Vipsania Julia Agrippina (19 BC – c. AD 28), nicknamed Julia Minor (

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

: IVLIA•MINOR) and called Julia the Younger by modern historians, 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 ...

noblewoman of the

Julio-Claudian dynasty The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. This line of emperors ruled the Roman Empire, from its formation (under Augustus, in 27 BC) until the last of the line, Emper ...

. She was emperor Augustus' first granddaughter, being the first daughter and second child of

Julia the Elder Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA), was the daughter and only biological child of Augustu ...

and her husband

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (; BC – 12 BC) was a Roman general, statesman and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. Agrippa is well known for his important military victories, notably the B ...

. Along with her siblings, Julia was raised and educated by her maternal grandfather

Augustus 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 A ...

and her maternal step-grandmother

Livia Drusilla Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julia ''gens'' in AD 1 ...

. Just like her siblings, she played an important role in the dynastic plans of Augustus, but much like her mother, she was disgraced due to infidelity later on in her life.

Life

About 5 BC or 6 BC, Augustus arranged for her to marry Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Paullus had a family relation to her as her half first-cousin, as both had Scribonia as grandmother: Julia's mother was a daughter of Scribonia by Augustus; Paullus' mother, Cornelia, was a daughter of Scribonia resulting from her earlier marriage to Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. Paullus and Julia had a daughter, Aemilia Lepida, and possibly a son, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (although he may instead have been the son to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus). Julia may have had the rights of '' Jus trium liberorum'', the rights held by Roman women who had three children who survived birth, but some women of the imperial family were sometimes granted these rights without having given birth to three children. According to Suetonius, she built a large, pretentious country house. Augustus disliked large, overdone houses and had it demolished. Grotto in Salermo with Julia by Joseph Wright of Derby 1774 photoshopped

Grotto in Salermo with Julia by Joseph Wright of Derby 1774 photoshopped

In 8 AD, according to ancient historians, Julia was exiled for having an affair with Decimus Junius Silanus, a Roman Senator. She was sent to Tremirus, a small Italian island, where she gave birth to a child. Augustus rejected the infant and ordered it to be exposed, or left on a mountainside to die. Silanus went into voluntary exile, but returned under Tiberius' reign. Sometime between 1 AD and 14 AD, her husband Paullus was executed as a conspirator in a revolt. Modern historians theorize that Julia's exile was not actually for adultery but for involvement in Paullus' revolt.

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

plotted against her stepdaughter's family and ruined them, according to some. This led to open compassion for the fallen family. In 28 AD, Julia died on the same island where she had been sent in exile twenty years earlier. Due to the adultery that Julia committed, Augustus stated in his will that she would never be buried in Rome.

Unusual naming

Julia the Younger was not a member of the Julian gens by birth: being the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa made her a ''Vipsania Agrippina'' by birth, although there are no contemporary sources that show that that name was ever used for her. She came to belong to the household of the

as she was raised and instructed by her maternal grandfather Augustus. Further, Augustus adopted

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

as his son (and heir), while Tiberius was remarried to Julia the Elder. Augustus became something of a ''paternal'' grandfather to Julia the Elder's children, too, including Julia the Younger. A ''formal'' adoption "in the family of the Caesars" among the offspring of Agrippa and Julia the Elder is however only recorded regarding Vipsania Julia's brothers Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa—hence Gaius Julius Caesar—and Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa—hence Lucius Julius Caesar. Her younger sister

Agrippina the Elder (Vipsania) Agrippina the Elder (also, in Latin, , "Germanicus's Agrippina"; – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Aug ...

and youngest full brother, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus, were named after their natural father only until Agrippa Postumus was adopted by Augustus as ''Agrippa Julius Caesar''. ''PIR²''br>214
/ref> Likewise, her eldest half-sisters,

Vipsania Agrippina Vipsania Agrippina (; unknown – 20 AD) was the first wife of the Roman emperor, Emperor Tiberius. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Attica (wife of Agrippa), Attica, thus being a granddaughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus, t ...

, Vipsania Attica, Vipsania Marcella and Vipsania Marcellina, were named after their father. Her younger half-brother, unnamed in contemporary sources, was later sometimes dubbed " Tiberillus," after his father Tiberius, and died young.

Literature

* Julia the Younger is the primary character in Tana Rebellis's ''The Longest Exile'' (2024), exploring Julia's life and exile from 8 to 14 CE. It also includes chapters from the points of view of her mother,

, as well as her brother

Agrippa Postumus Marcus Agrippa Postumus (12 BC – AD 14),: "The elder Agrippa died, in the summer of 12 BC, while Julia was pregnant with their fifth child. The boy was very likely born sometime after June 26 of the following year. When his grandfather adopted ...

and the poet

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

Ancestry

Notes

Bibliography

* Meise, Eckhard (1969). ''Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Julisch-Claudischen Dynastie'' tudies on the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty Vestigia, vol. 10. Munich: Beck, pp. 35-48.

External links

* The Archeological museum of the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

displays a sculpted head that is presumably Vipsania Julia's
Inv. Nr. I/506 – Image at the university's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julia the Younger 19 BC births 20s deaths Year of death uncertain Julio-Claudian dynasty 1st-century BC Roman women 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans Julia Ancient Roman exiles Children of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa