Caecilia Metella, elder daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus was a son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus. He was a Consul in 123 BC and a Censor in 120 BC, dominated Sardinia and conquered the Balearic Islands - for what he earned his cognomen and the honours of Triumph - establishing at Palma and Pollentia two...

, was a Vestal Virgin

Vestal Virgin

In ancient Roman religion, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins , were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome, as embodied by their cultivation of the sacred fire that could not be...

 and a Priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

ess of the Goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

 Juno Sospita.

During Sulla's lifetime, Metella was the protectress of one Sextus Roscius

Sextus Roscius

Sextus Roscius , tried in Rome for patricide in 80 BC, was defended successfully by the young Cicero in his first major litigation...

, defended by Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

 and her nephews Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer (consul)

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer was a Consul in 60 BC and son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, or, according to some, the son of Tribune Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer while the latter is the son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos...

 and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior was a son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos. He was a Tribune in 62 BC, a Praetor in 60 BC, a Consul in 57 BC and the Governor of Hispania Citerior in 56 BC....

 in the celebrated defense Pro Roscius. This case made Cicero's reputation, and enabled him to climb to the consulate.

Her date of death is not known, but she appears to have outlived Sulla, who died in 78 BC. Among her sister's six children were the notably iconoclastic Clodia

Clodia

Clodia, Clodia, Clodia, (born Claudia Pulchra Prima or Maior or also Quadrantaria c. 95 BC or c. 94 BC and often referred to in scholarship as Clodia Metelli ("Clodia the wife of Metellus"), was the third daughter of the patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher and Caecilia Metella Balearica.She is not to...

 and the patrician-turned-demagogue Publius Clodius.

Further reading

• Manuel Dejante Pinto de Magalhães Arnao Metello and João Carlos Metello de Nápoles, "Metellos de Portugal, Brasil e Roma", Torres Novas, 1998

See also

• Women in Rome
  Women in Rome
  Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens , but could not vote or hold political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians. But while Roman women held no direct political power, those from wealthy or powerful families could and did...
  
  
• Caecilius Metellus
• Caecilii Metelli family tree