Caesonia
Encyclopedia
Milonia Caesonia was the fourth and last wife of the Roman Emperor
Caligula
.
Coming from modest origins, Caesonia was a daughter of Vistilia
. Her younger half-brother was the Roman Consul and General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
. Her niece, Domitia Longina
, married the future Roman Emperor Domitian
.
Little is written of Caesonia. Suetonius
says that when Caligula
married her she was neither beautiful nor young, and was the mother of three daughters by another man. He describes her as a woman of reckless extravagance and wantonness, whom nevertheless Caligula loved passionately and faithfully.
Cassius Dio says that Caligula began an affair with Caesonia prior to their marriage (in either late 39 or early 40). She was pregnant when they married and gave birth to Julia Drusilla only one month later; Suetonius, on the other hand, says she gave birth on their wedding day. Cassius Dio states that the Roman public was not pleased with Caligula's marriage to Caesonia.
The satirist Juvenal
speculates that Caligula went mad as a result of a love potion Caesonia administered to him.
Suetonius
states that Caligula would parade Caesonia in front of his troops and sometimes naked in front of select friends. He would jokingly threaten to torture or kill her, on occasion, as an odd form of affection.
In 41, Caligula was struck down by assassins while attending a private theatrical performance. Caesonia and her daughter Julia Drusilla
were murdered just hours after Caligula's demise. According to Josephus
, she died bravely. Struck with grief at her husband's death, she willingly offered her neck to the assassin and told him to kill her without hesitation.
Milonia Caesonia died on 24 January 41.
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...
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...
.
Life
Milonia Caesonia was born between 2 and 4 June in an unknown year.Coming from modest origins, Caesonia was a daughter of Vistilia
Vistilia
Vistilia was a Roman woman who lived in the 1st century and came from a family that held the praetorship. Her brother was probably Sextus Vistilius, a former praetor, who was a former close friend to late Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus. Nero Claudius Drusus was the younger brother to Roman...
. Her younger half-brother was the Roman Consul and General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was a Roman general and a brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula.-Descent:Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial family...
. Her niece, Domitia Longina
Domitia Longina
Domitia Longina was an Empress of Rome and wife to the Roman Emperor Domitian. She was the youngest daughter of the general and consul Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Domitia divorced her first husband Lucius Aelius Lamia in order to marry Domitian in 71...
, married the future Roman 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...
.
Little is written of Caesonia. Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
says that when 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...
married her she was neither beautiful nor young, and was the mother of three daughters by another man. He describes her as a woman of reckless extravagance and wantonness, whom nevertheless Caligula loved passionately and faithfully.
Cassius Dio says that Caligula began an affair with Caesonia prior to their marriage (in either late 39 or early 40). She was pregnant when they married and gave birth to Julia Drusilla only one month later; Suetonius, on the other hand, says she gave birth on their wedding day. Cassius Dio states that the Roman public was not pleased with Caligula's marriage to Caesonia.
The satirist Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
speculates that Caligula went mad as a result of a love potion Caesonia administered to him.
Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
states that Caligula would parade Caesonia in front of his troops and sometimes naked in front of select friends. He would jokingly threaten to torture or kill her, on occasion, as an odd form of affection.
In 41, Caligula was struck down by assassins while attending a private theatrical performance. Caesonia and her daughter Julia Drusilla
Julia Drusilla
Julia Drusilla was the only child and daughter of Roman Emperor Gaius and of his fourth and last wife Milonia Caesonia....
were murdered just hours after Caligula's demise. According to Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, she died bravely. Struck with grief at her husband's death, she willingly offered her neck to the assassin and told him to kill her without hesitation.
Milonia Caesonia died on 24 January 41.
In popular culture
Caesonia has been portrayed several times on film and television over the years:- 1937 - Leonora CorbettLeonora CorbettLeonora Corbett was a British film actress.On leaving school she studied art but later decided that she would prefer the stage. She made her debut at Cambridge and later appeared on the London stage before appearing on the screen, with Love on Wheels her film debut.-Selected filmography:* Love on...
in the uncompleted film I, ClaudiusI, Claudius (film)I, Claudius was the proposed 1937 film of the book I, Claudius. It was to have been produced by Alexander Korda, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Charles Laughton , Emlyn Williams , Flora Robson , and Merle Oberon , but it was dogged by ill-luck, culminating in a car accident involving... - 1966 - Krista Keller in the TV movie Claudius
- 1968 - Barbara MurrayBarbara MurrayBarbara Ann Murray is an English actress. She was married to the actor John Justin and had three daughters, but they divorced in 1964....
in the TV series The CaesarsThe Caesars (TV series)The Caesars is a British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1968. Made in black-and-white and written and produced by Philip Mackie, it covered similar dramatic territory to the later BBC adaptation of I, Claudius, dealing with the lives of the emperors of... - 1975 - Yvonne Lex in the TV movie Caligula
- 1976 - Freda DowieFreda DowieFreda Dowie is an English actress.Her television credits include: Dixon of Dock Green, Doomwatch, Edna, the Inebriate Woman, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Carnforth Practice, I, Claudius, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Pickwick Papers, Lillie, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Our Friends in the North and...
in the TV series I, ClaudiusI, 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... - 1979 - Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
in the theatrical film CaligulaCaligula (film)Caligula is a 1979 American-produced Italian biographical film directed by Tinto Brass, with additional scenes filmed by Giancarlo Lui and Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. The film concerns the rise and fall of Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Germanicus, better known as Caligula... - 2005 - Barbara BouchetBarbara BouchetBarbara Bouchet, is a German-American actress and entrepreneur.She has acted in more than 80 films and television episodes and founded a production company that has produced fitness videos and books as well as owning a fitness studio...
in the mock trailer for a remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula