to another house while she was still alive. In this way he respected the law. Sulla transgressed his laws limiting the expenses of funerals and of banquets, organised a sumptuous funeral and drowned his sorrows in drinking parties and extravagant banquets. Plutarch mentioned that another, unnamed son who died shortly before the death of his mother Caecilia appeared to him in a dream. Plutarch clarified this by saying that when Sulla died he left two young children by Caecilia.
[Plutarch, Parallel Lives, The Life of Sulla, 37.2, 4]
See also
*
Women in ancient Rome
Freeborn (Ancient Rome), Freeborn women in ancient Rome were Roman citizenship, citizens (''cives''), but could not vote or hold Roman magistrate, political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by ...
*
Caecilia gens
*
Caecilii Metelli family tree
Notes
References
* Plutarch, Parallel Lives, The Live of Sulla, The Complete Collection of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014; ; see
The Life of Sulla accessed June 2016.
{{Authority control
80s BC deaths
1st-century BC Roman women
Caecilii Metelli
Wives of Sulla