Cossutia was a Roman woman who became engaged to

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

prior to his reaching adulthood. There has been debate among historians on whether the marriage actually occurred.

Biography

Early life

Cossutia belonged to a very wealthy equestrian family from

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

Caesar

Cossutia appealed to Caesar, although the Cossuti were not even ''

novi homines ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. When ...

''. She was recommended to Caesar by his father and it is believed that the future dictator of Rome married Cossutia after he began wearing the ''toga virilis''. Both families issued coins with her image and were inscribed with ''Uxor Caesaris''. No children sprang from this relation. In 84 BC, after his father's death, Caesar left Cossutia and married Cornelia, as that was more pragmatic than the earlier relation to Cossutia.''Women of Caesar's Family'', The Classical Journal, Volume 13, 1918, pp. 502-506. It is also possible that Caesar chose to leave her to marry Cornelia because he had been nominated as '' Flamen Dialis'', a role which demanded marriage to a patrician via '' confarreatio''.

Later years

Cossutia perhaps died in

Pisa, Italy Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

in 84 BC.

Scholarly disagreement

In the past it was commonly accepted that Caesar and Cossutia were married, but more recent opinions differ. Among those arguing that Caesar was never married to this woman are

Ludwig Friedrich Otto Baumgarten-Crusius Ludwig Friedrich Otto Baumgarten-Crusius (31 July 1788 – 31 May 1843) was a German Protestant theologian and divine born in Merseburg. He was the brother of philologist Detlev Karl Wilhelm Baumgarten-Crusius (1786-1845). Life In 1805 he entered ...

, Napoleon III,

Charles Merivale Charles Merivale (8 March 1808 – 27 December 1893) was an English historian and churchman, for many years dean of Ely Cathedral. He was one of the main instigators of the inaugural Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race which took place at Henley ...

, James Anthony Froude, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, William Warde Fowler, Ernest Gottlieb Sihler, , and

John Carew Rolfe John Carew Rolfe, Ph.D. (October 15, 1859 in Newburyport, Massachusetts – March 26, 1943) was an Americans, American classical scholar, the son of William James Rolfe, William J. Rolfe. Rolfe graduated from Harvard University in 1881 and ...

.Notes and Discussions — "Caesar's First Wife", '' Classical Philology'', Volume 12, 1917, pg. 93. The French author lists Cossutia first, then Cornelia, Pompeia, and Calpurnia, as wives of Caesar. The ancient historian Plutarch largely ignores Cossutia,''American Notes and Queries'', Volume 1, 1888, pg. 20. but names her as one of Caesar's wives.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

also used the word for an official divorce when describing the separation.

Cultural depictions

Cossutia appears as a major character in the opera '' Young Caesar'', and as a minor character in several novels.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cossutia 84 BC deaths Year of birth unknown Women of Julius Caesar