Claudia Pulchra was the name of several women of
Roman gens of Claudii during the
1st century BC and
1st century. The Latin
pulchra (meaning 'beautiful') is the root of the English word
pulchritude (meaning 'beauty').
Wife of Tiberius Gracchus:
Claudia, daughter of
Appius Claudius Pulcher, who was
consul of
143 BC and his wife Antistia. Wife of
Tiberius Gracchus .
Relatives of Publius Clodius:
Claudia Pulchra was the name of the three daughters of
Appius Claudius Pulcher,
praetor of
88 BC, and his wife
Caecilia Metella Balearica.
Claudia Prima and
Claudia Secunda we know little of. The youngest daughter, Claudia Tertia, is better known as
Clodia Pulchra. They were the elder sisters of
Publius Clodius Pulcher.
Clodia Pulchra, also known simply as Clodia or Claudia, was the daughter of Publius Clodius Pulcher and Fulvia Flacca Bambula (Later married to Mark Antony). Clodia was briefly married to Octavian (later Augustus).
Daughters of Appius Claudius Pulcher (praetor 57 BC):
Claudia Pulchra Major was the elder daughter of
Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 54 BC),
praetor of
57 BC. She was the first wife of
Marcus Junius Brutus, who was
praetor of
44 BC and the most famous of
Julius Caesar's assassins. This marriage was very useful to Claudia's father as Brutus was very wealthy and it allied him with the leader of
Optimates,
Cato the Younger, who was Brutus' uncle. When Claudia's father was accused of bribery by
Publius Cornelius Dolabella in
50 BC, Brutus was part of the faction that helped have him acquitted. In
45 BC Brutus divorced Claudia, without stating his reasons, in order that he could marry
Porcia Catonis, who was the daughter of Cato and his first cousin. Claudia is not mentioned again.
Claudia Pulchra Minor was the younger daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher. She was married to Gnaeus Pompeius who was the son of Pompey the Great and his third wife Mucia Tertia. Little is known of her life.
Great-niece of Augustus:
Claudia Pulchra (
PIR2 C 1116,
14 BC-
26) was a patrician woman of
Ancient Rome who lived during the reigns of Emperors
Augustus and
Tiberius. She was a daughter of
Claudia Marcella Minor and consul Lucius
Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. Her maternal grandparents were
Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor and
Octavia Minor, sister of
Augustus. Her father, Lucius
Aemilius Lepidus Paullus was a son of consul
Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and his paternal uncle was
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Her father died of unknown causes in
13 BC and her mother married Roman senator
Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus. She was the elder half sister of
Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus (who would later become the father of
Valeria Messalina, third wife of
Roman Emperor Claudius).
She became the second wife of Roman General and Politician Publius Quinctilius Varus. He was the widower of Vipsania Marcella, who was a daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and by his second wife Claudia Marcella Major, niece of Augustus. Pulchra and Varus had a son, a younger Publius Quinctilius Varus. Her husband committed suicide in September 9 during the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Germania Inferior. She never remarried.
Pulchra was always a close friend to her second cousin Agrippina the Elder. Through her friendship with Agrippina, she became the victim of the intrigues of Sejanus' treason trials in 26. She was accused of to attempted to poison Tiberius, cast magic, immorality and died in exile. Tacitus considered the trial to be an indirect political attack against Agrippina.
Her son became wealthy through the inheritance of both his parents. In 27, however the younger Varus found himself facing accusations of treason and was formally condemned. His trial has been attributed to the increasing distrust of Tiberius towards his environment and the machinations of Sejanus.
Notes:
References:
- (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani, 3 vol., Berlin, 1897-1898. (PIR1)
- (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III, Berlin, 1933 - . (PIR2)
- Raepsaet-Charlier M.-Th., Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial (Ier-IIe siècles), 2 vol., Louvain, 1987, 633 ff.
External links