Terentia (; 98 BC – AD 6) was the wife of the renowned orator
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...
. She was instrumental in Cicero's political life both as a benefactor and as a fervent activist for his cause.
Family background
Terentia was born into a wealthy
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called 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 o ...
family by the name of
Terentius. She may have been a daughter of the Terentii Varrones, who were the most important senatorial branch of that family. This is suggested by the fact that Cicero had a cousin with the
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became her ...
Varro and a friend by the name of
Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
. This Varro owned a house near
Arpinum not far from Cicero's own birthplace. Therefore, if Terentia was indeed the daughter of a Varro, Cicero's links to this family may have influenced his marriage to Terentia.
Terentia had one half-sister named Fabia, who was a
Vestal Virgin
In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame.
The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty f ...
and the daughter of a
patrician named
Fabius
In Roman mythology, Fabius was the son of Hercules and an unnamed mother.
In "The Life of Fabius Maximus" from the ''Parallel Lives'' by Plutarch, Fabius, the first of his name, was the son of Hercules by a nymph or a woman native to the count ...
. If Terentia's mother married the plebeian Terentius first, then Terentia was the older sister and probably the sole inheritor of her father's estate. Upon her father's death, Terentia became very wealthy.
She was endowed with a huge