Fulvia
Fulvia | |
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Fulvii |
Fulvia (
Fulvia remains an important figure in ancient Roman history due to her perseverance as a woman heavily involved in politics, as well as her role in the
Birth and early life
Fulvia was born and raised either in
Marriage to Clodius Pulcher
Her first marriage was to
In 52 BC, Clodius ran for praetor; his political competition with a consular candidate and rival, Titus Annius Milo, escalated to violence. Milo and his gang killed Clodius on January 18 on the Appian Way. Fulvia first appears in the record after his death.[11][12] Fulvia and her mother Sempronia were present at the trial of Milo, and Fulvia's was the last testimony given by the prosecution.[13] Milo was convicted and exiled.[14]
While alive, Clodius had control of many gangs, and Fulvia retained the power and status that came with their loyalty. There is some evidence that she may have been involved in organizing the
Marriage to Scribonius Curio
With Pompey's seizure of power in Rome, he militarily forced out any remaining supporters of the late Clodius, including captains and tribunes; actions that prompted Fulvia to uphold her late husband's legacy alone within the city, taking advantage of every opportunity that allowed her to extend her influence and political prestige.
Her widowhood did not last long, as the customary period of mourning for Romans was ten months. Fulvia most likely married her second husband,
Curio died in 49 BC, killed during the Battle of the Bagradas in North Africa, fighting for Julius Caesar against King Juba I of Numidia.[22] During the civil war, Fulvia was most likely in Rome or nearby, because Caesar's troops had taken over Italy. At the time, she would have had her two children by Clodius and was either pregnant with Curio's son or had already given birth.[23]
Marriage to Mark Antony
After Curio's death in Africa, Fulvia was still an important widow in elite circles and her political interests were well known. Marriage to her would provide an important tie to Clodius and his clientela, and could offer a husband money and political organization. Also, her next husband would become the stepfather to Clodius' children, further linking him to Clodian politics.[24]
As it turned out, Fulvia's third and final marriage was to Mark Antony in 47 or 46 BC.[25] a few years after Curio's death, although Cicero suggested that Fulvia and Antony had had a relationship since 58 BC.[26][27] Cicero wrote about their relationship in his Philippicae as a way of attacking Antony. According to him, while Fulvia and Clodius were married, Antony once left a military post to sneak back into Rome during the night and personally deliver a love letter to Fulvia describing his love for her and saying he had stopped seeing the famous actress Cytheris.[28] Cicero also suggested that Antony had married Fulvia for her money,[29] though at the time of their marriage, Antony was an established politician. He had already been tribune in 49 BC, commanded armies under Caesar and was the Master of the Horse in 47 BC.[30]
Fulvia's marriage to Antony was not one of subordination; rather, they had become a "formidable political force"[4] within the crucial city of Rome. Fulvia played a very influential role in Mark Antony's political career. She was the brains behind many of his policies, such as the decision to give Sicilians Roman citizenship, as well as to confirm Deiotarus in his kingdom, and she was a very persuasive campaigner for her husband. It is also possible that former Clodian policies were continued through him.[24] They had two sons together, Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius, and throughout their marriage, Fulvia defended Antony from Cicero's attacks, sustained his popularity with his soldiers and hindered Octavian's ascension to power.[31] In fact, Fulvia still retained the support of gangs formerly ruled by her first husband, Clodius. By publicly associating himself with Clodius' children, Antony was able to gather that support and, through Fulvia's influence, to use what was left of Clodius' gangs in his own gang wars against Dolabella and his supporters.[32]
Through the political connections of his wife, and his close friendship with Julius Caesar, Antony found himself the most powerful man in Rome after Caesar's assassination. Therefore, it was only fitting that Fulvia was to be heavily involved in the political aftermath. After Caesar's death, the senate realized his popularity and declared that it would pass all of Caesar's planned laws. Antony had attained possession of Caesar's papers, and with the ability to produce papers in support of any law, Fulvia and Antony made a fortune and gained immense power. She allegedly accompanied Antony to his military camp at
Antony formed the
Perusine War (41 BC to 40 BC) and Fulvia's death
Background
In 42 BC, Antony and Octavian left Rome to pursue Julius Caesar's assassins,
Shortly afterwards, the
These actions caused political and social unrest. In 41 BC, tensions between Octavian and Fulvia escalated to war in Italy: the Perusine War of 41-40 BC. According to Appian, Fulvia was a central cause of the war, due to her jealousy of Antony and Cleopatra's affair in Egypt; she may have escalated the tensions between Octavian and Lucius in order to draw back Antony's attention to Italy.[42] However, Appian also wrote that the other main causes were the selfish ambitions of the commanders and their inability to control their own soldiers.
Together with
Octavian's poem on Fulvia quoted by Martial
During the war, Octavian's soldiers at Perusia used sling bullets inscribed with insults directed at Fulvia personally[47] and Octavian wrote a vulgar epigram directed at her in 40 BC, referring to Antony's affair with the ex-courtesan queen of Cappadocia Glaphyra. It is recorded by Martial within one of his own poems:[48]
- Caesaris Augusti lascivos, livide, versus |
- Spiteful censor of the Latin Language, read |
Fulvia's death
The siege at Perusia lasted two months before Octavian starved Lucius into surrender in February 40 BC. After Lucius' surrender, Fulvia fled to Greece with her children. Appian writes that she met Antony in Athens, and he was upset with her involvement in the war. Antony then sailed back to Rome to deal with Octavian, and Fulvia died of an unknown illness in exile in
Once Antony and Octavia were married, she took in and reared all of Fulvia's children. The fate of Fulvia's daughter, Clodia Pulchra, after her divorce from Octavian is unknown. Her son Marcus Antonius Antyllus was executed by Octavian in Alexandria, Egypt in 30 BC. Her youngest child, Iullus Antonius, was spared by Octavian and raised from 40 BC by Octavia Minor. Iullus married Octavia's daughter and Octavian's niece Claudia Marcella Major and they had a son Lucius Antonius and possibly a daughter Iulla Antonia.
See also
- Women in Rome
- List of Roman women
References
Citations
- ^ "Volume: I №: 3139 Reign: Roman Republic Persons: Fulvia Magistrate: Zmertorix, son of Philonides". rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk. Roman Provincial Coinage online. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ JSTOR 292619.
- ^ "With all the vitriolic propaganda surrounding her, it is now very difficult to judge Fulvia's real character and role fairly, but she was certainly one of the most politically visible women of her generation." Adrian Goldsworthy: Augustus. From Revolutionary to Emperor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson 2014, p. 156.
- ^ S2CID 162532957.
- ^ Weir, p. ii.
- ^ Weir, p. 2.
- ^ Babcock, 3.
- ^ Cicero, Philippics. III, 16.
- ^ Cicero.Mil.28
- ^ Cicero.Mil.55.
- ^ a b Asconius, 28 and 35.
- ^ Weir, p. 3.
- ^ Asconius.Mil.28 and 35.
- JSTOR 45019234.
- ^ Babcock, 21.
- ISBN 9780807819494.
- ^ Welch, 187.
- ISBN 9781444355024
- ^ Plut.Vit.Ant.10.3.
- ^ Cicero.Fam.2.3.1.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Welch, 189.
- ^ Appian.B.Civ.2.7.45.
- ^ Babcock, 18.
- ^ a b Welch, 192.
- Marc Antonywas not before 44BC.
- ^ Cicero.Phil.2.48.
- ^ Cicero.Phil.2.99.
- ^ Cicero.Phil.2.77.8.
- ^ Cicero.Phil.3.16.
- ^ Weir, p. 7.
- ^ Weir, p. 135.
- ^ Welch, 194
- ^ Cicero.Phil.13.18.
- ^ Appian.B.Civ.3.8.51
- ^ Appian.B.Civ.4.4.29.
- ^ Dio.47.8.2.
- ^ Cassius Dio.48.4.1-6.
- ^ Cassius Dio.48.4.1.
- ^ Cassius Dio.48. 5. 1-5.
- ^ Appian. B.Civ.5.2.14
- ^ Appian. B.Civ.5.3.19.
- ^ a b Appian.B.Civ.5.3.19.
- ^ Cassius Dio 48.10.3.
- ^ Appian.B.Civ.5.4.32.
- ^ Cassius Dio 48.15.1.
- ^ Appian.B.Civ.5.4.33.
- ^ Vell.Pat.2.74.3.
CIL XI.6721 - ^ Martial. "M. VALERI MARTIALIS EPIGRAMMATON LIBER XI [Martial Epigrams Book 11 Epigram 20]". thelatinlibrary.com. William L. Carey. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ Martial.11.20.
- ^ a b Plutarch.Vit.Ant.30.3.
- ^ Welch,194.
Bibliography
- Babcock, Charles L. (1965). "The Early Career of Fulvia". JSTOR 292619.
- L. Fezzi, Il tribuno Clodio, Roma-Bari 2008.
- Eleanor G. Huzar, Mark Antony: Marriages vs. Careers, The Classical Journal, Vol. 81, No. 2 (Dec. 1985-Jan. 1986), pp. 97–111.
- W. Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, v. 2, pp. 187-188.
- G. Traina, Marco Antonio, Roma-Bari 2003.
- C. Virlouvet, Fulvia, la pasionaria, in A. Fraschetti (ed.), Roma al femminile, Roma-Bari 1994.
- Kathryn E. Welch, Antony, Fulvia and the Ghost of Clodius in 47 B.C., Greece and Rome, Second Series, Vol. 42, No.2 (Oct., 1995), pp. 182–201.
- Allison J. Weir, 2007, A Study of Fulvia, Masters Thesis, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, see [1], accessed 18 April 2015.[better source needed]
Further reading
- G. Dareggi, “Sulle tracce di Fulvia, moglie del triumviro M. Antonio”, in G. Bonamente, Augusta Perusia: studi storici e archeologici sull’epoca del bellum Perusinum, Perugia, 2012, 107-115.
- M.-C. Ferriès, F. Delrieux, “Un tournant pour le monnayage provincial romain d’Asie Mineure: les effigies de matrones romaines, Fulvia, Octavia, Livia et Julia (43 a.C.-37 p.C.)”, in L. Cavalier, M.-C. Ferriès and F. Delrieux, Auguste et l’Asie Mineure, Bordeaux, 2017, 357-383.
- F. Rohr Vio, “Dux femina: Fulvia in armi nella polemica politica di età triumvirale”, in T. Lucchelli and F. Rohr Vio, Viri militares: rappresentazione e propaganda tra Repubblica e Principato, Trieste, 2015, 61-89.
- Susanna Roxman, 2007, "Fulvia at Sicyon" (poem), in Imagining Seals, Edinburgh:Dionysia Press.[page needed]
- C. Schubert, “Homo politicus - femina privata? Fulvia: eine Fallstudie zur späten römischen Republik”, in B. Feichtinger and G. Wöhrle, Gender Studies in den Altertumswissenschaften: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen, Trier, 2002, 65-79
- Celia E. Schultz, Fulvia: playing for power at the end of the Roman republic. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2021. ISBN 9780197601839
External links
- Media related to Fulvia (wife of Mark Antonius) at Wikimedia Commons
- Bust of Fulvia
- Sculpture of Fulvia
- Statue of Fulvia