Tag: ancient rome

Here is a complete list of some of Ancient Rome’s most famous mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters. The life of women in Ancient Rome were seldom discussed by ancient historians outside of their relationships with men. Ancient Roman women have been documented as far back as ancient times, whether as abuse victims (like Lucrecia or Virginia), poisoners (like Licinia), spouses (like Sempronia), mothers (like Pomponia), or daughters (like Cornelia) of powerful men. From the end of the Roman Republic (27 BC) onward, however, a few Roman women gained prominence due to the political influence they wielded through their husbands—like Fulvia and Livia Drusilla—or due to palace intrigues—like Messalina and Agrippina the Lesser—or due to sexual scandals—like Clodia and Julia the Lesser.

• See Also: Cleanliness and Hygiene in Ancient Roman Women

A

• Acerronia Polla: She was a friend of Agrippina the Younger, who was drowned by the conspirators in 59 AD, who mistaken her for the empress during the invasion on the Gulf of Naples.
• Atia (85 BC–54 BC): Caesar Augustus (See: Augustus’ Net Worth) and Octavia the Younger’s (Octavia Minor) mother. She was the niece of Julius Caesar and the daughter of Marcus Atius Balbus and Julia Minor (Julia the Younger). Gaius Octavius was her first husband, and when he passed away, she married Marcius Philippus. She was against her son inheriting the throne from Julius Caesar. Augustus held a public ceremony for her after her death during his first consulship.
• Atia the Younger: Atia the Younger: Atia’s sister and Augustus’ aunt. She married the consul of 38 BC, Marcius Philippus (the son of Philippus who married Atia’s older sister).
• Acilia: The mother of the Hispanic poet Lucan. Her own son accused her of being a part of the Pison plot, although she was never publicly shamed for the allegation.
• Attica: Pomponia Caecilia Attica was born around 51 BC as the daughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus. Vipsania, the first wife of the future Emperor Tiberius, was born to Attica and her husband, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Nothing is known about her after her divorce from Agrippa around 28 BC.
• Acutia: Known as Publius Vitellius’ wife. Decimus Laelius Balbus accused her of maiestas (lese-majeste, or offense against a ruling head of state) in 37 AD.
• Afinia Gemina Baebiana: Emperor Trebonianus Gallus’ (206–253) wife. She was known as the empress. According to others, she died before Gallus became emperor and ruled between 251 and 253.
• Agrippina the Elder: She was born around the year 14 BC as the youngest daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia the Elder. She had nine children with her husband, Germanicus (who was the son of Drusus). At the time of Augustus’ death, she and her husband were in Germania. In the aftermath of Cecina’s failed fight against the Germans, she argued against blowing up a bridge over the Rhine. Agrippina treated the troops crossing the bridge as if she were their commander, and she made sure the injured got the care they needed to recover. She went to Asia with her husband in 17 AD and returned with his ashes and two of her boys, resting for a while at Korkyra in Ancient Greece to deal with her sorrow. When she touched down at Brundisium (Brindisi), the crowds there were overjoyed to finally see her. Tiberius, who despised both Germanicus and Agrippina, still sent two praetorian cohorts to welcome Agrippina to Rome. The funeral procession was welcomed along its route by various notable figures and groups. These included magistrates from Calabria, Apulia, and Campania, as well as Drusus, the son of Tiberius, and Claudius, the brother of Germanicus, who would later become an emperor. Additionally, the other sons of Germanicus were present. The Senate, a sizable group of citizens, and the consuls all met the procession as it approached Rome to pay their respects to the deceased. After waiting for a number of years, she finally approached the Emperor with her request to marry a second time. Sejanus persuaded her that Tiberius was plotting to poison her, and she gave in to his schemes. Despite the lack of proof of treachery, she was eventually exiled to the island of Pandataria (Ventotene), much as her mother had been. She had been banished for three years until she finally starved to death in the year 33 AD. Her son, Caligula, brought her ashes back to Rome and had her likeness struck on a number of medals.
• Agrippina the Younger (AD 15–AD 59): She was the granddaughter of Marcus Agrippa and the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. Between 13 and 17 AD, she was born at Oppidum Ubiorum (modern-day Cologne), which would become known as Colonia Agrippina in her honor (which was shortened to Colonia after the 5th century). Her first husband, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, passed away 12 years after their wedding in 28 AD. A few years later, she was accused of murdering her second husband, Passienus Crispus. By that time, she had gained notoriety for her scandalous antics, intrigues, and limitless ambition. She was exiled to the Pontine Islands by Caligula in 39 AD after being accused of incest with her brother Caligula, who did so under the guise of her having an affair with Marcus Lepidus, her sister Drusilla’s husband. Lepidus was executed for plotting against the emperor, and before being banished from Rome, Agrippina was compelled to bring the remains of her brother-in-law and lover back to the capital. Although Emperor Claudius’ wife Messalina was an opponent of Agrippina’s, he remitted Agrippina’s sentence in 41 AD, shortly after he ascended to the throne. Claudius and Agrippina married in 49 AD, despite the fact that they were uncle and niece. The Senate issued a senatus consultum to make the marriage official. In 51 AD, Claudius disfavored his own son, Britannicus, in favor of the son of Agrippina and Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero. When Claudius’ daughter Octavia was betrothed to Elder Lucius Silanus (a descendant of Augustus) by the emperor, Agrippina the Younger used Pallas, an imperial freedman, to plot the downfall of Lucius to make Octavia’s marriage with Nero possible. Similarly, Lollia Paulina (Agrippina’s rival in marriage to Claidus) and Domitia Lepida (Agrippina’s sister-in-law) both perished at this time because of false accusations of high treason. Agrippina murdered her husband Claudius in 54 AD so that her son Nero could become Emperor. As soon as he was declared emperor, Agrippina had Narcissus, a freedman of Claudius, and Marcus Silanus assassinated. Her relationship with Nero deteriorated because she disapproved of his son’s involvement Poppaea Sabina and the slave girl Claudia Acte. Agrippina later supported Britannicus as Nero’s rival in an effort to win back the emperor’s favor, but Nero poisoned Claudius’ son as an answer. In 59 AD, Nero chose Agrippina’s death because he wanted to divorce his wife, Octavia, and marry his mistress, Sabina. Under the guise of trying to make peace with his mother, he had Agrippina come to Bayas. Agrippina’s return voyage to Rome was marred by the ship’s destruction. She swam to safety and reported the event to her son at the villa she owned near the lake Lucrinus Lacus. Nero then sent Anicetus, the man responsible for devising the ship scheme, to kill her. On the verge of death, Agrippina begged the centurion to stab her in the womb, where she had carried Nero. The historian Tacitus writes that when Nero saw his mother’s body in the tomb, he was struck by her beauty. After her death, Agrippina appeared on coins, and she shared the title “Augusta” with her husband Claudius and son Nero.
• Albucilla: She was a noblewoman who was known to have many lovers. She was tried for impiety or treason against Emperor Tiberius in the year 37 AD. After trying suicide, she passed away while in prison.
• Anastasia: She was the half-sister of Constantine the Great and the daughter of Constantius Chlorus and Theodora. Her husband, Basianus, was executed for treason. She built public baths in Constantinople. Anastasia means “resurrection” in Christianity or Judaism.
• Anastasia: The historical legitimacy of the Emperor Valens’ daughter, Anastasia, has been called into doubt. But her status as Novatian’s student is well documented.
• Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina: The daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. In 159 AD, she married Gnaeus Claudius Severus who served as consul in 173 AD.
• Annia Cornificia Faustina (c.122–c.158): Sister of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Cornificia married Gaius Annianus Verus and bore him two children. Cornificia’s father passed away in 124, so her mother and grandfather reared her and Aurelius.
• Annia Faustina: The Roman Empress, a direct lineal heir of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. She was Elagabalus’ third wife.
• Annia Rufilla: She was a Roman woman from the first century AD who was accused of committing fraud against Gaius Cestius Gallus (consul 35). She spent some time before the Curia threatening and insulting her accuser. The accuser was too afraid to go to court because she was known to possess an image of Emperor Tiberius. The testimony of helpless Cestius and other witnesses convinced Tiberius’ son, Drusus, to throw Rufilla in jail.
• Antistia: Calpurnia’s daughter and Pompey the Great‘s first wife, Antistia, was the daughter of a praetor and a member of the family of the Calpurnius Bestia. The marriage between her and Pompey was the result of a judicial agreement.
• Antistia Politta: She was the wife of Rubellius Plautus and the daughter of Lucius Antistius Vetus, a consul in 55 AD. She watched as Nero had her husband beheaded in the territories he controlled in Asia. When the prince refused to be lenient, she and her family eventually killed themselves.
• Antonia: According to Plutarch, Marcus Antonius’ (orator) daughter Antonia was abducted by Cilician pirates in AD 100. Her father had tangled with pirates often in his role as proconsul for the Roman province of Cilicia. An enormous ransom was paid in order to secure her daughter’s release.
• Antonia (50s AD): She was Mark Antony and Antonia Hybrida Minor’s daughter. She was promised to the son of Lepidus.
• Aelia Petina: The Emperor Claudius’ second wife, she gave birth to a daughter they named Claudia Antonia. She married the descendent of Pompey, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and then Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix. When she refused to marry Emperor Nero, he had her put to death in the year 66 AD. Some accounts have her participating in the plot against Nero. Both were descendants of Drusus and Antonia Minor.
• Antonia Hybrida Major: One of Cicero’s consular colleagues, Gaius Antonius Hybrida (son of Marcus Antonius the orator), had a daughter named Antonia Hybrida Major. Caninius Gallus was her husband, and they had a son with the same who became consul in 37 BC.
• Antonia the Elder: She was the oldest child of Mark Antony and Octavia the Younger, the sister of Augustus. She was born in 39 BC and married the 16 AD consul Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. She was the Emperor Nero’s grandmother.
• Antonia Hybrida Minor: She was the daughter of Gaius Antonius Hybrida, one of Cicero’s consular colleagues. Mark Antony, one third of the triumvirate, was her first husband, and she was his second. They were cousins. When Antonia cheated Mark Antony with a consul named Dolabella, Antony kicked her out of the house in 47 BC.
• Antonia Minor: She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus and the daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia the Younger. The year 36 BC saw her birth. She had three children with Drusus, the Emperor Tiberius’ younger brother: General Germanicus, Emperor Claudius, and Claudia Livia. She did not attend her son Germanicus’ public burial. And she also did not remarry when her husband died. In 37 AD, when her grandson Caligula succeeded to the throne of the Caesars, he bestowed upon her many honors, including the title of Augusta, which she politely declined. Suetonius suggests her grandson may have poisoned her. Since Pliny the Elder mentions a temple for Antonia, it was most likely built during the rule of her son Claudius. Her beauty and morality made her a cultural icon.
• Apicata: She was Sejanus’ wife. He gave her the boot and filed for divorce. Sejanus was a friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius.
• Apronia: Praetor Plautius Silvanus killed his wife, Apronia, by tossing her out a window. When asked, he said that she had perhaps committed suicide. Praetor 24 AD, Silvanus was sentenced to death.
• Appuleia Varilla: She was born to the 29 BC consul Sextus Appuleius and Quinctilla Varilla. Her sister was Quinctilius Varus. Varilla was exiled in the year 17 AD by Tiberius on charges of adultery. Varilla was given an exclusion zone of no less than 200 miles around Rome.
• Aquilia Severa: The empress and Vestal; she was the wife of Elagabalus (r. 218–222).
• Arrecina Tertulla: Titus married Arrecina Tertulla in his 60s, long before he became emperor. Julia Flavia (c. 63–91) was born from this marriage. Soon after, she passed away.
• Arria Major: She was Aulus Caecina Paetus’ wife. Arria committed suicide together with her spouse after he was falsely accused of maiestas. She saw that her husband was hesitant, so she grabbed the dagger, stabbed herself, and said, “It doesn’t hurt, Paetus,” while handing it over to her husband.
• Arria the Younger: She was Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus’ wife and the daughter of Arria Major. Thrasea couldn’t prevent her mother-in-law from killing herself.
• Artoria Flaccilla: Wife of Novius Priscus, she went into exile with him in 65 AD when he was sentenced to death for his role in Pisonian conspiracy. He was a consul in the year 78 AD.
• Aurelia: She was Julius Caesar’s mother and a member of the Aurelii Cottae family. During the 62 BC festival honoring the mysteries of Bona Dea, she came upon Publius Clodius and uncovered his attempt to maintain an affair with her second daughter-in-law Pompeia by disguising himself as a woman for the celebration hosted at Caesar’s residence. At the age of 54, she passed away.
• Aemilia: She was a Vestal Virgin who was executed in 114 BC for incest.
• Aemilia Scaura: She was Sulla’s stepdaughter and the daughter of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. Acilius Glabrio, the consul in 67 BC, and then Pompey the Great were her husbands in quick succession. Although she was pregnant, Sulla married her off to Pompey after convincing Glabrio to end their marriage. In 82 BC, Aemilia lost her life while giving birth.
• Aemilia Clara: She was the mother of Emperor Didius Julianus.
• Aemilia Lepida: She was the wife of Metellus Scipio.
• Aemilia Lepida (5 BC–c. 43 AD): Daughter of 1st-century AD consul Aemilius Paullus and Julia the Younger. Her mother’s fall from favor prevented her marriage to Claudius, to whom she was promised. She eventually married Silanus Torquatus, the 19 AD Roman consul.
• Aemilia Lepida: Sister of Manius Lepidus, a 11 AD consul, and the second wife of Sulpicius Quirinius and Mamercus Scaurus in that order. She was found guilty of many charges and executed in the year 20 AD for adultery, visiting astrologers, poisoning, fraudulently claiming to carry a child to her ex-husband, and trying to poison him.
• Aemilia Lepida: The daughter of the 6 AD consul and the wife of the first son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Drusus Caesar. After being accused of infidelity with a slave, she took her own life at the age of 36, “since there was no question about her guilt”.
• Aemilia Lepida: Wife of Emperor Galba and daughter of the consul of the year 11 AD, Manius Aemilius Lepidus.
• Aemilia Lepida: The Roman lady who passed away when she was 17, was the apparent successor to the consulship held by her father, Aemilius Lepidus.
• Aemilia Tertia: The oldest daughter of the Victor of Pydna, Aemilius Paullus. She was Aelius Tubero’s wife. Aemilia was chosen consul for the second time when she was just a small girl.
• Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor: Female descendant of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. Julia Domna counted her as a friend. Caracalla sent her to commit suicide when she visited Julia Domna to express her sorrow at Geta’s death, Domna’s children.

B

• Basilina: Some months after giving birth, Basilina, the Emperor Julian the Apostate’s mother, passed away in 332/333 AD. She gave property to the Church of Ephesus since she was a Christian, although the Emperor Julian was not.
• Boionia Procilla: She was Emperor Antoninus Pius’ (86–161 AD) maternal grandmother.

C

• Calpurnia: She was the last wife of Julius Caesar, whom she married in 59 BC. She was the daughter of Piso Caesoninus, who served as consul in 58 BC. She avoided politics and patiently watched while her husband doted over Cleopatra. She was worried about Julius Caesar after hearing rumors of a plot against his life. She had nightmares the night before the dictator was killed, and she urged her husband in vain not to go outside on the Ides of March.
• Calpurnia: She was the granddaughter of Calpurnius Fabatus and one of Pliny the Younger’s (61–113 AD) spouses.
• Calpurnia: She was the 111 BC consul Calpurnius Bestia’s daughter and the senator Publius Antistius’ bride. When Antistius was killed and thrown into Tiber River, Calpurnia committed suicide. She was the mother of Antistia and mother-in-law of Pompey the Great.
• Calpurnia: She was the daughter of Marcus Bibulus and the wife of the consul suffectus of the Roman Republic in 31 BC, Messalla Corvinus.
• Calpurnia: She was the wife of the 6 AD consul Nonius Asprenas, who served as suffect consul. She was the daughter of Piso Pontifex.
• Calpurnia Hispulla: Pliny the Younger’s third wife, Calpurnia Hispula was the daughter of the nobleman Calpurnius Fabatus (d. 112 AD).
• Calvencia: She was the daughter of a Gallic trader and also the wife of Praetor Piso Caesoninus.
• Claudia Acte: The freedwoman, Nero’s mistress.
• Carosa: She was the daughter of Valens, the Roman Emperor. The Baths of Carosa in Constantinople was named after her.
• Caecilia Metella: She is often believed to be Metellus Balearicus’ (the 123 BC consul) daughter. She was the mother of Clodio and the wife of Appius Pulcher, a consul in 79 BC.
• Caecilia Metella: She was Lentulus Spinther’s wife, a consul in 57 BC. It’s unclear what her connection was to the Metellus clan. But the couple split up because of Caecilia’s romance with Publius Cornelius Dolabella (consul 44 BC).
• Caecilia Metella: Cecilia Metela was Metellus Balearicus’ daughter. When Sextus Roscius’ family persecuted him, Caecilia took him in her house as a vestal virgin.
• Caecilia Metella: She was the Roman statesman Metellus Calvus’ daughter. Lucius Licinius Lucullus married her in 119 BC, and she bore him a son.

• Caecilia Metella: She was Metellus Creticus’ daughter. “First Triumvirate” member Marcus Crassus’ son, Marcus Licinius Crassus, was her husband. The tomb of Caecilia Metella can be seen on the Via Appia today.
• Caecilia Metella: Metellus Delmaticus’ daughter, had twins named Faustus (male) and Fausta (female) with her husband, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus.
• Caecilia Metella the Elder: Metellus Macedonicus’ oldest daughter; she was the mother of Vatia Isauricus and the wife of Servilius Vatia, the praetor at Rome in 114 BC.
• Caecilia Metella the Younger: The youngest of Metellus Macedonicus’ daughters, she was Metellus Scipio’s grandmother and married to the 111 BC consul Scipio Nasica.
• Claudia: She was the daughter of Claudius Pulcher, who served as consul in 143 BC, and the wife of Gaius Gracchus, who served as tribune of the plebeians.
• Claudia: She was the Emperor Claudius’ daughter from his first wife Plautia Urgulanilla.
• Claudia: She was the first wife of Emperor Augustus and the daughter of Fulvia and Clodius.
• Claudia Pulchra: Daughter of Claudia Pulchra and Marcella the Elder. In 26 AD, she was expelled for adultery.
• Cloelia: Cloelia was a Roman woman in the 6th century BC who was one of Lars Porsena’s one hundred hostages in exchange for ending the siege of Rome. By swimming across the Tiber, she was able to get away. When the Etruscan ruler threatened to extend the siege, the Romans gave her back to him.
• Clodia: She was the second of Publius Clodius’ three sisters. They had a happy marriage. She gained notoriety for her wild behavior (for example, she was the lover of Catullus, who refers to her as Lesbia in his writings) and was accused of poisoning her husband when she publicly challenged him. She made an effort to communicate with Cicero. After being turned down, she plotted against the Arpinate with her brother. She plotted to murder herself by having her former lover, Marcus Caelius, accused of plotting the assassination of Dion, the chief of Ptolemy Auletes’ mission to Rome. After Crassus and Cicero successfully defended Caelius, Clodia was portrayed as a lady of unrestrained character and suspected of having an incestuous connection with her brother. Quadrantaria was one of Cicero’s many nicknames for her. At the very least, one of her sisters was still around in 44 B.C.
• Constantia: She was the wife of Licinius and the half-sister of Constantine the Great. She pleaded for her husband’s life when her brother defeated him.
• Constantia: Faustina’s daughter, Gratian was her husband. She passed away in the year 383 and was laid to rest in Constantinople.
• Constantine: She was Constantine the Great’s daughter. She stayed with Anibalianus until his death in 337. It was reported that she had a harsh temperament and pushed Vetranion to revolt against Magnentius. She also established the Roman church and convent of St. Agnes. In 354 A.D., she passed away and was laid to rest at Rome.
• Cornelia: She was Scipio Africanus’ youngest daughter. She gave birth to the Gracchi after marrying the censor Tiberius Gracchus in 169 B.C. Since Tiberius Gracchus now supported the more mainstream Republican movement, he and Scipio had fallen out of favor. Most accounts place his marriage to Cornelia after her parent’s passing. Other traditions, however, claim that they tied the knot when her father was still alive, with Scipio reportedly proposing to her after Tiberius Gracchus intervened to save Scipio the Asiatic from a jail sentence. After her husband died and she was left responsible for twelve kids, she focused solely on their education. As a result, she turned down Ptolemy VIII’s proposal of marriage and all others. Only one daughter, who married Scipio Emilianus, and two sons, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, made it out of this huge family. Cornelia learned to appreciate reading from her father and is an expert on Greek literature. Her letters were saved and lauded as excellent examples of writing throughout Cicero’s time. She was the daughter of Hannibal’s victor, the mother of the Gracchi, and the mother-in-law of Scipio Emilianus, giving her a major place in the history of women in the Roman Republic. Some authors say she encouraged Tiberius Gracchus to propose his laws, while others say she plotted the murder of Scipio Emilianus with his daughter. After Gaius died, she moved to Misenum, where she surrounded herself with Greek literati. She also saw the deaths of Gaius’ two sons. In other words, he lived to a ripe old age before passing away. A statue of her was constructed in Rome with the words “Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi” carved into the marble.
• Cornelia: She was Julius Caesar’s first wife and the daughter of Cornelius Cinna. They were married in 83 B.C. When Sulla required a divorce from her in order to take him off the outlaw list, Julius Caesar refused. She died in 69 BC, but her daughter Julia would go on to marry Pompey.
• Cornelia Metella: She was the daughter of Metellus Scipio and was married to the son of the triumvir, Publius Crassus, and afterwards to Pompey. She married her second husband at Mytilene, Greece, after the battle of Pharsalus, and then saw him murdered on an Egyptian beach. She was given permission by Julius Caesar to bring his remains back to Rome.
• Cornelia Africana Major: She was Scipio Africanus and Aemilia Tertia’s oldest daughter. Nasica Corculus was her husband, and she bore him a son, Nasica Serapion.
• Cornelia Orestila: Also known as Livia Orestilla, she was Caligula’s second wife.

D

• Dioclea: The mother of Emperor Diocletian. But perhaps she was an imaginary person.
• Domicia: She was the daughter of consul general Lucius Bibulus and his wife, Domicia.
• Domitia: She was the aunt of Nero and the wife of Crispus Pasienus. She was the daughter of Lucius Ahenobarbus and Antonia the Great. To gain control of her estate, Nero had her poisoned. According to Tacitus, she is Agrippina the Lesser’s opponent.
• Domitia Calvina: She was the daughter of Lucius Bibulus and Domitia. Messala Corvinus, her husband, was her spouse.
• Domitia Lepida: She was the mother of Valeria Messalina and the daughter of Lucius Ahenobarbus and Antonia the Great. Agrippina the Younger convinced her nephew Nero to have her killed.
• Domitia Longina: She was the daughter of Domitius Corbulon. She had been married to Lamia Eliano but divorced him during Vespasian‘s reign so that she might marry Domitian. She had an affair with the actor Paris because she was unhappy in her marriage. In 83 AD, on Julius Ursus’ suggestion, her husband divorced her; the couple eventually reunited. Whenever she felt her life was in jeopardy, she backed the plot against Domitian.
• Domitia Lucila the Elder: She was Marcus Aurelius’ grandmother and the mother of Domitia Lucila the Younger.
• Domitia Lucila the Younger: She was Marcus Aurelius’ mother.
• Domitia Paulina the Elder: Mother of Adriano, she was from Cadiz.
• Domitia Paulina the Younger: Sister of Hadrian, she married Julius Servianus and bore him a daughter, Julia. In the year 130 AD, she passed away.
• Domitilla the Great: She was Vespasian’s wife, and she and her husband had the twins Titus and Domitian. When her husband became Emperor, she was already deceased.
• Domitilla the Younger: She was Vespasian and Domitian’s daughter. Her father’s self-proclamation as emperor came after her death.
• Domnica: She was Valens the Emperor’s wife.

E

• Egnatia Maximila: She was the wife of Glicius Gallus, whom Nero sent to exile.
• Elia: She was Sulla’s second wife.
• Elia Flaccilla: She was Theodosius the Great’s first wife and the mother of his three surviving children: Arcadius, Honorius, and Pulcheria. She was known as a very devout lady. She was born in Hispania and passed away in the year 386 AD.
• Elia Petina: Daughter of Elio Cato, consul in 4 A.D., she was the second wife of Emperor Claudius and the mother of his daughter Antonia.
• Emilia Secunda: Wife of Cato Licinianus, son of Cato the Elder, she was the middle of Aemilius Paullus’ daughters.
• Emilia Tertia: The youngest daughter of the consul in 216 B.C. She had at least four children with her husband, Scipio Africanus.
• Emilia Tertius: Daughter of the Pidna battle hero, Emperor Aemilius Paullus. Before her father departed for Macedonia, she gave him a good omen when she was a youngster.
• Ennia Thrasylla: Supposed lover of Caligula and wife of Macron, she served as prefect of the praetorium.
• Eumaquia: Priestess Eumaquia of Pompeii advocated for the structure to be constructed in her honor.
• Eusebia: Constantius married Eusebia, the daughter and sister of two consuls. She supported the heretical beliefs of Julian the Apostate. By the time her preferred candidate took the throne in 361 A.D., she had already passed away.
• Eutropia: She was Maximian’s wife, and she gave birth to Maxentius and Fausta. She likely had a daughter named Theodora with a man named Aphranius Anibalianus.
• Eutropia: Half-sister of Constantine the Great, Eutropia was the daughter of Constantius Chlorus and Theodora. Virio Nepociano was her husband. Magnentius was the one who killed her.

F

• Fabia: She was the wife of Otacilius Crassus and the daughter of Fabius Maximus, who served as consul five times for the Republic.
• Fabia the Great: She was the daughter of Censor Fabius Ambustus and the bride of Sulpicius Rufus in 363 B.C.
• Fabia the Younger: She was the daughter of the censor Fabius Ambustus and the wife of the consul Licinius Stolon in the year 363 B.C.
• Fadia: She was the first wife of Mark Antony. Her father, Quintus Fadius, was a freedman.
• Faustina: Marcus Aurelius and his younger wife, Faustina, had a daughter they named Fadila.
• Falconia Proba: She was a poetess from the Middle Ages who was much respected. No one knows her true identity.
• Fannia: She was Gaius Titinius’ wife. She was a native of Minturnae. When her ex-husband sought to retain her dowry after the divorce, she appealed to Gaius Marius, who ruled in her favor. In 88 B.C., she took in Mario when he escaped Rome and sought refuge in her home.
• Fannia: The widow of Helvidius Priscus who went into exile with him three times: first under Nero, again under Vespasian, and finally under Domitian.
• Fausta: Constantine the Great married Fausta, the daughter of Maximian and Eutropia. She killed herself after being falsely accused of her stepson Crispus’ murder.
• Fausta Cornelia: She was the daughter of Sulla, and she was the identical twin sister of Faustus. Circa 88 B.C., she entered the world. Faustus married Gaius Memius first, and then Titus Milon. She was notorious for cheating on her husbands in ancient times.
• Faustina: She was the last consort of Constantius and the mother of his son, then went on to marry Gratian. Procopius, the imposter who declared himself emperor in 365 AD, kept her in Constantinople.
• Faustina the Great: From 138 AD, she was Antoninus Pius’ and Augusta’s wife. When the man who would become Emperor took the throne, she was already married to him. She was deified after her death in 141 A.D., when she was just 37. The current Antoninus and Faustina Temple was commissioned by her husband in her honor.
• Faustina The Younger: Daughter of Faustina the Elder and Pope Antoninus Pius. Hadrian had her engaged to Aelius Caesar’s son, but Antoninus broke the engagement because Lucius Verus was too young and instead engaged her to Marcus Aurelius. It wasn’t until 145 or 146 A.D. that the couple tied the knot. In 175 A.D., she met her end on the slopes of Mount Taurus when she traveled with her husband to Syria as part of an effort to restore peace in the East after the insurrection of Avidius Cassius, which she had aided and abetted by her intrigues. Her spouse lavished her with tributes when he passed away.
• Flavia Ticiana: The empress and wife of Pertinax.
• Fulvia: Cicero calls Fulvia’s father, Fulvius Bambalion, “a madman” and her mother, Sempronia, “a madwoman.” She had Claudia, Augustus’ first wife, with her first husband, Clodio. His corpse was left out in the open in the atrium of his home when he passed away. Fulvia, amidst intense weeping, displayed her husband’s wounds for the throng, inspiring vengeance for his death. Scribonius Curion, whom she later married, met his untimely end in Africa in 49 B.C. She was a famous prostitute and widow before marrying Mark Antony in 44 B.C. After he was labeled a public enemy, she pleaded with senators to reconsider their decision. Some Roman women appealed to the wives and relatives of the triumvirs for help during the proscriptions. Fulvia was rude and condescending to them. She was seen taking pleasure in the sight of Cicero’s and Sulpicius Rufus’ decapitated skulls. Hortense, Julia (Mark Antony’s mother), and Octavia (Augustus’ sister) spearheaded the charge against the triumvirs’ plan to tax the wealthiest Roman women, while Fulvia remained on the sidelines. To get her husband back from Egypt, and maybe also out of envy, she incited her brother-in-law Lucius Antonius to launch an uprising in the Italic peninsula in 40 B.C. to protect the impoverished and downtrodden who had been driven to destitution by Augustus’ colonies and land allotments. Almost immediately, others joined the cause with more conviction. She left her children in Lepidus’ care and accompanied Lucius Antonius to Preneste and, subsequently, Perugia. Fulvia fled the destruction of Perugia and found refuge in Athens, where she was later rebuked by her husband for her bad attitude. Saddened by Mark Antony’s abandonment, she became sick and passed away at Sicyon the same year. Octavia, the sister of Augustus, was Mark Antony’s new wife thanks to the Treaty of Brundisium.
• Fulvia: Quintus Curtius’ mistress. After being rejected by Curtius, she turned against the Catilinarians.
• Fulvia Plautila: The daughter of Emperor Fulvius Plaucianus, she married Emperor Caracalla In 202 A.D. As a result of her father’s fall from power, she was sent to Lipari and ultimately put to death in 212 A.D.

G

• Galla: She was the first Valentinian daughter and Justina’s daughter. In exchange for Theodosius the Great’s promised military support against Magnus Maximus, she married him in Constantinople. In the year 394 A.D., she gave birth and tragically passed away. Galla Placidia’s mother was her.
• Galla: She was the sister of Vulcacio Rufino and the wife and mother of Caesar Gallus by Julio Constancio.
• Galla Placidia: Theodosius II’s second wife, she gave birth to their daughter, Galla Placidia. In the years 388 and 393, she entered the world. In 410 A.D., when Alaric conquered Rome, he took her prisoner. She eventually married Alaric’s successor Ataulf in 414 A.D., despite Constantius III’s attempts to negotiate a rescue for her. Due to Constantius III’s resistance, Ataulf was unable to form an alliance with Honorius, half-brother of Placidia, before his death in Barcelona in 415 AD. No offspring came from the union. Walia returned her to Honorius in the year 416 AD. Despite Placidia’s objections, she and Constantius III tied the knot at Ravenna on January 1, 417 A.D. Two sons, Honorius and Valentinian III, were born to them. In addition to making his brother-in-law Emperor, Honorius also made his sister-in-law Placidia an Augusta. The rift between the half-siblings deepened after the passing of Constantius III. Although Emperor Theodosius II would not acknowledge Placidia’s title, she and her boys were able to escape to the court of Constantinople and seek refuge there. After Honorius’ death and John’s usurpation, the Eastern Emperor sided with Placidia and Valentinian III, who was installed in Ravenna under the watchful eye of his mother. During his reign, he made a point of publicly defending Christianity. In 450 or 451 A.D., she passed away in Rome and was laid to rest at Ravenna.
• Galeria Valeria: She was Diocletian’s daughter and Galerius’ bride. Galeria left Licinius’ camp after her husband’s murder to join Maximianus Daya, but he exiled her and took her property when she refused to marry him. Licinius eventually had her sentenced to death and she was put to death.
• Grata: The first Valentinian daughter, named after her mother, Justina. She was Galla Placidia’s aunt on her mother’s side.
• Gratidia: She was Cicero’s maternal grandmother.

H

• Helena, Mother of Constantine I: Constantine the Great’s mother and the wife of Constantius Chlorus. After the deaths of Crispus and Fausta, she converted to Christianity and conducted a journey to Jerusalem, where she erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and located the True Cross. About eighty years old, she passed away in Rome.
• Helena: She was Constantine and Fausta’s daughter. Her untimely demise followed her husband Julian’s proclamation as emperor. Her burial took place in Rome.
• Helvia: She was Cicero’s mother.
• Helvia the Elder: She was the aunt of Cicero and the mother of Cicero’s aedile son Viselius Varron in 59 B.C.
• Helvia the Elder: She was the sister of Helvia the Younger and the wife of the prefect of Egypt at the time, Gaius Galerius.
• Helvia the Younger: Seneca’s mother.
• Herennia Etruscila: She was the Etruscan empress and Decius’ consort.
• Hersilia: Titus Livy claims that she was married to Romulus, but Dionysius of Halicarnassus claims that Hersilia was married to Hostius Hostilius.
• Hircia: She was Cicero’s prospective new bride after he divorced Terence; she was the sister of Aulus Hirtius.
• Hostensia: Possibly the mother of Messala Rufus, a consul in 53 BC, she was the sister of the famous orator and lawyer Hortensius.
• Hortensia: She was the daughter of Hortensius, a famous lawyer and orator. She addressed the triumvirs to ask that the levy on the rich Romans that was originally intended to fund the battle against Cassius and Brutus be rescinded. Hortensia may have been the adoptive mother of the second.

J

• Julia (wife of Marius): Gaius Marius’ wife, sadly, she passed away in the year 68 B.C. Julius Caesar, her nephew and future ruler, spoke at her burial.
• Julia: Accused of adultery in the year 25 AD, the Roman Emperor Tiberius exiled this woman named Julia (or Aquilia).
• Julia: She was the daughter of Lucius Caesar (the 90 BC consul) and of Fulvia whose father was the 125 BC consul Marcus Fulvius. She was married to Lentulus Sura, who was convicted in Catiline’s plot, and Mark Antonius Craeticus, with whom she had a son named Mark Antony. She used her power during the siege of Modena to save her son from being labeled an outlaw and pleaded with him to stop her brother Lucius Caesar from being condemned during the triumviral proscriptions. She escaped Rome in 41 BC, and Sextus Pompey dispatched her to Sicily with an escort of triremes and her son in Greece. She was in favor of the triumvirs’ reunion and could have been there when they met in 39 BC at Misenum.
• Julia: She was the censor Sulpicius Rufus’ wife in 42 BC and the daughter of Gaius Caesar Strabo.
• Julia: The only child of Caesar and his first wife, Cornelia (daughter of Cinna), was named Julia. Her birth occurred about 82 B.C. Her father had her engaged to Servilius Cepion, but she ended up marrying Pompey instead. In 54 B.C., she lost her life giving delivery.
• Julia: The Livillan daughter of Drusus. She married her cousin Nero Caesar and then, following his death, she married Rubellius Blandus, the descendant of a knight of Tibur, a union she saw as beneath her.
• Julia: She earned Messalina’s enmity and was ultimately sentenced to death by Emperor Claudius in the year 43 A.D.
• Julia Domna: Born in Emesa, Syria, she was Basianus’ daughter, Septimius Severus’ wife, Caracalla and Geta’s mother, and the grand aunt of Elagabalus and Alexander Severus.
• Julia Drusilla: For Suetonius, she was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and had incestuous relations with Caligula. She married the son of a consul, Lucius Cassius Longinus (30 AD), and then the consul himself, Marcus Emilius Lepidus. She passed away under the reign of her brother, who had her declared a goddess and given the name Panthea.
• Julia: Sextus Frontinus’ daughter and Sosius Senecion’s wife, Julia, was a consular official.
• Julia the Elder: The oldest of Julius Caesar’s sisters. She was married twice, first to Lucius Pinarius and once to Quintus Pedius; they had two kids together.
• Julia the Elder: Born in 39 B.C. to Augustus and Scribonia, Julia the Elder was the eldest of the two. When she was only a newborn, her parents divorced. She had a very rigorous academic upbringing. Her every waking moment was meticulously documented, from the classes she attended to the people she spoke with and the activities she engaged in. Her father once brought up a young man named Lucius Vinicius, who had spoken to her at Bayas, because of his impeccable reputation. She married his cousin Marcellus, the son of Octavia, in 25 B.C., and then she married Marcus Agrippa following his death in 23 B.C. In 17 B.C., she traveled with Agrippa to Asia Minor and was almost drowned in the Scamander River. Augustus considered marrying her to Gaius Proculeius, a knight, after Agrippa’s death, but ultimately settled on Tiberius. Rumors also circulated that he had promised her to a son of Mark Antony and to Cositon, king of the Getas. Their marriage did not endure or provide them with joy. Julia’s humor infuriated Tiberius, who had just lost a newborn son, and he fled to Rhodes to live in exile in 6 BC. Given Livia’s animosity, the staleness and corruption of the court, and the biases of the journalists who chronicled the events, it’s likely that Julia’s indiscretion outweighed her vices. Her open and upbeat personality was at odds with the palace’s political formality, and her evening party guests likely represented all socioeconomic strata in Rome based on their given names. In addition to calling her behavior a disease of the flesh and repeating over and over that he wished he had not had children, Augustus’ indignation knew no bounds when he learned of his daughter’s behavior, which was already known to all of Rome. He threatened to kill her, condemned her to banishment, and recklessly revealed the full extent of her domestic shame to the Senate. When people pleaded with her to return home, she told them they should be so lucky to have such lovely children and spouses. When Julia’s freedwoman Phoebe took her own life rather than face punishment from her drunken companions, Augustus lamented, “I wish I had been Phoebe’s father.” Nonetheless, Augustus’ response is believable given that Pliny describes Julia’s involvement in a plot against the life of her father and Suetonius claims that, already in exile, she was of interest to the malcontents. Off the coast of Campania, she was initially sent to the island of Pandataria. Her mother, Scribonia, was also banished along with her. She had no comforts and could only have guests if they got Augustus’ permission to depart. She was relocated to Reggio after five years, but she was never given permission to leave the city. Augustus disinherited her and barred the interment of her remains in his mausoleum in his testament. When Tiberius took the throne, he made his banishment much more severe. The once-loose restrictions were tightened, and she was alone in her home with nobody to help her. Grief and deprivation contributed to her death by consumption in the year 14 A.D., which took her life at the age of 54. Several examples of Julia’s humor and a less prejudiced assessment of her character may be found in the works of Macrobius, a writer from the fourth century A.D. The image of Julia on certain Greek coins has survived.
• Julia Minor: The youngest of Julius Caesar’s sisters. She had Acia, the mother of Augustus, when she was married to Marcus Acius. She passed away sometime between 51 and 52 B.C. Her funeral speech was delivered by her grandson.
• Julia the Younger: She was the spouse of Lucius Emilius Paullus and the daughter of Julia the Elder. Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Emilius Lepidus both had her as a mother. She was characterized in ancient history as having vices and emotions. She was exiled to the little island of Tremero in 9 A.D. by her grandpa Augustus due to her adulterous connection with Decimus Silanus, where she lived for twenty years owing to Livia’s charity. By command of Augustus, a child born after her exile was revealed as a fake. She passed away in 28 AD and was buried in her exile. It’s possible that she was Corinna from Ovid’s elegies.
• Julia Livilla: She was married to the consular Marcus Vinicius and was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Great. Her brother Caligula banished her, and her uncle Claudius granted her amnesty. She was put to death on Messalina’s orders.
• Julia Mamea: She was born in Emesa, Syria, the daughter of Julia Mesa and the mother of Alexander Severus.
• Julia Mesa: She was born in Emesa, Syria, and is the sister of Julia Domna and the grandmother of Elagabalus and Alexander Severus.
• Julia Soemias: She was born in Emesa, Syria, and she was the mother of Elagabalus and the daughter of Julia Domna.
• Junia: Caius Marcellus’ mother Junia served as a consul in 50 B.C. She was Marcellus’ grandmother.
• Junia Calvina: She was the wife of Lucius Vitellius, the consul in 48 AD, and the daughter of Silanus Torcuatus. She was charged with having an affair with his brother, Lucius Silanus. Calvina was exiled from Italy after Silanus’ death. Being the last known surviving descendant of Augustus, she was still alive at the conclusion of Vespasian’s rule.
• Junia Claudila: Marcus Silanus’ daughter and Caligula’s first wife. She lost her life giving delivery.
• Junia the Elder: The oldest child of Decimus Silanus, consul in 62 B.C., and Servilia. She married Lepidus and was Brutus the Tyrant’s half-sister. She participated in the plot against Augustus that her son hatched.
• Junia the Younger: She was the half-sister of Brutus the Tyrant and the daughter of Decimus Silanus, a consul in 62 BC, and Servilia. She married Vacia Isauricus.
• Junia Lepida: The wife of Cassius Longinus, the consul in 30 AD, she was the daughter of Silanus Torcuatus.
• Junia Silana: She was the sister of Caligula’s first wife, Junia Claudila, and the daughter of Marcus Silanus. When Agrippina the Less turned Sextilio Africano, whom she wanted to marry, against her, she created an enemy. Then, Silana charged Agrippina of organizing a plot against her own son in order to marry Rubellius Plautus and establish him as king. Her husband’s name was Caius Silius.
• Junia Torcuata: Sister of the condemned Gaius Silanus, she pleaded on his behalf at his execution during the reign of Emperor Tiberius. A vestal virgin, indeed.
• Junia Tercia: Brutus’ half-sister; she was the youngest daughter of Decimus Silanus, consul in 62 B.C., and Servilia. She married Cassius, the tyrant. In the year 22 A.D., she passed away. She left her estate to the great Roman men, except for Tiberius. At her funeral, it was taboo to display any memorials to Brutus or Cassius.
• Justa: The first Valentinian and Justina’s daughter. Gala Placidia’s mother’s sister.
• Justina. She later married Emperor Valentinian I after being married to Magnetius. Justina escaped to Thessalonica, where she begged Theodosius the Great for rescue when Magnus Maximus attacked the Italian peninsula. She was an ardent adherent of Arianism and engaged in a heated debate with Ambrose of Milan.

L

• Laberia Hostilia Crispina: The daughter of Laberius Maximus and the wife of Brutio Presente.
• Leta: The daughter of Tisamene, she was the Emperor Gratian’s wife. Leta was a resident of Rome during Alaric’s siege, and she spent her own money to help feed the starving citizens of that city.
• Licinia: Lucius Crassus’ youngest daughter and Marius the Younger’s bride, she was born in 95 B.C.
• Licinia: She was the wife of Gaius Gracchus and the daughter of Crassus Dives Mucianus, a consul in 131 B.C.
• Licinia: She was the wife of the Roman official Claudius Asellus about the middle of the second century B.C. The praetor released her and Publicia on bond when they were suspected of killing their husbands, but their families had them put to death after the iuricium domesticum.
• Livia: She was the daughter of Marcus Drusus, a consular and censor. Both Quintus Cepion and Marcus Cato were her husbands. She gave birth to Utica’s Servilia and Cato.
• Livia Drusilla: Augustus’ wife; she was the daughter of Emperor Drusus Claudianus. Her birthday is September 28th, between 56 and 54 B.C. Her first husband was the Emperor Claudius Nero. Augustus, smitten by her beauty, coerced her husband into marrying him in the early 38th century B.C. When Livia married Augustus, she was already the mother of Claudius Nero’s future emperor son Tiberius and Drusus the Elder’s child. She had to leave Italy just two years before because her husband was fighting in the Peruvian War. Livia maintained her sway over her husband right up until his death, even though the couple was childless. The general public in Rome believed she would stop at nothing to guarantee her children, not Augustus, would succeed to the throne. It was believed that his plotting was responsible for the untimely deaths of Marcellus, Gaius, Lucius Caesar, and perhaps Augustus himself in 14 A.D. Augustus willfully adopted her, and she became known as Julia Augusta. At the outset of Tiberius’ rule, she seemed to participate in government duties by signing official papers beside him and handling public mail. But Tiberius forced her out of the spotlight and only talked to her once more. Pliny the Elder places Livia’s death in 29 A.D. at the age of eighty-two, whereas Cassius Dion places it at the age of eighty-six. Tiberius did not pay his respects at her burial, stopped her from being consecrated, and banned her will from being carried out. Caligula delivered Livia’s funeral oration and promised to fulfill her will throughout his reign. Her grandson Claudius later sanctioned her inauguration.
• Lolia: Possibly Lolio Palicano’s daughter and Aulus Gabinius’ bride.
• Lolia Paulina: Through her marriage to Caligula, she became a Roman empress.
• Lucila: Lucius Aurelius and Faustina the Younger’s daughter. In 164 A.D., her father arranged for her to marry Lucius Verus. After her husband died, she was married off to Claudius Pompeianus against his wishes and during the grieving period. She was put to death for plotting against her brother, Commodus.
• Lucretia: She was the daughter of one of the Republic’s founders, Spurius Lucretius, and the wife of one of its leaders, Tarquinius Colatinus. During the Aricia siege, Sextus Tarquinius and his brother, Tarquinius Colatinus, were allowed to return to Rome. They decided to spy on their spouses and found that while Sextus’ wife was out at a fancy dinner, Colatine’s wife was keeping to herself at home. Since Lucretia’s husband was stationed outside of town, Sextus took advantage of the situation by sneaking into her home at night and forcing himself on her, threatening to kill the slaves if she cried or called for aid. The next morning, after telling her father, her husband, Colatinus, and other guests what had transpired, the girl stabbed herself in the chest with a knife and died. According to Roman folklore, it was this rape that led to the fall of the Tarquinios and the founding of the Republic. They also say that Junius Brutus, a bystander at the suicide scene, took vengeance on the family of Tarquinio the Superb, whom the Romans had exiled from the city and sent into exile in Etruria. Colatinus, Lucretia’s widower, was also forced to leave as a result of the expulsion.

M

• Manlia Escantila: The imperial wife of Didius Julianus.
• Marcella the Elder: She was born in 43 B.C. to Claudius Marcellus and Octavia the Younger, making her the sister of Augustus. She later married Agrippa. In 21 B.C., Augustus divorced Marcela and married his daughter Julia the Elder to Agrippa. Augustus then remarried Marcela to Julius Antony, Mark Antony’s son. The offspring of the second union were a boy named Lucius Antonius and maybe a girl. After Antonio’s tragic murder during the controversy surrounding Julia la Mayor, very little is known about her.
• Marcela the Younger: Sister of Marcela the Elder, she was born around 39 B.C. and was Valeria Messalina’s grandma.
• Marcia: She was Julius Caesar’s grandmother and the sister of the 118 BC Roman consul Martius Rex.
• Marcia: She was Cato of Utica’s second wife. The latter gave her to the former when the latter requested her. Hortensio’s death necessitated her return to Cato, who had left her in control of the family business when he fled Rome at the start of the civil war.
• Marcia: She was the wife of Paulus Fabius Numantinus and the granddaughter of Augustus’ stepfather.
• Marcia: There is no proof that Trajan’s mother was really called Marcia, although this name is often assigned to her since it was the cognomen of Trajan’s sister.
• Maria: She was likely the wife of Honorius, the brother of Theodosius the Great, and the mother of Serena and Termancia. She was of Hispanic descent.
• Marina Severa: Gratian’s mother, and Valentinian’s first wife. Her spouse left her after discovering her involvement in a real estate scam.
• Matidia the Great: She was the niece of Trajan and the daughter of Ulpia Marciana. She was the mother of Matidia the Younger and Vibia Sabina from her marriages to Vibius Sabinus and an unnamed senator called Lucius Mindius. In the year 119 A.D., she passed away.
• Matidia the Younger: Daughter of Matidia the Elder. All her life, she remained celibate and single.
• Messalina: She was the third wife of Claudius, whom she married before he became emperor. She was the daughter of Messala Barbato and Domicia Lepida. Writers like Tacitus and Pliny the Elder painted a bleak picture of her character, but Claudius’ second wife and successor as empress, Agrippina, may have exaggerated her vices and malignity to discredit her. But Messalina exploited her position as empress to corrupt or sacrifice the most prestigious families in Rome out of anger, ambition, or money, with the participation of imperial freedmen like Polybius or Narcissus. The two Julias, one the daughter of Germanicus and the other the daughter of Drusus and granddaughter of Tiberius, as well as Appius Silanus, who despised Narcissus, the favorite of the empress; Marcus Vinicius, the husband of a daughter of Germanicus, of an illustrious family and close to Claudius; and Valerius Asiaticus, whose property he coveted, were among his most infamous victims. For vengeance, intrigue, and avarice, he also used the 42 A.D. plot to his advantage. Together, he and Claudius had two children, Britannicus and Octavia. She married Gaius Silius openly in 48 A.D., when Claudius was away from Rome at Ostia. Since the killing of Polybius the previous year had left Narcissus in a vulnerable position, he successfully persuaded the emperor that they planned to remove him from power. The freedman delivered the death sentence when Claudius dithered. In the gardens of Lucullus, which had been passed down from Valerius Asiaticus, Messalina met her end at the hands of a tribune. By law, the Senate had all references to them erased from Roman monuments.
• Mucia Tertia: She was the third wife of Pompey the Great and the daughter of the astrologer Mucius Scevola. He filed for divorce from her in 62 B.C. on grounds of adultery. She eventually married Sulla’s grandson-in-law, Emilius Scaurus. When the Roman people asked her to mediate between her son Sextus and Augustus in 39 B.C., she did just that. In 31 B.C., she was still among the living. She gave birth to the Pompeii siblings, Cnaeus and Sextus.
• Mummia Achaica: The great-granddaughter of the Destroyer of Corinth, Lucius Mummius, and mother of the Roman emperor Galba.
• Munacia Plancina: Livia Drusila’s close companion; she was a descendant of Munacio Planco and the wife of Cneo Pisón, consul in 7 B.C. Agrippina the Great and she were bitter enemies. Although she was not exonerated, the death penalty for treason was not pursued against her. She took her own life when she was 33.

N

• Numitori: Marcus Antonius Creticus’ wife, who was Mark Antony’s father. No one descended from her.

O

• Octavia: The daughter of Emperor Claudius and his third wife, Valeria Messalina. Nero, her husband, banished her to the island of Pandataria before having her put to death.
• Octavia the Elder: She was a half-sister of Emperor Augustus and the eldest daughter of Gaius Octavius, the praetor in 61 B.C., and his first wife, Ancaria. Her husband, Sextus Appuleius, served as consul in 29 B.C., and their sons, Sextus Appuleius and Marcus Appuleius, served as consuls in 20 B.C.
• Octavia the Younger: Sister of Emperor Augustus, she was born to Gaius Octavius and his second wife, Acia. Although she was already married to Gaius Marcellus, an opponent of the dictator, in 54 B.C., her great-uncle Julius Caesar attempted to marry her to Pompey. After the Pharsalus battle, Caesar pardoned Marcellus, and he eventually returned to Rome, where he passed away in the latter half of 41 B.C. At around the same time, Mark Antony’s wife Fulvia passed away, so Augustus arranged the marriage of his sister, who was pregnant with Marcellus, to his triumviral colleague to cement their recent reconciliation. The Senate had to sign a decree legalizing the marriage. The wedding was met with celebration since it was seen as a sign of long-lasting peace, particularly among the armed forces. In 36 B.C., she was the force that kept Augustus and Mark Antony from breaking up. After returning to the east with her husband, Octavia was brought back to Rome at Corcira because of the impending perils and hardships of the Parthian war she planned to conduct. According to Plutarch and Apianus, the couple split up in Italy. Octavia’s brother gave her reinforcements in the form of troops and money to aid in the fight against her husband’s Artavasdes in 35 B.C., despite the fact that she had been rejected by her husband. Mark Antony wrote her when she was in Athens, pleading with her to return to Rome. She defied Augustus’ order to leave her husband’s home and raised her own children and the youngest son of Antony and Fulvia, Julius Antony, there. Mark Antony separated from Octavia around 32 B.C. Octavia honored the legacy of her late ex-husband, the triumvir, by taking care of their son, Julius Antony, and his daughter, Cleopatra. This woman passed away in the year 11 B.C. A public funeral was held for her, and she was buried in the Julii tomb after Augustus delivered an oration honoring her life behind a curtain. With her first husband, she gave birth to Marco Marcelo, Marcela the Greater, and Marcela the Lesser; with her second husband, she produced Antonia the Greater and Antonia the Lesser. Caligula, Claudius, and Nero could all trace their imperial lineage back to her. After Marcellus’ death in 23 BC, Augustus likely had the Porticus Octaviae constructed in her honor.
• Opia: Vestal around the turn of the 5th century BC. Due to her guilt, she was put to death.
• Orbinia: In the early part of the fifth century B.C., she served as Vestal. Because of her bad behavior, she had to die.

P

• Paulla Popillia: She was the wife of Cnaeus Pison, who served as consul in 23 B.C. Popillia was likely a descendant of Popilius Lenas, who served as consul in 139 B.C.
• Plaucia: Sister of Britannia’s conqueror Aulus Plautius, she married 19th-century Roman consul suffectus Publius Petronius.
• Plautius Urgulanila: Claudius’ first wife; she gave birth to their son, Claudius Drusus. Claudius disowned her and said that she had committed adultery.
• Pompeia: Great-granddaughter of Sulla and the consul Pompey Rufus in 88 B.C. After the controversy over the rituals of Bona Dea, Julius Caesar divorced her in 61 B.C.
• Polla Argentaria: She was the Roman Poet Lucan’s (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus) wife.
• Pompeia: Pompey the Great’s daughter; she married Faustus Sulla, the dictator’s son, and then Cinna, a consul suffectus in 32 BC.
• Pompeia Paulina: Seneca the Younger’s wife.
• Pompeia Plotina: Possibly of Narbonese descent, she was the wife of Trajan and was at his side during all of his military endeavors. She had a role in the process that put Hadrian in power.
• Pomponia: She was the mother of Scipio Africanus and the wife of the 218 B.C. consul Publius Scipio.
• Poppaea Sabina: The Emperor Nero’s wife and a great beauty of her day. She was the daughter of Titus Olio and Poppaea Sabina the Elder, the daughter of the consular Poppaeus Sabinus. After divorcing her husband, Rufrio Crispino, a prefect of the Praetorian Guard, she married her lover, Otto. Later, Nero took an interest in her because of all the gushing praise her spouse had given her. According to Tacitus, to indulge his lust for her, Nero banished Otho to the region of Lusitania. After becoming Nero’s lover, Poppea used her charms to get him to divorce his wife, Octavia; she then had Octavia executed, and the couple married a few days later. She had a daughter in 63 A.D., but she only lived a few short months. Nero kicked her during a fight the next time she appeared on camera, and she died. A public burial was held for her, she was inscribed among the gods, and a temple was built in her honor with the inscription Sabinae deae Veneri matronae fecerunt. She was very wealthy, engaged in discussion, and seldom seen in public, and when she did, she disguised her face under a veil.
• Poppaea Sabina the Older: The Empress Poppaea Sabina’s mother. In 47 A.D., after being falsely accused of adultery by Messalina, she took her own life.
• Popilia: She was the mother of both the 102 BC consul Lutatius Catullus and the 90 BC consul Lucius Caesar.
• Porcia: Cato of Utica’s first wife, Attilia, had a daughter they called Porcia. She took after her father in being courageous and independent, as well as inheriting his stoic republican values. In her first marriage, she had three children with Caesar’s colleague Bibulus in 59 B.C. After her husband’s death in 48 B.C., she married the tyrant Brutus in 45 B.C. When he was hesitant to tell her about the plot against Caesar’s life the night before the Ides, she stabbed herself in the leg to show him she was courageous and trustworthy. Instead, her love for Brutus overcame her usual reserve, and she fainted the next morning out of fear for his well-being, prompting a message to be sent to Brutus in the Senate informing him that his wife was in a terminal coma. He joined Cassius, Brutus, and Cicero in June for a conference in Antium. She left Rome with her husband later that year, but they were separated in Velia, Lucania, when he embarked for Greece in October. Afterward, she went back to Rome and lived there undisturbed by the triumvirs. She became sick after hearing of Brutus’ death at Philippi and made up her mind that she would not live to see the destruction of her party. It is alleged that her friends knew she was about to kill herself, so they removed all the weapons from the house. Most likely, she committed suicide by suffocating herself in the smoke emanating from a brazier’s charcoal.
• Porcia: She was the sister of Cato of Utica and the wife of the 54 B.C. consul Lucius Ahenobarbus. Towards the conclusion of the year 46 B.C.
• Postumia: Vestal of the late fifth century BC, she was once cleared of the misconduct charges against her.
• Prisca: was married to Diocletian and bore him their daughter, Galeria Valeria. In 311, Maximian had her deported to Syria; four years later, in 315, Licinius had her apprehended and killed.
• Publilia: Cicero’s second wife; she was the subject of a quick divorce. To remarry, Publilia married Vibius Rufus.
• Pulqueria: Theodosius I’s daughter from Elia Flaccilla. They lost her at a young age.

Q

• Quintilia: She was the wife of Cornelius Dolabela and the sister of Quintilius Varus.
• Quintilia: Known as the wife of Nonius Asprenas, she was also the sister of Quintilius Varus.
• Quintilia: Sister of the consul Quintilius Varus and wife of Sextus Appuleius in 29 BC.
• Quarta Hostilia: She was the wife of Gaius Piso, who served as consul ordinarius in 180 B.C., and the mother of Quintus Flaccus, who became consul suffectus the same year. Her son’s consulate appointment was allegedly influenced by the accusation that she poisoned her spouse.

R

• Racilia: Cincinnatus’ wife.
• Rubria: Carbon Arvina’s wife.
• Rubria: Nero raped this Vestal.
• Rupilia Faustina: Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ grandmother.
• Rutilia: In 91 BC, she went into exile with her son, the orator Caius Cota.
• Rutili: Rutilius Rudo’s daughter and future wife, she was married to the 58 B.C. consul Pison Caesoninus. She gave birth to Pison, who later became pontiff, and Calpurnia, who later became Julius Caesar’s wife.

S

• Sempronia: She was the sister of the Gracchi and the wife of Scipio Emilianus. Her father, Tiberius Gracchus, was censor in 169 B.C. Neither her personal life nor her personality are known to us. Scipio hated her because of her sterility and lack of beauty, which were feelings she shared with him. After his unexpected death, some people assumed that she and her mother, Cornelia, had killed him. But there was nothing to prove her guilt. She refuted Appuleius Saturninus’ assertion that Lucius Equicius was the son of Tiberius in the trial brought against Numidicus in 101 B.C.
• Serena: She was married to Stilicho, and together they produced Maria, Termancia, and Eucherius. She was the niece of Theodosius the Great. Despite her Christian beliefs, she desecrated the Roman church dedicated to the Magna Mater in order to construct one dedicated to the pagan god Nazarius in Milan. She was put to death in 408 A.D. on charges of conspiring with Alaric.
• Scribonia: She was the sister of Scribonius Libon, the father-in-law of Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great, and the wife of Augustus, as well as the mother of Julia the Great. According to Suetonius, she was previously married to two other consular-ranking men whose names are not given. Cornelius Scipio was one of them; they had two children together: a son called Cornelius Scipio, consul in 16 B.C., and a daughter named Cornelia, who married Paulus Emilius Lepidus, consul in 22 B.C. In order to strengthen his relationship with Pompey and Libon after the Peruvian War and prevent them from joining forces with Mark Antony, Augustus married her on Maecenas’ recommendation. Scribonia was considerably older than Augustus, and he never had any emotion for her, so when the tables turned and ties with Mark Antony improved, he did not hesitate to divorce her on the day his daughter was born. Augustus cited his wife’s laid-back demeanor as the reason for the divorce, while Mark Antony said that the real reason was because she was hurt by her husband’s affair with Livia. Scribonia survived for a long time after the divorce, and in 2 AD, she voluntarily accompanied her daughter on her exile to the Roman province of Pandataria.
• Scribonia: She was the daughter of Scribonius Libon, a consul in 34 B.C., and the niece of Scribonia. She married Sextus Pompeius, a descendant of the great Pompey.
• Servilia: Brutus’ mother; she was the daughter of Livia and the sister of the plebeian tribune Livius Drusus in 91 B.C. She had three daughters by her first husband, Marcus Brutus, and two by her second, Decimus Silanus, consul in 62 B.C. Plutarch dates her affair with Julius Caesar to 63 B.C., saying that Caesar was more enamored with her brilliance than with her beauty. Mark Antony sent her son Brutus’ ashes after the battle of Philippi; thus, she outlived both her lover and her son.
• Sosia Pola: She was the wife of Pompeius Falcon and the daughter of Sosio Senecion.
• Sulpicia the Elder: She was a poetess from the last century BC. She was the daughter of the Caesarian senator Servius Rufus and the wife of the Roman general Marcus Caecilius Cornuto. Her poetry lives on in the collections of Tibullus.
• Sulpicia the Younger: This poetess wrote a famous poem about her husband Calenus in the late first century A.D.

T

• Tanaquil: She was the Etruscan princess who married Tarquinio Prisco. She convinced her husband to take the crown of Rome, and the couple relocated there. When Tarquinio was killed, she supported Servius Tullius’ bid for the throne. She had practiced augury and was skilled at it.
• Tarquinia: The mother of Tulias Minor and Tulias Major, she was the daughter of Tarquinius Priscus and the wife of Servius Tullius.
• Tarquinia: She was the mother of the Aquilios and the sister of Tarquinio Colatino.
• Tarquinia: Octavius Mamillius’ wife, she was the daughter of Tarquinius the Superb. The historians recently made up her name.
• Tarquinia: She was the mother of Lucius Junius Brutus and the sister of Tarquinio the Superb.
• Tarpeia: The Capitol Hill governor Spurius Tarpeius’ daughter; she let the Sabines into Rome out of avarice and was subsequently killed by them crushing her to death with their shields. The cliff in Tarpeia from where the traitors were plunging was given her name.
• Termancia: Theodosius the Great’s mother.
• Termancia: She was the sister of Emperor Theodosius the Great and the daughter of Honorius and Mary. She had a spouse, but we don’t know his name.
• Theodora: The second daughter of Maximian and the wife of Constantius Chlorus, had six children with her husband.
• Terence: Cicero’s ex-wife who filed for divorce in 46 BC.
• Tulia: She was Cicero and Terence’s daughter. Tulia had three husbands before she died giving birth to her third child in 45 BC.
• Tulia the Elder: She was the oldest of Servius Tullius’ daughters. She was married to Tarquinius the Superb, and with Tarquinius’ approval, her sister Tulia the Younger murdered her.
• Tulia Minor: She was the youngest daughter of Servius Tullius. She married her cousin, Arrunte Tarquinio, and then plotted with her brother-in-law, Tarquinio the Superb, to kill them both. After the Magnicides, she married her conspirator and became Rome’s last monarchal consort.

U

• Ulpia Marciana: Trajan’s sister, she was the mother of Matidia the Great and the wife of Vicecian senator Matidius Patruinus. Around the year 112 A.D., she passed away.
• Umidia Cuadratila: Daughter of Umidius Quadratus, consular and governor of Syria she was born in Casinum and lived to be nearly eighty when she passed away during the reign of Trajan.
• Urgulania: Livia protected her from various legal troubles since she was one of her favorites. According to Tacitus, she disobeyed Lucius Pison, to whom she owed money, when he ordered her to appear before the praetor. Tiberius, at Livia’s urging, went to the court to defend Urgulania. However, he walked so slowly (entertaining himself by conversing with the individuals he came across) that he allowed Livia time to settle the amount, and the matter was dismissed. On another occasion, she refused to appear before the Senate to testify as a witness, forcing the praetor to go to her home. When it seemed like he was going to be executed for the death of his wife in 24 AD, he sent a knife to his grandson Plautius Silvanus.

V

• Vestal Urbinia: In 472 BC, a slave accused her of ritual sacrifices when she had already lost her virginity (no more a Vestal) and Rome was experiencing an epidemic that killed off many pregnant women. She was tried for starting the pandemic, found guilty, and sentenced to death by whipping, public humiliation, and incarceration. Both of her exes died tragic deaths: one by suicide and the other at the hands of an assailant.
• Valeria: The daughter of Valerius Publicola; she was a hostage held by Porsenna.
• Valeria: She was the sister of Valerius Publicola and a Fortuna priestess.
• Valeria Maximila: She was the daughter of Galerius and Maxentius’ wife.
• Verania: Pison Licinianus’ wife.
• Vesia Rustica: Anicius Faustus’ wife; she was the Consul Suffectus in 198 A.D.
• Veturia: Coriolanus’ mother.
• Vibia Aurelia Sabina: The daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Less.
• Vibius Sabinus: Hadrian’s wife was the daughter of Matidia the Elder, and she served as consul suffect in the year 97 A.D. During his reign, she joined him on many of his travels. She passed sometime around 136 or 137.
• Vibidia: When Messalina became caught up in Narcissus’ schemes, the Vestal virgin sought to intervene on her behalf.
• Vipsania: She was the name of Marcus Agrippa and Cecilia Attica’s daughter. She had two husbands, Tiberius and Asinius Gallus, who both died. Augustus decreed her divorce from her first husband. With Tiberius, she gave birth to Drusus Minor; with Asinius Gallus, she gave birth to Asinius Polion Minor and Asinius Agrippa, among others.
• Vipsania: She was the daughter of Cecilia Attica and, presumably, Marcus Agrippa. She married Quintus Haterius and bore the tenth-dynasty emperor, Agrippa.
• Vipsania: Marcus Agrippa’s daughter; she was most likely the Great Marcela’s. Publius Varus was her husband.
• Vipsani Marcela: Marcus Lepidus’ first wife was a woman named Vipsani Marcela, who was said to be the daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Marcela the Great.
• Virginia: She was the fiancee of Lucius Icilius, a Roman senator, and the daughter of Centurion Lucius Virginius. The Decenviro, Apius Claudius, sought to woo her but failed. He had been rejected, and so he had lied about his father’s whereabouts in order to take advantage of his father’s service on Mount Algicus. Marcus Claudius, his client, kidnapped the child as she was walking to school on the pretense that she was his slave since she was the daughter of one of his slaves. Marcus Claudius excused himself by claiming he would not act aggressively and would take the issue to the court of the decemviri when the screams of the females following her aroused a multitude of onlookers. He said that he would prove to Appius Claudius that his wife had given the daughter to Lucius Virginius and asked that she be put to him in prison when the issue was brought before him and the prior claims were reiterated. Appius Claudius awarded possession to his client, Virginia, despite the clamor of her defenders, who wanted to reserve her civil rights under the ancient rules and asked for her custody. It was at this point that the young woman’s uncle, Publius Numitorius, and her cousin, Lucius Icilius, started an angry protest. Appius Claudius, anticipating chaos, recessed the court and said that he would resume the case the next day. Lucius Virginius, having been forewarned, came back from the battle with his daughter to the tribunal of the decemviri to hear the favorable judgment and to see his daughter taken by Marcus Claudius. The chaos that ensued separated Virginia from her father, who stabbed his daughter in the chest while screaming that it was the only way to protect her independence. After Virginia’s death, the populace was enraged, leading to the decemviri’s downfall.
• Vistilia: She is a Roman woman who has reportedly been married six times.
• Vistilia the Younger: She is Vistilia’s niece. Shipped out to Seriphos in the year 19 AD as an exile.
• Vitellia: The mother of Aulus Plautius, the Roman conqueror of Britain in the year 29 A.D.
• Volumnia: Coriolanus’ wife.

One half of ancient Rome’s population was made up of women; however, our understanding of their lives was limited. While we can learn a lot about ancient societies through statues and wall paintings, we have to rely on writings by men to learn about the practices of personal cleanliness and cosmetics of ancient women. In this article, we’ll explore the experiences of Roman women at the outset of the Roman Empire, when they were beginning to be recognized as individuals apart from their husbands.

• See Also: Women in Ancient Rome and Their Place in Roman Society

The Bathing and Showering of Ancient Roman Women

How near I was to warn you, no rankness of the wild goat under your armpits, no legs bristling with harsh hair!

According to the poetry of Ovid.

At the close of the Roman Republic, Roman males and females began placing a premium on physical beauty. The Romans thought that the body was flawed and incomplete by nature, so it had to be taught and trained to move away from its animal roots.

According to Seneca, the standard practice in the countryside was to shower daily, but only after getting dirty at labor (arms and legs), and to wait a week or nine days before showering again (market days). In the past, home hygiene only concerned the personal care of women and the youngest members of the household.

Only the wealthy residents of the city could afford private baths; everyone else had to rely on public baths. Since Hadrian’s reign and in response to a scandal, an imperial edict has mandated separate hours (morning for women, afternoon for men), with the exception of specific businesses (Pompeii) that were open at both times. On the other hand, a lady who was worried about what other people would say decided to stay away from the pool because of the presence of men and women. The wealthiest ladies indulged in milk baths (of sweet almond for Cleopatra, of ass for Poppea). Wrinkles might be reduced by using a variety of remedies, including donkey’s milk, crushed white vine, diluted pigeon droppings in vinegar, or oily fluid extracted from sheep’s wool.

The Romans did not have soap, so they washed with a sponge and degreasing ingredients and then used a strigil to remove dirt.

1. Foam: Saltpeter
2. Sapo: A foaming paste made of goat fat and beech ash (invented by the Gauls)
3. Lomentum: Made from bean flour and plucked snail shells
4. Pumex: Pumice stone

Due to the abrasive nature of these cleansers, it was necessary to apply ointments or moisturizing lotions containing scented oils all over the body after each wash to restore the skin’s softness and suppleness.

These lotions were made by combining cereal drink froth with lanolin taken from sheep’s wool and then scenting them to cover up the noxious odor. Some common ingredients in homemade beauty masks were wheat flour, donkey milk, boiled sturgeon glue, sulfur, orcanet, silver foam, water, and eggs. To avoid irritation and redness, these plasters could not be left on for more than a few hours. An anti-inflammatory remedy that included frankincense gum, myrrh, and nitre, diluted in honey and seasoned with fennel and dried roses, was effective in most situations. Cucumber juice, calf dung mixed with gum, and oil could all help diminish freckles.

Pliny the Elder’s book Natural History (Naturalis Historia) contained a plethora of recipes. While many of these items were claimed to be moisturizers, they actually produced lesions ranging from mild to severe and always required more maintenance or concealer. Ointments made with oil were the safest option. The Romans also used alum stone as a deodorant.

• See Also: Complete List of Women of Ancient Rome

Dentifricum (Dentifrice) was a powder made from soda (also known as “nitrum” or “saltpeter”) that was used for oral hygiene. Some people even tried using horse ashes, pumice powder, or urine. For a minty-fresh mouth, one could chew on a lozenge made from myrtle or mastic that had been soaked in a mixture of old wine, ivy berries, cassia, and myrrh. Pliny the Elder advised using stag horn ash as friction or mouthwash to relieve tooth pain. Many had said that stag horn powder that had not been burned was more potent.

The Greeks employed a feather (Martial) or a “dentiscalpium,” which could be fashioned of metal, bone, or wood and resembled a toothpick but was completed with a hook. Some were designed to be used as toothpicks or earpicks.

Rings, toothpicks, tweezers, a tiny nail-pick knife, a lice scraper, and a variety of makeup spatulas were all examples of items that could be found in a toiletry kit.

Hair removal in Ancient Roman women

Women used a depilatory cream made of rosin (pitch) dissolved in oil, which was occasionally combined with resin, wax, and a caustic ingredient to remove hair from their underarms and legs. Some women used a mixture of equal weights of black elderberry seed from Armenia and silver lye as an alternative. Others favored a wax made from pine resin. Bronze tweezers, ranging in size from 5 to 11 cm and resembling our own in design, provided a simpler alternative for ladies. Augustus, who would burn his legs with walnut shells heated to white to make his hair come back softer, was just one example of a man who waxed both his body and face.

Makeup was only an option for Roman women after they had spent hours perfecting their appearance. But a woman should never show a man, especially her partner, how she cleans herself.

The makeup of Ancient Roman women

When applying cosmetics, a Roman woman would use a highly polished bronze or precious metal mirror, which was occasionally silvered for a more accurate reflection. Roman women, to the chagrin of men like Seneca, resembled prostitutes (or lupa) due to their excessive use of cosmetics. Makeup was often applied after skincare routines had been completed. They used vivid, clashing hues.

A flawless complexion was all the rage. A woman’s worth was diminished if her face was excessively red, as this indicated that she was very active. On the other hand, paleness was a sign of female emotional distress and had to be avoided at all costs. White ceruse (lead carbonate) was used as a foundation, and it was sometimes combined with honey or another fatty ingredient to create a “youthful whiteness.” (Ceruse came from Rhodes and was very toxic; it had been banned in France since 1915.) Saltpeter foam, Selina earth (yellow ochre), wine lees, or fucus were used to add color to the white (red algae).

To further emphasize the narrowness of the forehead, the eyebrows were drawn up and made longer (another beauty criterion). Using a brush, antimony, often known as “smoke black,” was placed on the outer corner of the eye to accentuate the lash line. Then, either green (from malachite), blue (from azurite, copper carbonate), or red (from the hematite) was applied to the upper eyelid (a dye made from Cydnus saffron). A dab of crimson blush was applied with a brush, and a beauty spot was placed on each cheek to finish off the makeup.

Crushed hematite (iron oxide) crystals were used to add a touch of sparkle to the face for special events. Small, cylindrical bone pyxes or glass bottles housed the powders and creams, and a spatula or spoon made of bone, metal, or glass was used to remove the contents. To prepare the concoctions, they utilized little glass bowls.

All of this attention to the body was done according to the family’s resources, but even the humblest people would take care of themselves and apply makeup, using various materials (such as poppy flowers instead of saffron for the red) to appear beautiful under a lovely sky. Many of these items caused skin problems and may have even caused malignancies.”