Mucia Tertia

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Mucia Tertia
Born
Rome, Italia, Roman Republic
Died
Rome
Known forRumoured mistress of Julius Caesar
Spouses
Children
Parents

Mucia Tertia (fl. 79 – 31 BC) was a

matrona who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the pontifex maximus
and consul in 95 BC.

Around 79 BC, Mucia married

Octavian
in 39 BC and maintaining a relationship of mutual respect with Octavian in the years that followed.

Early life

Mucia was the daughter of

Quintus Metellus Nepos
, consul in 57 BC.

During her father's time as governor of the province of Asia in 95–94 BC, a statue in his honour was erected at Olympia.[3] There is some evidence that a further statue was erected to his wife or daughter which, if it were indeed dedicated to Mucia, would make her the first woman to receive this honour, which later became usual for members of the imperial household.[4]

Marriages

Mucia was possibly first married to

Lucius Cornelius Sulla
. Following his defeat the Younger Marius committed suicide; if the marriage had gone ahead, this would have left Mucia a childless widow.

Following the victory of

Pompeia Magna (who married Faustus Cornelius Sulla
) and younger son Sextus Pompey. She outlived all three of her children.

Between 76 and 61 BC, Pompey spent most of the time away from Rome, campaigning in Hispania against

Octavian (the future emperor Augustus). This made her the first Roman woman recorded as fulfilling an official diplomatic role.[7]

Mucia was alive at the time of the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, though her date of death is unknown.[6] Octavian treated her with great respect.

See also

Footnotes

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ The evidence for the marriage of Mucia Tertia to the Younger Marius occurs in Plutarch's Life of Marius (35:6-7), where the young man eludes capture from Sulla's supporters at the house of his father-in-law, the pontifex Quintus Mucius Scaevola. However, it is possible that the two were only engaged and the marriage was never entered into.[5]

References

  1. ^ Wiseman 1987.
  2. ^ Tatum 2014.
  3. ^ Tanner 2000, p. 41.
  4. ^ Bauman 2003, pp. 78–79.
  5. ^ Telford 2014, p. 99.
  6. ^ a b Haley 1985, p. 53.
  7. ^ Bauman 2003, p. 78.

Sources

Primary sources

  • Asconius
    , Pro Scauro, p. 19, Orelli-Baiter (ed.) (1845).
  • Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, v, 2.
  • Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, i. 12.
  • Dio Cassius
    , xxxvii. 49, xlviii, 16, li. 2, lvi. 38.
  • Appian, Bellum Civile v. 69, 72.
  • Life of Julius Caesar
    , 50.
  • Plutarch, Life of Pompey, 42.
  • Zonaras, x. 5.
  • Hieronymus, Adversus Jovinianum, i. 48.

Modern scholarship

  • Bauman, Richard A. (2003) [1992]. Women and politics in Ancient Rome. London and New York: Routledge.
    ISBN 0-415-05777-9
    .
  • Haley, Shelley (1985). "The Five Wives of Pompey the Great".
    JSTOR 642299
    .
  • Tanner, Jeremy (2000). "Portraits, Power, and Patronage in the Late Roman Republic". The Journal of Roman Studies. 90: 18–50.
    doi:10.2307/300199
    .
  • Tatum, Jeffrey (25 February 2014). The Patrician Tribune: Publius Clodius Pulcher.
    ISBN 9781469620657
    .
  • Telford, Lynda (2014). Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military.
    ISBN 9781783030484
    .
  • Wiseman, Timothy Peter (1987). Catullus and His World: A Reappraisal.
    ISBN 9780521319683
    .

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Mucia (2)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 2. p. 1117.

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