Domitia Lepida
Domitia Lepida | |
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Antonia Major (mother) |
Roman imperial dynasties | ||
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Julio-Claudian dynasty | ||
Chronology | ||
27 BC – AD 14 |
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AD 14–37 |
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AD 37–41 |
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AD 41–54 |
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AD 54–68 |
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Domitia Lepida (c. 5 BC – AD 54) was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of
Biography
Lepida was the daughter of
Lepida was married three times. Her first husband was her cousin,
At the beginning of the reign of her son-in-law, Claudius, Lepida, now a widow, married Appius Junius Silanus, (cos. AD 28). In the following year (AD 42), Silanus was put to death by Claudius, allegedly because he had plotted to assassinate Claudius, but the rumor circulated that Messalina had framed him after he resisted her advances.
Lepida was the maternal grandmother to Messalina's children Claudia Octavia (step-sister and first wife of Nero) and Britannicus. In AD 48, Messalina was executed on the orders of Claudius, due to Messalina's mock marriage with her lover Gaius Silius which swiftly evolved into a failed coup d'état. During Messalina's heyday, Lepida argued with Messalina and they became estranged (this likely followed Appius Silanus' execution). In Messalina's last hour in the Gardens of Lucullus, Lepida was at her side and encouraged her to end her own life.[10] After Messalina was stabbed with a dagger by an officer, her body was given up to Lepida.
Lepida's former sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger, became Claudius' new wife in AD 49. Out of jealousy, Agrippina arranged the execution of Lepida sometime before the poisoning of Claudius, after which Nero became the new emperor. Agrippina charged Lepida with attempting to take her life by magic, disturbing Roman peace, and failing to control her Calabrian slave-gangs. Agrippina thought that Lepida would use her 'kind' influence on Nero to turn him against his mother.
Cultural depictions
She was played by Moira Redmond in the 1976 BBC TV series I, Claudius.
See also
- List of Roman women
- Women in ancient Rome
References
Citations
- ^ Ginsburg, "Nero's Consular Policy", American Journal of Ancient History 6 (1981), p. 52
- ^ Tacitus, Annals, 12.64.
- ^ Raepsaet-Charlier M.-Th., Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial (Ier-IIe siècles), 2 vol., Louvain, 1987, 285 ff [286].
- ^ E. Klebs, H. Dessau, P. Von Rohden (ed.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani, 3 vol., Berlin, 1897-1898. (PIR1) V 88.
- ^ Suetonius, Vita Claudii, 26.29.
- ^ Barrett, Anthony A., Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Roman Empire. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1996; p. 287 n. 154. See also Gaius Stern, "Women, Children, and Senators on the Ara Pacis Augustae, Chapter 6 (Berk. Diss. 2006).
- ^ PIR2 C 1459.
- ^ PIR2 C 1464.
- ^ Dio 60.30.6a.
- ^ Tacitus, Annals 11.37.
Bibliography
- Levick, Barbara, Claudius. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990