Mucia Tertia ( 79 – 31 BC) 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 ...
''
matrona'' who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the daughter of
Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the ''
pontifex maximus'' and consul in 95 BC.
Around 79 BC, Mucia married
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. ...
, a leading and soon-to-be dominant figure in Roman politics. She was the mother of all three of Pompey's known children. Pompey divorced her in 61 BC, either for
adultery
Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
or for political reasons. She subsequently married
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and remained active in Roman politics, leading peace talks between her son
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 la ...
and
Octavian
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...
in 39 BC and maintaining a relationship of mutual respect with Octavian in the years that followed.
Early life
Mucia was the daughter of
Quintus Mucius Scaevola, while Mucia's mother was closely related to
Cato the Younger but is otherwise uncertain, she may have been Licinia who divorced her father to marry
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, in a scandal mentioned by several sources. Her name, Mucia Tertia, would suggest that she was a third daughter, according to the
Roman naming convention
Over the course of some fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of nomenclature that differed from that used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of a combination of personal and ...
for women, though it is believed that the choice of name was to differentiate her from her two aunts. If her mother was Licinia then Mucia had also two younger half-brothers from her mother's second marriage,
Quintus Metellus Celer, consul in 60 BC, and
Quintus Metellus Nepos, consul in 57 BC.
During her father's time as governor of the province of
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
in 95–94 BC, a statue in his honour was erected at
Olympia. There is some evidence that a further statue was erected to his wife or daughter which, if it were indeed dedicated to Mucia, would make her the first woman to receive this honour, which later became usual for members of the imperial household.
Marriages
Mucia was possibly first married to
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbrian War, Cimbric and Jugurthine War, Jugurthine wars, he held the office of Roman consul, consul an unprecedented seven times. Rising from a fami ...
the Younger, consul in 82 BC, at a very young age. This was a time of civil war between the
Marian regime at Rome and
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
. Following his defeat the Younger Marius committed suicide; if the marriage had gone ahead, this would have left Mucia a childless widow.
Following the victory of
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
over Gaius Marius the Younger, Sulla, as ''
Dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
'', needed to secure
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. ...
's loyalty and to do that, he arranged the latter's marriage to Mucia around 79 BC. This marriage resulted in three children: elder son
Gnaeus Pompeius, daughter
Pompeia Magna (who married
Faustus Cornelius Sulla) and younger son Sextus Pompey. She outlived all three of her children.
Between 76 and 61 BC, Pompey spent most of the time away from Rome, campaigning in Hispania against
Sertorius
Quintus Sertorius ( – 73 or 72 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian Peninsula. Defying the regime of Sulla, Sertorius became the independent ruler of Hispania for m ...
, in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
against the pirates, and in the East fighting King
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...
. On his return in 61, Pompey sent Mucia a letter of divorce. According to
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
's personal correspondence, the motive was adultery – it is said that she was one of
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 ...
's many affairs. However, Pompey's friendship and alliance with Caesar at the time could suggest that Pompey himself either did not regard this rumor as true or did not consider it important. The imperial biographer
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 ...
stated that Pompey often referred to Caesar as "
Aegisthus
Aegisthus (; ; also transliterated as Aigisthos, ) was a figure in Greek mythology. Aegisthus is known from two primary sources: the first is Homer's ''Odyssey'', believed to have been first written down by Homer at the end of the 8th century BC ...
", the name of a Greek mythological character who was known to have seduced a king's wife. Mucia next married
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, a stepson of the dictator Sulla, with whom she had another son named
Marcus. In 39 BC Mucia, at the earnest request of the Roman people, went to Sicily to mediate between her son Sextus Pompey and
triumvir
In the Roman Republic, or were commissions of three men appointed for specific tasks. There were many tasks that commissions could be established to conduct, such as administer justice, mint coins, support religious tasks, or found colonies.
M ...
Octavian
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...
(the future emperor Augustus). This made her the first Roman woman recorded as fulfilling an official diplomatic role.
Mucia was alive at the time of the
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...
in 31 BC, though her date of death is unknown. Octavian treated her with great respect.
See also
*
Mucia gens
Footnotes
Explanatory notes
References
Sources
Primary sources
*
Asconius
Quintus Asconius Pedianus (9 BC – AD 76) was a Roman rhetorician from Patavium. There is no evidence that Asconius engaged in a public career, but his familiarity with the politics and geography of contemporary Rome suggests that he may hav ...
, ''Pro Scauro'', p. 19, Orelli-Baiter (ed.) (1845).
*
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, ''Epistulae ad Familiares'', v, 2.
*Cicero, ''Epistulae ad Atticum'', i. 12.
*
Dio Cassius
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 of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
, xxxvii. 49, xlviii, 16, li. 2, lvi. 38.
*
Appian
Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.
He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...
, ''Bellum Civile'' v. 69, 72.
*
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 ...
, ''
Life of Julius Caesar'', 50.
*
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'', ...
, ''Life of Pompey'', 42.
*
Zonaras, x. 5.
*
Hieronymus
Hieronymus, in English pronounced or , is the Latin form of the Ancient Greek name (Hierṓnymos), meaning "with a sacred name". It corresponds to the English given name Jerome (given name), Jerome.
Variants
* Albanian language, Albanian: Jeroni ...
, ''
Adversus Jovinianum'', i. 48.
Modern scholarship
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Pompey
1st-century BC Roman women
1st-century BC Romans
Mistresses of Julius Caesar
Tertia
Wives of Pompey
Year of birth missing
Year of death unknown