Claudia Pulchra (great-niece of Augustus)

Claudia Pulchra (14 BC – AD 26) (PIR2 C 1116) was a Patrician woman of Ancient Rome who lived during the reigns of the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius.

Claudia Pulchra
Spouse(s)Publius Quinctilius Varus
ChildrenPublius Quinctilius Varus Minor
Parents

Biography

Early life

She was a daughter of Claudia Marcella Minor and the Roman consul of 12 BC, Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus.[1] Her maternal grandparents were the consul Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor and Octavia the Younger, sister of Augustus.[2] There has been some speculation among historians such as George Patrick Goold[3] that her father might actually have been Publius Claudius Pulcher (the son of Clodius) but others such as Ronald Syme have rejected this proposal.[4]

Marriage

She became the third wife of the Roman general and politician Publius Quinctilius Varus.[5] Pulchra bore Varus a son, also named Publius Quinctilius Varus.[6] Her husband committed suicide in September AD 9 during the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Germania Inferior[7] and she never remarried.

Later life

Pulchra was always a close friend to her second cousin Agrippina the Elder. Through her friendship with Agrippina, Pulchra became the victim of the intrigues associated with the treason trial of Sejanus in AD 26.[8] Gnaeus Domitius Afer accused her of an attempt to poison Tiberius, casting magic and immorality. She died in exile.[9] The Roman historian Tacitus considered the trial to be an indirect political attack against Agrippina.

Her son became wealthy through the inheritance of both his parents. In 27, the younger Varus found himself facing accusations of treason and was nearly condemned. His trial has been attributed to the increasing distrust of Tiberius and the machinations of Sejanus.[10][11]

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See also
  • Women in Rome

References
  1. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205
  2. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65
  3. Goold, Patrick (1970). "Pulcher Claudius". Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. 74. Harvard University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780674379206.
  4. Syme, Ronald (1989). "Two Nices of Augustus". The Augustan Aristocracy. Clarendon paperbacks (new, illustrated, reworked ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780198147312.
  5. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65
  6. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65
  7. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg
  8. Tacitus, Annals 4.52.
  9. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65
  10. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65
  11. Barrett, Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire, p.36&78

Bibliography
  • J. R. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg (Google eBook), Trafford Publishing, 2013
  • M. Lightman & B. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, Infobase Publishing, 2008
  • A. Barrett, Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire, Yale University Press, 1998
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