Attica (wife of Agrippa)
Attica | |
---|---|
Born | Pomponia (possibly) 58–51 BC |
Died | Possibly 32–29 BC |
Spouse | Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa |
Children | Vipsania Agrippina Vipsania |
Parents |
|
Attica
Early life
Attica is generally held to have been born in 51 BC[1] but some historians have argued for earlier dates, E. F. Leon proposed 55 BC,[2] which was accepted by Meyer Reinhold and Stephen V. F. Waite[3] while D. R. Shackleton Bailey dated Cicero's letter where he mentions her recent birth to 58 BC.[4]
Her mother, Pilia (born before 75 BC), daughter of Pilius, was a maternal granddaughter of Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member of the First Triumvirate. Her father Atticus and Pilia were married circa 58-56 BC, when Atticus was already 53 or 54 years old. Her mother died after 12 years of marriage in 46 BC.[5]: 141 [6]
Name
Attica's father Titus Pomponius Atticus was at a relatively advanced age adopted by his maternal uncle, Quintus Caecilius,[b] this meant according to the Roman custom that his name changed to Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus; Attica is presumed to have been born after this and thus known as "Caecilia", but she has frequently been referred to as "Pomponia".[8] She was often called by the diminutive name "Atticula" by her father's friend Cicero.[4]
Relationship to Cicero
Attica is several times mentioned in the letters between her father and
Education
Attica was given a broad literary education.[5]: 197 Her education started at the early age of five or six.[6]: 235 Her father procured her a private tutor named Quintus Caecilius Epirota, one of his freedmen. Epirota was eventually accused of being inappropriate with Attica and was banished.[10]
Marriage and children
Attica became
It is uncertain when the marriage took place and the betrothal may have been decided on as early as 42 BC.[12] Ronald Syme held that the marriage likely took place around 37 BC.[13]
Attica's and Agrippa's daughter Vipsania Agrippina was born around 36 BC, she was engaged at only a year old to the future emperor Tiberius. It is possible that she and Agrippa had another daughter who was married to Quintus Haterius.[14]
Later life and death
Around 28 BC Agrippa married for the second time to Octavian's niece Claudia Marcella Major,[15] it is unknown what became of Attica,[10] historians have speculated that she may have died before this or that Agrippa divorced her.[16]
Some historians have postulated that it is possible that Agrippa brought up the earlier incident of potential intimacy with her teacher Epirota from her youth as an excuse to divorce her if he wished to marry someone closer to Octavian.
Cantarelli has argued that it is possible that Attica was no longer alive in 32 BC because she is not mentioned by Nepos among those called to her father's deathbed.[21] E. Rapp believed that coins from Nemausus which depict Agrippa with a beard (a sign of public mourning in Roman culture) indicate that she died in 29 BC since the coin celebrates Agrippa's victory over Antony and Cleopatra which was in 30 BC. Reinhold agreed that the coins could be an indication of Agrippa's mourning after a death, but rejected Rapp's dating of them to 29 BC.[10]
See also
Notes
References
- ISBN 9780198147312.
- ISBN 9780415341271.
- S2CID 161661620– via JSTOR.
- ^ ISBN 9781555406660.
In 58 Cicero refers to his recently - born daughter as ' Caecilia ' (Att . 116 (VI.2) .10, 118 (VI.4) .3), thereafter as ' Attic (ul) a'- but never to Atticus himself as ' Caecilius . ' Caecilia in CIL VI.13795 may be her
- ^ ISBN 0862920515.
- ^ ISBN 0719554918.
- ^ Neudling, Chester Louis (1955). A Prosopography to Catullus. Oxford. p. 24.
- ^ Reinhold, Meyer (1933). Marcus Agrippa: A Biography. W.F. Humphrey Press. p. 36.
- ^ Marcus Tullius Cicero: "Samtliga brev"/"Collected letters" d.u.
- ^ ISBN 9788870624144.
- ^ Reinhold, Meyer (1933). Marcus Agrippa: A Biography. Geneva: W. F. Humphrey Press. pp. 35–37.
- ^ ISBN 9788870624144.
- ISBN 9783110267228.
- ISBN 9780198147312.
- ISBN 9780300230307.
- ISBN 9781438107943.
- JSTOR 25102045– via JSTOR.
- ISBN 9788870624144.
- ISBN 9781842172346.
- ^ Between Atticus and Aeneas: the making of a colonial elite at Roman Butrint. pp. 94-96
- ISBN 9780837122809.