Antonia Minor
Encyclopedia
Antonia Minor also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia (31 January 36 BC - September/October AD 37) was the younger of two daughters of Roman
politician
Mark Antony
and Octavia Minor
. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters (of whom the younger is far more famous). The problem is even more complex: an even older Antonia was born to a previous wife of Antony. That daughter is properly Antonia Maior
(the Elder) while the woman usually called Antonia the Younger is in fact Antonia Tertia.
The woman usually called Antonia the Younger was the younger niece of the Emperor
Augustus
, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius
, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula
and Empress Agrippina the Younger
, mother of the Emperor Claudius
, and both maternal great-grandmother and paternal great-aunt of the Emperor Nero
. She was additionally the maternal great-aunt of the Empress Valeria Messalina and Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix
, and paternal grandmother of Claudia Antonia
, Claudia Octavia
, and Britannicus
.
Antonia is one of the most prominent Roman women. She is celebrated for her virtue and beauty. She was the youngest daughter to Octavia Minor
and Mark Antony
and was also the favorite niece of her mother’s younger brother, Rome’s first Emperor Augustus
.
Drusilla. Due to inheritances, she owned properties in Italy
, Greece
and Egypt
. She was a wealthy and influential woman who often received people, who were visiting Rome. Antonia had many male friends and they included wealthy Jew Alexander the Alabarch
and Lucius Vitellius
, a consul and father of future Emperor Aulus Vitellius
.
. Drusus was the stepson of her uncle Augustus, second son of Livia Drusilla and brother of future Emperor Tiberius
. They had several children, but only three survived: the famous general Germanicus
, Livilla
and the Roman Emperor Claudius
. Antonia was the grandmother of the Emperor Caligula, the Empress Agrippina the Younger and through Agrippina, great-grandmother and great-aunt of the Emperor Nero. Drusus died in June 9 BC in Germany
, due to complications from injuries he sustained after falling from a horse. After his death, although pressured by her uncle to remarry, she never did.
Antonia raised her children in Rome. Tiberius adopted Germanicus in AD 4 (Suet. Tib. 15, Gai. 1., Div. Claud. 2). Germanicus died in 19 AD, presumably poisoned through the handiwork of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
and Munatia Plancina
. On the orders of Tiberius
and Livia Drusilla, Antonia was forbidden to go to his funeral (suggested, but not stated by Tac. Ann. 3.3). When Livia Drusilla died in June 29 AD, Antonia took care of Caligula, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, Julia Livilla
and later Claudia Antonia
, Claudius's daughter through his second wife Aelia Paetina
, her younger grandchildren.
was very popular among the citizens of Rome, who enthusiastically celebrated all his victories. He was also a favourite with Augustus, his grandfather-in-law, who, for some time, considered him as heir to the Empire. He was married to Agrippina the Elder
, daughter of Julia the Elder
(Augustus's own daughter) and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
. He had nine children by Agrippina but only six lived to adulthood. They were (from oldest to youngest) Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar, the Emperor Caligula
, the Empress Agrippina the Younger
, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla
. In 4 AD, Augustus finally decided in favour of Tiberius, his stepson, but he was compelled to adopt Germanicus as a son and name him his heir. After the death of Augustus in 14 AD, the Senate appointed Germanicus commander of the forces in Germania
. Tiberius was made emperor, but he was highly unpopular and the legions rioted on the news. Refusing to accept Tiberius, the rebel soldiers cried for Germanicus as emperor. However, Germanicus refused. Germanicus died in Antioch
, Syria
in 19 AD, a year after he defeated the kingdoms of Cappadocia
and Commagene. His death was surrounded by speculation, and several sources refer to claims that he was poisoned by Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
, governor of Syria
, under orders of the emperor Tiberius.
and Tiberius’ notorious Praetorian prefect, Sejanus
, to murder the Emperor Tiberius and Caligula and to seize the throne for themselves. Livilla had poisoned her husband, Tiberius' son, Drusus Julius Caesar (sometimes known by his nickname "Castor") to remove him as a rival. Sejanus was executed on Tiberius’s orders, and Livilla was handed over to her formidable mother for punishment. Cassius Dio states that Antonia imprisoned Livilla in her room until she starved to death.
. Due to his constant illnesses and physical disabilities, she would constantly criticize him. She would say "a monster: a man whom nature had not finished but had merely begun" or, if ever accusing anyone of stupidity, would exclaim, "he is a bigger fool even than my son Claudius!". She was said to have done her duty in raising Claudius, but she never loved him.
, previously only given to Augustus's wife Livia, but rejected it.
Six months into his reign, Caligula became seriously ill and never recovered, (although according to some sources, the illness was feigned). Antonia would often offer Caligula advice, but he once told her, "I can treat anyone exactly as I please!". Caligula was rumored to have had his young cousin Gemellus beheaded, to remove him as a rival to the throne. This act was said to have outraged Antonia, who was grandmother to Gemellus
as well as to Caligula.
Having had enough of Caligula’s anger at her criticisms and of his behavior, she committed suicide. Suetonius’s Caligula, clause 23, mentions how he might have poisoned her.
When Claudius became emperor after his nephew’s assassination in 41 AD, he gave his mother the title of Augusta. Her birthday became a public holiday, which had yearly games and public sacrifices held. An image of her was paraded in a carriage.
For more, see Nikos Kokkinos, Antonia Augusta: Portrait of a Great Roman Lady (London ; New York : Routledge, 1992) http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1901965058.
of the book she is portrayed by Margaret Tyzack
.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
and Octavia Minor
Octavia Minor
Octavia the Younger , also known as Octavia Minor or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and fourth wife of Mark Antony...
. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters (of whom the younger is far more famous). The problem is even more complex: an even older Antonia was born to a previous wife of Antony. That daughter is properly Antonia Maior
Antonia Major
Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and a relative of the first Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
(the Elder) while the woman usually called Antonia the Younger is in fact Antonia Tertia.
The woman usually called Antonia the Younger was the younger niece of the Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
and Empress Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, mother of the Emperor Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, and both maternal great-grandmother and paternal great-aunt of the Emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
. She was additionally the maternal great-aunt of the Empress Valeria Messalina and Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix
Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix
Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix was one of the lesser known figures of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of ancient Rome. His grandmother was Antonia Major, the niece of Emperor Augustus by her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus . His mother was Domitia Lepida, a great niece of Emperor Augustus and...
, and paternal grandmother of Claudia Antonia
Claudia Antonia
Claudia Antonia was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Claudius and his second wife Aelia Paetina...
, Claudia Octavia
Claudia Octavia
Claudia Octavia was an Empress of Rome. She was a great-niece of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal first cousin of the Emperor Caligula, daughter of the Emperor Claudius, and stepsister and first wife of the Emperor Nero...
, and Britannicus
Britannicus
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus was the son of the Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. He became the heir-designate of the empire at his birth, less than a month into his father's reign. He was still a young boy at the time of his mother's downfall and Claudius'...
.
Antonia is one of the most prominent Roman women. She is celebrated for her virtue and beauty. She was the youngest daughter to Octavia Minor
Octavia Minor
Octavia the Younger , also known as Octavia Minor or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and fourth wife of Mark Antony...
and Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
and was also the favorite niece of her mother’s younger brother, Rome’s first Emperor Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
.
Birth and early life
She was born in Athens, Greece and after 36 BC was brought to Rome by her mother and her siblings. Antonia never had the chance to know her father, Mark Antony, who divorced her mother in 32 BC and committed suicide in 30 BC. She was raised by her mother, her uncle and her aunt, LiviaLivia
Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
Drusilla. Due to inheritances, she owned properties in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. She was a wealthy and influential woman who often received people, who were visiting Rome. Antonia had many male friends and they included wealthy Jew Alexander the Alabarch
Alexander the Alabarch
Alexander the Alabarch, full name Tiberius Julius Alexander Major was an Alexandrian Jewish aristocrat who was one of the pro-Roman leaders of the Alexandrian Jewish community and one of the brothers of the exegete and philosopher Philo.-Ancestry and family:Alexander was born and raised in...
and Lucius Vitellius
Lucius Vitellius
Lucius Vitellius the Elder was the youngest of four sons of quaestor Publius Vitellius and the only one that did not die through politics. Under Emperor Tiberius, he was Consul in 34 and Governor of Syria in 35. He deposed Pontius Pilate in 36 after complaints from the people in Samaria...
, a consul and father of future Emperor Aulus Vitellius
Vitellius
Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
.
Marriage to Drusus
In 16 BC, she married the Roman general and consul Nero Claudius DrususNero Claudius Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family...
. Drusus was the stepson of her uncle Augustus, second son of Livia Drusilla and brother of future Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. They had several children, but only three survived: the famous general Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
, Livilla
Livilla
Livia Julia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and Germanicus...
and the Roman Emperor Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
. Antonia was the grandmother of the Emperor Caligula, the Empress Agrippina the Younger and through Agrippina, great-grandmother and great-aunt of the Emperor Nero. Drusus died in June 9 BC in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, due to complications from injuries he sustained after falling from a horse. After his death, although pressured by her uncle to remarry, she never did.
Antonia raised her children in Rome. Tiberius adopted Germanicus in AD 4 (Suet. Tib. 15, Gai. 1., Div. Claud. 2). Germanicus died in 19 AD, presumably poisoned through the handiwork of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso , Roman statesman, was consul in 7 BC; subsequently, he was governor of Hispania and proconsul of Africa.In AD 17 Tiberius appointed him governor of Syria...
and Munatia Plancina
Munatia Plancina
Munatia Plancina was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the early times of the Empire founded by Augustus. She was the wife of the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. The couple was accused to have poisoned Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of the Emperor Tiberius...
. On the orders of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
and Livia Drusilla, Antonia was forbidden to go to his funeral (suggested, but not stated by Tac. Ann. 3.3). When Livia Drusilla died in June 29 AD, Antonia took care of Caligula, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.-Life:Livilla was the youngest great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive granddaughter...
and later Claudia Antonia
Claudia Antonia
Claudia Antonia was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Claudius and his second wife Aelia Paetina...
, Claudius's daughter through his second wife Aelia Paetina
Aelia Paetina
Aelia Paetina or Paetina was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius. Her biological father was consul of 4, Sextus Aelius Catus while her mother is unknown. She was born into the family of the Aelii Tuberones, and thus apparently descended from the consul of 11 BC...
, her younger grandchildren.
Germanicus
GermanicusGermanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
was very popular among the citizens of Rome, who enthusiastically celebrated all his victories. He was also a favourite with Augustus, his grandfather-in-law, who, for some time, considered him as heir to the Empire. He was married to Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
, daughter of Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
(Augustus's own daughter) and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
. He had nine children by Agrippina but only six lived to adulthood. They were (from oldest to youngest) Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar, the Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, the Empress Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.-Life:Livilla was the youngest great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive granddaughter...
. In 4 AD, Augustus finally decided in favour of Tiberius, his stepson, but he was compelled to adopt Germanicus as a son and name him his heir. After the death of Augustus in 14 AD, the Senate appointed Germanicus commander of the forces in Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
. Tiberius was made emperor, but he was highly unpopular and the legions rioted on the news. Refusing to accept Tiberius, the rebel soldiers cried for Germanicus as emperor. However, Germanicus refused. Germanicus died in Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
in 19 AD, a year after he defeated the kingdoms of Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
and Commagene. His death was surrounded by speculation, and several sources refer to claims that he was poisoned by Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso , Roman statesman, was consul in 7 BC; subsequently, he was governor of Hispania and proconsul of Africa.In AD 17 Tiberius appointed him governor of Syria...
, governor of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, under orders of the emperor Tiberius.
Livilla
In 31 AD, Antonia exposed a plot by her daughter LivillaLivilla
Livia Julia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and Germanicus...
and Tiberius’ notorious Praetorian prefect, Sejanus
Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
, to murder the Emperor Tiberius and Caligula and to seize the throne for themselves. Livilla had poisoned her husband, Tiberius' son, Drusus Julius Caesar (sometimes known by his nickname "Castor") to remove him as a rival. Sejanus was executed on Tiberius’s orders, and Livilla was handed over to her formidable mother for punishment. Cassius Dio states that Antonia imprisoned Livilla in her room until she starved to death.
Claudius
After Livilla's death, Antonia's only remaining child was ClaudiusClaudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
. Due to his constant illnesses and physical disabilities, she would constantly criticize him. She would say "a monster: a man whom nature had not finished but had merely begun" or, if ever accusing anyone of stupidity, would exclaim, "he is a bigger fool even than my son Claudius!". She was said to have done her duty in raising Claudius, but she never loved him.
Succession of Caligula and death
When Tiberius died, Caligula became emperor in March 37 AD. Caligula awarded her a senatorial decree, granting her all the honors that Livia Drusilla had received in her lifetime. She was also offered the title of AugustaAugusta (honorific)
Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...
, previously only given to Augustus's wife Livia, but rejected it.
Six months into his reign, Caligula became seriously ill and never recovered, (although according to some sources, the illness was feigned). Antonia would often offer Caligula advice, but he once told her, "I can treat anyone exactly as I please!". Caligula was rumored to have had his young cousin Gemellus beheaded, to remove him as a rival to the throne. This act was said to have outraged Antonia, who was grandmother to Gemellus
Tiberius Gemellus
Tiberius Julius Caesar Nero Gemellus, known as Tiberius Gemellus was the son of Drusus and Livilla, the grandson of the Emperor Tiberius, and the cousin of the Emperor Caligula. Gemellus is a nickname meaning "the twin"...
as well as to Caligula.
Having had enough of Caligula’s anger at her criticisms and of his behavior, she committed suicide. Suetonius’s Caligula, clause 23, mentions how he might have poisoned her.
When his grandmother Antonia asked for a private interview, he refused it except in the presence of the prefect MacroNaevius Sutorius MacroQuintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard, from 31 until 38, serving under the Roman Emperors Tiberius and Caligula...
, and by such indignities and annoyances he caused her death; although some think that he also gave her poison. After she was dead, he paid her no honour, but viewed her burning pyre from his dining-room.
When Claudius became emperor after his nephew’s assassination in 41 AD, he gave his mother the title of Augusta. Her birthday became a public holiday, which had yearly games and public sacrifices held. An image of her was paraded in a carriage.
In ancient art
- Juno LudovisiJuno LudovisiThe Juno Ludovisi is a colossal Roman marble head of the 1st century CE from an acrolithic statue of an idealized and youthful Antonia Minor as the goddess Juno. Added to the Ludovisi collection formed by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, it is now in the Palazzo Altemps, Museo Nazionale Romano,...
, Palazzo Altemps, Museo Nazionale Romano, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... - MaltaMaltaMalta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
- Ara PacisAra PacisThe Ara Pacis Augustae is an altar to Peace, envisioned as a Roman goddess...
, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/paula_chabot/rome/pcrome.35.jpg - Location unknown http://www.asn-ibk.ac.at/bildung/faecher/geschichte/maike/bilderkatalog_antike/julischclaudisch/antike3-047.jpg
- Palazzo Massimo, Museo Nazionale Romano, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
http://kassevans.com/Alexander/AlexImages/AntoniaMinor-1_150pix.jpg and portr-antonia-minor.jpg - Cossyra http://www.sfiic.org/images/event/antonia%20minor.jpg
- Cimiez NiceNiceNice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
Archaeological Museum http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/archeosm/archeosom/imatges/archeosm/nice-m33.jpg - Musée des Antiques de ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
http://www.albedo.net/~antonia/antoniaminornew.jpg - Coinage, e.g. http://www.hjkrenzer.de/roemer/Bilder/007_Antonia.jpg, http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/collections/servlet/webpublisher.WebCommunication?ia=cowrks&ic=basic&iback=-2, http://www.numislanz.de/auktion112/00324q00.jpg and http://imperiumromanum.com/wirtschaft/geld/dupondius_antoniaminor_01.jpg
- Harvard University Art Museums http://www.brynmawr.edu/alumnae/bulletin/juno4.gif,
- Getty Museum http://getty.losangeles.museum/art/collections/images/m/01144201.jpg
- British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, 'ClytieClytieIn Greek mythology, the name Clytie or Clytia may refer to:*Clytie , known for her unrequited love for Helios....
' http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/m/marble_bust_of_clytie.aspx - BaiaeBaiaeBaiae , a frazione of the comune of Bacoli) in the Campania region of Italy was a Roman seaside resort on the Bay of Naples. It was said to have been named after Baius, who was supposedly buried there. Baiae was for several hundred years a fashionable resort, especially towards the end of the Roman...
Nymphaeum, now at Museo Archeologico dei Campi FlegreiCampi FlegreiThe Phlegraean Fields, also known as Campi Flegrei, , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
at Baiae / Misenum http://www.uibk.ac.at/c/c6/c614/Museum/antonia.jpg
For more, see Nikos Kokkinos, Antonia Augusta: Portrait of a Great Roman Lady (London ; New York : Routledge, 1992) http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1901965058.
In popular culture
Antonia is one of the main characters in the novel I, Claudius. In the television adaptationI, Claudius (TV series)
I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time...
of the book she is portrayed by Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Maud Tyzack, CBE was a British actress.-Early life:Tyzack was born in Essex, England, the daughter of Doris and Thomas Edward Tyzack. She grew up in West Ham...
.
Ancestry
Ancient sources
- PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
- Life of Mark AntonyMark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar... - SuetoniusLives of the Twelve CaesarsDe vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
- Caligula (Gaius) & Claudius - TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
- Annals of Imperial Rome - Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri iv.3.3