Julia Caesaris (sister of Julius Caesar)
Julia is the name of two daughters of praetor Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia Cotta, the parents of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. The sisters were born and raised in Rome.
The elder of the two is sometimes named Julia Major (Major Latin for the elder) by historians (but not to be confused with Julia the Elder, daughter of Emperor Augustus). Likewise, the younger of the two sisters of Julius Caesar is sometimes named Julia Minor, (Minor Latin for the younger) but not to be confused with Julia the Younger, Augustus‘ first granddaughter.
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[edit] First elder sister of Julius Caesar
The elder of the two sisters of Julius Caesar the dictator is only known from a passage in which the biographer Suetonius mentions her two grandsons,[1] Lucius Pinarius and Quintus Pedius. If the two men were actually her sons, as has been conjectured,[2] she was married, in what order is uncertain, to a Pinarius, of a very ancient patrician family,[3] and a Pedius. It is not known if it was the elder or the younger of the dictator's sisters who gave evidence against Publius Clodius Pulcher, when impeached for impiety in 61 BC.[4] Nothing else is known about the life of the elder sister.
[edit] Second elder sister of Julius Caesar
| Julia Caesaris | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Marcus Atius Balbus |
| Issue | |
| Atia Balba Prima Atia Balba Caesonia Atia Balba Tertia |
|
| Father | Gaius Julius Caesar |
| Mother | Aurelia Cotta |
| Born | 101 B.C. Rome |
| Died | 51 B.C. |
Julia Caesaris (101 BC-51 BC) was the second sister of Julius Caesar. She married Marcus Atius Balbus, a praetor and commissioner who came from a senatorial family of plebs status. Julia bore Balbus three daughters:
- Atia Balba Prima - mother of Quintus Pedius who served as a general and consul.
- Atia Balba Caesonia - mother of Octavia Minor (fourth wife of triumvir Mark Antony) and of first Emperor Augustus.
- Atia Balba Tertia - mother of Lucius Pinarius, who was a political supporter of Mark Antony.
Julia and her mother gave the legal courts a detailed and truthful account about the affair between Pompeia (her sister-in-law) and politician Publius Clodius Pulcher. Caesar divorced Pompeia over the scandal. Balbus died in 52 BC and Julia died a year later. Julia’s youngest grandson and grandchild then known as Octavian (future Emperor Augustus) at age 12 to her honor delivered her funeral oration at her funeral.
[edit] Sources
- Suetonius - The Twelve Caesars - Caesar and Augustus.
- http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1748.html
[edit] Notes
- ^ Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar 83. See also App. B. C. iii. 22, 23.
- ^ Friedrich Münzer, Aus dem Verwandtenkreise Caesars und Octavians, in: Hermes, vol. 71, 1936, p. 222–230.
- ^ Livy Ab Urbe condita i. 7 [1]
- ^ Suet. Caes. 74; Schol. Bob. in Clod. p. 337, Orelli.
