Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria , otherwise most commonly known as Athenais (143-161 ) was a Roman noblewoman of Greek Athenian

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 and Italian Roman descent who lived in the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

.

Ancestry and Family

Athenais was born to a distinguished and very rich family of consular rank . She was the second daughter and among the children of the Greek Athenian Roman Senator

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

, Sophist

Sophism

Sophism in the modern definition is a specious argument used for deceiving someone. In ancient Greece, sophists were a category of teachers who specialized in using the tools of philosophy and rhetoric for the purpose of teaching aretê — excellence, or virtue — predominantly to young statesmen and...

 Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes or Herodes Atticus

Herodes Atticus

Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...

 and the Roman highly aristocratic, influential noblewoman Aspasia Annia Regilla

Aspasia Annia Regilla

Aspasia Annia Regilla, full name Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla , was a wealthy, aristocratic and influential Roman woman, who was a distant relative of several Roman Emperors and Roman Empresses. She was the wife of the prominent Greek Herodes Atticus .-Genealogy:Regilla was born...

 .

The paternal grandparents of Athenais were the Roman Senator Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes

Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes (suffect consul 132)

Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes was a distinguished Greek aristocrat of the Roman Empire.- Origin and life :Claudius Atticus was a Greek of Athenian descent. As he bears the Roman family name, Claudius, there is a possibility that a paternal ancestor of his, received Roman citizenship, from an...

 and the wealthy heiress Vibullia Alcia Agrippina

Vibullia Alcia Agrippina

Vibullia Alcia Agrippina was a Greek Aristocrat and Heiress that lived in the Roman Empire.Vibullia was a Greek of Athenian descent and was a member of a very wealthy family who were prominent in Athens . She was the daughter of the Athenian Aristocrats, Claudia Alcia and Lucius Vibullius Rufus...

 , while her maternal grandparents were the Roman Senator, Consul Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus

Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus (consul 139)

Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus, sometimes known as Appius Annius Gallus was a Roman senator.Annius Gallus was the son of the Roman politician and general Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus and an unnamed Roman noble woman. His paternal grandfather could have been Appius Annius Gallus, one of the...

 and the aristocratic woman Atilia Caucidia Tertulla

Atilia Caucidia Tertulla

Atilia Caucidia Tertulla was an aristocratic woman from Ancient Roman society.Atilia was a member of the Atilia and was born into a family of consular rank, probably of Patrician rank. Atilia was the daughter of the Roman Senator, Consul and Governor Marcus Appius Bradua and Caucidia Tertulla...

 . Her paternal uncle was Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodianus, while her paternal aunt was Claudia Tisamenis

Claudia Tisamenis

Claudia Tisamenis was a Greek Aristocratic woman that lived in the 2nd century in the Roman Empire-Ancestry and Family:Tisamenis was of Athenian descent. Her ancestry can be traceable to the Athenian noble woman Elpinice . She had an ancestor four generations removed from her called Polycharmus...

 . The maternal uncle of Athenais was Appius Annius Atilius Bradua

Appius Annius Atilius Bradua

Appius Annius Atilius Bradua was a Roman Senator that lived in the Roman Empire.Annius Bradua was born and raised in an aristocratic family of consular rank and was a member of the gens Annia. He was a member of the venerable family of the Annii Regilli . Regilli means 'Little Queen'.His father...

 who served as an ordinary consul in 160 .

Through her maternal grandfather, Athenais was a relative to the Roman Empress Faustina the Elder

Faustina the Elder

Annia Galeria Faustina, more familiarly referred to as Faustina I , was a Roman Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.-Early life:...

, wife of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...

 . Faustina the Elder

Faustina the Elder

Annia Galeria Faustina, more familiarly referred to as Faustina I , was a Roman Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.-Early life:...

 was the mother of Roman Empress Faustina the Younger

Faustina the Younger

Annia Galeria Faustina Minor , Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger was a daughter of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and Roman Empress Faustina the Elder. She was a Roman Empress and wife to her maternal cousin Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius...

 and aunt of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius . Thus she was a relative to the family of Faustina the Younger and Marcus Aurelius.

Life

Athenais was born in the year of her father’s consulship in Rome

Rome

Rome 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...

 . She was most probably born in the villa that was owned by her parents on the Appian Way

Appian Way

The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...

 . After her father’s consulship Athenais, with her parents and her family left Italy and moved to Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Athenais was directly cut off from her immediate family and relatives 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...

. She and her family became a part of the highest Greek circle of society, in particular in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

.

The parents of Athenais erected a great outdoor nymphaeum

Nymphaeum

A nymphaeum or nymphaion , in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs....

 (a monumental fountain) at Olympia, Greece

Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...

. The monumental fountain features statues and honors members of the ruling imperial family, including members of her family and relatives of her parents. Among the statues is a bust of Athenais which is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia .

The parents of Athenais had betrothed her to an Athenian Aristocrat called Lucius Vibullius Rufus

Lucius Vibullius Rufus (son-in-law of Herodes Atticus)

Lucius Vibullius Rufus, sometimes known as Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus, was a Greek aristocrat who lived in the 2nd century in the Roman Empire....

 . Lucius Vibullius Rufus and Athenais were paternal second cousins . Lucius Vibullius Rufus was previously married and had at least one son called Lucius Vibullius . Lucius Vibullius was adopted by Herodes Atticus as his son sometime after 160 and was known as Lucius Vibullius Claudius Herodes .

In 160 Athenais married Lucius Vibullius Rufus. In the year 161, Athenais bore Lucius Vibullius Rufus a son called Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus

Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus (grandson of Herodes Atticus)

Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus was a Roman noble of Greek Athenian and Italian Roman descent who lived in the Roman Empire.Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus was the son born to the Aristocrat Lucius Vibullius Rufus and the noblewoman Athenais . He had an elder paternal half brother called Lucius Vibullius...

. Shortly after the birth of their son, Athenais had died .

Sources

• Σ. Θ. Φωτείνου, Ολυμπία - Οδηγός Αρχαιοτήτων, Συγκρότημα Γραφικών Τεχνών, Άνω Καλαμάκι Αθήνα, 1972
• Graindor, P., Un milliardaire antique, Ayers Company Publishers, 1979
• Burn, A.R., The Penguin History of Greece, Penguin Books, 1990
• Wilson, N.G., Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2006
• Pomeroy, S.B., The murder of Regilla: a case of domestic violence in antiquity, Harvard University Press, 2007
• http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspasia_Annia_Regilla
• http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/women_civicdonors.html
• http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appius_Annius_Atilius_Bradua