Cossutia was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

woman who became engaged to

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

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 The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

family from

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 the Leaning Tow ...

Caesar

Cossutia appealed to Caesar, although the Cossuti were not even '' novi homines''. 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 In ancient Roman religion, the was the high priest of Jupiter. The term ''Dialis'' is related to ''Diespiter'', an Old Latin form of the name ''Jupiter''. There were 15 '' flamines'', of whom three were ''flamines maiores'', serving the thr ...

'', a role which demanded marriage to a patrician via ''

confarreatio In ancient Rome, was a traditional patrician form of marriage. The ceremony involved the bride and bridegroom sharing a cake of emmer, in Latin ''far'' or ''panis farreus'', hence the rite's name. ''Far'' is often translated as "spelt", which i ...

''.

Later years

Cossutia perhaps died in

Pisa, Italy Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 the Leaning Tow ...

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 Cossutia 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 The Boat Race, inaugural Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race which took p ...

James Anthony Froude James Anthony Froude ( ; 23 April 1818 – 20 October 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of ''Fraser's Magazine''. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergym ...

Theodore Ayrault Dodge Theodore Ayrault Dodge (May 28, 1842 – October 26, 1909) was an American officer, military historian, and businessman. He fought as a Union officer in the American Civil War; as a writer, he was devoted to both the Civil War and the great gener ...

William Warde Fowler William Warde Fowler (16 May 1847 – 15 June 1921) was an English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of vary ...

Ernest Gottlieb Sihler Ernest Gottlieb Sihler (1853–1942) was a professor of classics at New York University. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he was the son of Lutheran missionary Wilhelm Sihler and great-uncle to Andrew Sihler. Sihler's professional name was Ernest ...

, , and

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

.Notes and Discussions — "Caesar's First Wife", ''

Classical Philology Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

'', Volume 12, 1917, pg. 93. The French author lists Cossutia first, then Cornelia,

Pompeia Pompeia () was the name of several ancient Roman women of the '' gens Pompeia'': * Pompeia, the daughter of Quintus Pompeius consul 141 BC, who married a certain Gaius Sicinius * Pompeia (sister of Pompeius Strabo), sister of General and Consul Gn ...

, and Calpurnia, as wives of Caesar. The ancient historian

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'', ...

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 ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

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 80s BC deaths Year of birth unknown Women of Julius Caesar