Avidia Plautia
Encyclopedia
Avidia Plautia Nigrini or most commonly known as Avidia Plautia (flourished 2nd century), was a well-connected noble Roman woman. She is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire
.
Plautia was the daughter of the well-connected Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
and the unattested Roman noble woman Ignota Plautia. She was born and raised in Faventia (modern Faenza
, Italy
). Her family was distinguished, wealthy and well-connected.
Her family was friends to the Greek Historian Plutarch
, Roman Senator Pliny the Younger
, Roman Emperor
Trajan
and his family. Her family had strong links to Greece
, her paternal grandfather an elder Gaius Avidius Nigrinus had served at an unknown date during the reign of Roman Emperor
Domitian
(81-96) as Proconsul
of Achaea
. Her paternal uncle Titus Avidius Quietus
and her paternal great uncle Tiberius Avidius Quietus
had also served as Proconsuls of Achaea. Her family may have been related to the consul Gaius Petronius Pontius Nigrinus, who had served his consulship at the time that the Roman Emperor
Tiberius
had died in 37. She had two known cousins: a paternal first cousin a younger Titus Avidius Quietus who served as suffect consul in 111 and had a paternal second cousin a younger Tiberius Avidius Quietus, who also served as suffect consul in 111 and later served as Proconsul in two Roman Provinces.
Plautia’s father was executed in 118, on orders from the Roman Senate
because he was one of four senators involved in a failed plot to overthrow the Roman Emperor Hadrian
. Sometime after her father’s execution, there is a possibility that her mother, Ignota Plautia may have married another Roman Senator.
Before 130 Plautia married the powerful Roman Senator Lucius Aelius
Verus Caesar. Aelius was adopted by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 136 as his first heir. Plautia bore Aelius two sons and two daughters who were:
In early 138, Aelius had died; Hadrian had adopted Antoninus Pius as his second son and heir. On the condition that Antoninus Pius was adopted by Hadrian, Antoninus had to adopt Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius as his adopted sons. If Aelius lived long enough to succeed Hadrian and rule as Emperor, Plautia could have been an Empress of Rome.
After the death of Aelius, it is unknown whether if Plautia had remarried. In 136-138, when Aelius was the first adopted heir of Hadrian, three portrait busts were created of her that have survived. These three portrait busts have been identified as Avidia Plautia because of her similar physical similarities to the portrait busts of her son Lucius Verus
.
When her son reigned as co-Roman Emperor with Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus had dedicated two honorific inscriptions to his mother. These inscriptions have been found in Rome. The inscriptions honor her as the daughter of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and the mother of Roman Emperor Lucius Verus. It is unknown whether if Plautia lived enough to see Lucius Verus co-rule as Emperor.
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....
.
Plautia was the daughter of the well-connected Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
Gaius Avidius Nigrinus was a Roman that lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries.Nigrinus’ paternal and maternal ancestors were Romans of the highest political rank. He was the son of an elder Gaius Avidius Nigrinus by an unnamed mother, his brother was the consul Titus Avidius Quietus and his...
and the unattested Roman noble woman Ignota Plautia. She was born and raised in Faventia (modern Faenza
Faenza
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....
, 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...
). Her family was distinguished, wealthy and well-connected.
Her family was friends to the Greek Historian Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch 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...
, Roman Senator Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
, Roman 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...
Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
and his family. Her family had strong links to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, her paternal grandfather an elder Gaius Avidius Nigrinus had served at an unknown date during the reign of Roman 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...
Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
(81-96) as Proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of Achaea
Achaea (Roman province)
Achaea, or Achaia, was a province of the Roman Empire, consisting of the Peloponnese, eastern Central Greece and parts of Thessaly. It bordered on the north by the provinces of Epirus vetus and Macedonia...
. Her paternal uncle Titus Avidius Quietus
Titus Avidius Quietus
Titus Avidius Quietus was a Roman politician who lived in the 1st century even possibly in the 2nd century.Quietus’ paternal and maternal ancestors were Romans of the highest political rank...
and her paternal great uncle Tiberius Avidius Quietus
Tiberius Avidius Quietus
Tiberius Avidius Quietus was a Roman politician the lived between the 1st century and the 2nd century.Quietus came from a wealthy, distinguished and well connected political family in Faventia...
had also served as Proconsuls of Achaea. Her family may have been related to the consul Gaius Petronius Pontius Nigrinus, who had served his consulship at the time that the Roman 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...
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...
had died in 37. She had two known cousins: a paternal first cousin a younger Titus Avidius Quietus who served as suffect consul in 111 and had a paternal second cousin a younger Tiberius Avidius Quietus, who also served as suffect consul in 111 and later served as Proconsul in two Roman Provinces.
Plautia’s father was executed in 118, on orders from the Roman Senate
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...
because he was one of four senators involved in a failed plot to overthrow the Roman Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
. Sometime after her father’s execution, there is a possibility that her mother, Ignota Plautia may have married another Roman Senator.
Before 130 Plautia married the powerful Roman Senator Lucius Aelius
Lucius Aelius
Lucius Aelius Caesar became the adopted son and intended successor, of Roman Emperor Hadrian , but never attained the throne....
Verus Caesar. Aelius was adopted by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 136 as his first heir. Plautia bore Aelius two sons and two daughters who were:
- Lucius VerusLucius VerusLucius Verus , was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.-Early life and career:Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian . He was born and raised in Rome...
– born as Lucius Ceionius Commodus. He would rule as co-Roman Emperor with Marcus Aurelius from 161 until his death in 169. Lucius Verus would marry LucillaLucillaAnnia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla or Lucilla was the second daughter and third child of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger and an elder sister to future Roman Emperor Commodus....
, the second daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the YoungerFaustina the YoungerAnnia 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...
. - Gaius Avidius Ceionius Commodus – he is known from an inscription found in Rome.
- Ceionia FabiaCeionia FabiaCeionia Fabia was a noble Roman woman and a member of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire.Fabia was the first born daughter to the Roman Senator Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar and Avidia Plautia. Her father from 136-138, was the first adopted heir and successor of the Roman Emperor...
– she was 136 engaged to Marcus Aurelius. In 138, when Marcus Aurelius was adopted by Roman Emperor Antoninus PiusAntoninus PiusAntoninus 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...
, Aurelius ended his engagement to Fabia. Aurelius became engaged to Antoninus Pius’ daughter Faustina the YoungerFaustina the YoungerAnnia 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...
, whom he later married. - Ceionia PlautiaCeionia PlautiaCeionia Plautia was a Roman noblewoman and is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire....
In early 138, Aelius had died; Hadrian had adopted Antoninus Pius as his second son and heir. On the condition that Antoninus Pius was adopted by Hadrian, Antoninus had to adopt Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius as his adopted sons. If Aelius lived long enough to succeed Hadrian and rule as Emperor, Plautia could have been an Empress of Rome.
After the death of Aelius, it is unknown whether if Plautia had remarried. In 136-138, when Aelius was the first adopted heir of Hadrian, three portrait busts were created of her that have survived. These three portrait busts have been identified as Avidia Plautia because of her similar physical similarities to the portrait busts of her son Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus , was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.-Early life and career:Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian . He was born and raised in Rome...
.
When her son reigned as co-Roman Emperor with Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus had dedicated two honorific inscriptions to his mother. These inscriptions have been found in Rome. The inscriptions honor her as the daughter of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and the mother of Roman Emperor Lucius Verus. It is unknown whether if Plautia lived enough to see Lucius Verus co-rule as Emperor.
Sources
- Cassio Dione e l'impero romano da Nerva ad Antonino Pio: alla luce dei nuovi by Guido Migliorati, 2003 – Italian Historical Secondary Source
- The Cambridge ancient history, Volume 11 By Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone Limited preview - Edition: 2 - Item notes: v. 11 – 2000
- Plutarch's Sertorius: A Historical Commentary. C. Konrad Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994
- Marcus Aurelius, by Anthony Richard Birley, Routledge, 2000
- A dictionary of the Roman Empire By Matthew Bunson – 1995
- http://www.roman-emperors.org/lverus.htm
- http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=2762.
- http://ecatalogue.art.yale.edu/detail.htm?objectId=7368
- http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-emperors/lucius-verus.htm
- http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Aelius*.html#2.8
- http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Lucius_Verus*.html