Salonia Matidia (4 July 68 – 23 December 119) was the daughter and only child of Ulpia Marciana and wealthy

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus. Her maternal uncle was the Roman emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

. Trajan had no children and treated her like his daughter. Her father died in 78 and Matidia went with her mother to live with Trajan and his wife,

Pompeia Plotina Pompeia Plotina (died 121/122) was Roman empress from 98 to 117 as the wife of Trajan. She was renowned for her interest in philosophy, and her virtue, dignity and simplicity. She was particularly devoted to the Epicurean philosophical school in ...

Life

Between 81 and 82, Matidia married a suffect

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

and former

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

Lucius Vibius Sabinus. Sabinus died in 83 or 84. Matidia bore Sabinus a daughter called

Vibia Sabina Vibia Sabina (83–136/137) was a Roman Empress, wife and second cousin once removed to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. She was the daughter of Salonia Matidia, Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan) and suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus. Early ...

, who would marry the future Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

. Matidia was very fond of her second cousin Hadrian and allowed him to marry Vibia Sabina. In 84, Matidia married for a second time to an otherwise unknown Roman aristocrat called Lucius Mindius. Matidia bore Mindius a daughter called Mindia Matidia, commonly known as Matidia Minor. Mindius died in 85. Matidia - denarius - RIC 0759

Matidia later married Lucius Scribonius Libo Rupilius Frugi Bonus, who was suffect consul in 88. Frugi had a daughter called Rupilia Faustina from an earlier marriage. Faustina would go on to marry the

Roman Senator The Roman Senate () was the highest and Roman constitution, constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the Rome, city of Rome (traditionally founded ...

Marcus Annius Verus, their daughter became empress

Faustina the Elder Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder, sometimes referred to as Faustina I or Faustina Major ( 100 – late October 140), was a Roman empress and wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. The emperor Marcus Aurelius was her nephew and later became he ...

and their son Marcus Annius Verus's son became emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

. Matidia often traveled with her uncle and assisted him with decision-making. Like her mother, Matidia was honored with monuments and inscriptions in her name throughout the Roman Empire. On 29 August 112, she received the title of Augusta upon the death and divinization of Marciana. When Trajan died in 117, Matidia and Plotina brought the emperor's ashes back to Rome. In 119 Matidia died, whereupon the Roman Emperor

delivered her funeral oration, deified her, and granted her a temple and altar in Rome itself. She thus became the first divinized Roman woman to be dedicated a full-scale temple of her own, as opposed to one shared with her husband or a smaller shrine.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matidia, Salonia 68 births 119 deaths 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Roman women Deified ancient Roman women Nerva–Antonine dynasty Augustae Salonii