Vistilia

Vistilia was the name of two women of a Senatorial family that held the praetorship. One was known by her contemporaries for having seven children by six different husbands; Pliny the Elder was more impressed by the fact most of her pregnancies were remarkably brief.[1] The other, possibly the niece of the first, was tried by the Senate for immorality.[2]

Ronald Syme speculates her family the Vistilii, also spelled Vestilii, came from Umbria, and lists several inscriptions bearing the names of its members from that region of Italy.[3]

Vistilia, mother of senators

Her brother was probably Sextus Vistilius, a former praetor, who was a close friend to the Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus, the younger brother to Roman Emperor Tiberius.[4] In the opinion of Frederik Juliaan Vervaet, this made Vistilia "an extremely valuable bride, whose connections offered her husbands and their joint children fantastic prospects. Four marriages, three clarissimi mariti before 10 BC." But then Drusus died of a fall from his horse in 9 BC, and "marriage to Vistilia, from a praetorian family, suddenly became a lot less interesting for ambitious and high-ranking senators descending from noble families."[5]

But then Sextus was admitted to the cohors amicorum, and her value as a bride was restored; she married twice more. When Tiberius charged Sextus for criticizing the morals of his great-nephew, Caligula, he excluded Sextus from his company. By the time Sextus committed suicide in 32, Vervaet notes "he had long outlived his utility."[5]

Vistilia was married six times and had seven children. Syme identifies the children as follows, with his dates of birth:[6]

Vistilia the Prostitute

According to Tacitus, another Vistilia, probably the daughter of Sextus Vistilius and thus the elder Vistilia's niece, was a public prostitute who advertised her services to the aediles of Rome. In 19, the Roman Senate passed a law that no Roman woman whose father or grandfather was of equestrian status or higher could register as a prostitute.

Vistilia was accordingly tried by the Roman Senate for immorality. Her husband, Titidius Labeo, asked why he had not tried to enforce the statutory penalty, stated the consultation period (which was 60 days) had not yet expired. The senate decided to prosecute only Vistilia (under Roman law, husbands who did not immediately punish adulterous wives could be tried as pimps).[7] Vistilia was found guilty of prostitution and she was deported to the Greek island of Seriphos.

gollark: I only said that taxation was theft ironically, however?
gollark: I technically actually have a job now.
gollark: Unironically, I ironically you unironically.
gollark: Wow, taxation is actually really theft.
gollark: I don't know if it's a good thing. But it probably affects YouTubers, or would if anyone implied the implications.

See also

References
  1. Pliny, Natural History, vii.39
  2. Tacitus Annales, ii.85
  3. Syme, "Personal Names in Annals I-VI", Journal of Roman Studies, 39 (1949), pp. 16f
  4. Tacitus, Annales, vi.9.2
  5. Vervaet, "A Note on Syme's Chronology of Vistilla's Children", Ancient Society, 30 (2000), p. 99
  6. Syme, "Domitius Corbulo", Journal of Roman Studies, 60 (1970), p. 31
  7. Justinian I, Digest 48.5.2
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.