Antonia Major - Biography - The Biographicon

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Overview

Antonia Major (in Latin: Antonia Maior, PIR² A 884) (b. August/September 39 BC), also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome’s first Emperor.

She was born in Athens, Greece and after 36 BC her mother, along with her siblings and herself were brought to Rome. She was raised by her mother, her uncle and her aunt Livia Drusilla. According to Cassius Dio, after her father died, her maternal uncle allowed her and her younger sister Antonia Minor to benefit from their father's estate in Rome.

Little is known of her, yet she was held in high regard, like her sister Antonia Minor, mother of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was celebrated for her beauty and virtue.

Around 26 BC/25 BC, Antonia married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC). Their children were:

* Domitia (aunt of Nero), Domitia or Domitia Lepida Major. She married, consul and senator Decimus Haterius Agrippa and bore him a son Quintus Haterius Antoninus. Agrippa died in 32. Her second husband was Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus, consul suffect in 27, proconsul of Asia and consul in 44 (who later married her sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger). * Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (PIR² D 127) - This consul of 32 married his second cousin Agrippina the Younger; they were the parents to Roman Emperor Nero. * Domitia Lepida (PIR² D 180) - She first married her cousin, the consul Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus to whom she bore a daughter, Roman Empress Valeria Messalina. After the death of her first husband, she married Faustus Cornelius Sulla, cos. suff. in 31 and gave him a son, Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (who would become consul in 52). At the beginning of Claudius' reign, she married Gaius Appius Junius Silanus, cos. in 28 (who was put to death in 42).

On the Ara Pacis (an altar from the Augustan Era), displays Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and his elder sister Domitia (aunt of Nero). The woman behind Domitia and Domitius is their mother Antonia Major and the man next to Antonia Major is her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. This can be seen at http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/gallery/arch/ara_pacis.htm . Antonia died before 25.

References

* (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III, Berlin, 1933 - . (PIR²)

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Photograph of Antonia Minor.

This biography says:

...According to Cassius Dio, after her father died, her maternal uncle allowed her and her younger sister Antonia Minor to benefit from their father's estate in Rome....

Photograph of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC).

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC)

That biography says:

...His wife was Aemilia Lepida and their son and only child Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was married to Antonia Major, daughter of Mark Antony. They became parents to a younger Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and grandparents of the Roman Emperor Nero...

Photograph of Claudius.

This biography says:

...Little is known of her, yet she was held in high regard, like her sister Antonia Minor, mother of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was celebrated for her beauty and virtue....

Photograph of Augustus.

This biography says:

...August/September 39 BC), also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome’s first Emperor....

That biography says:

...To further cement relations of alliance with Mark Anthony, Octavian gave his sibling sister, Octavia Minor, in marriage to Anthony in late 40 BC. During their marriage, Octavia gave birth to two daughters (known as Antonia Major and Antonia Minor).

Photograph of Livia.

This biography says:

...She was born in Athens, Greece and after 36 BC her mother, along with her siblings and herself were brought to Rome. She was raised by her mother, her uncle and her aunt Livia Drusilla. According to Cassius Dio, after her father died, her maternal uncle allowed her and her younger sister Antonia Minor to benefit from their father's estate in Rome...

Photograph of Lucius Munatius Plancus.

Lucius Munatius Plancus

That biography says:

...In Suetonius' Life of Nero (ch. 4), we read that the emperor Nero's grandfather, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, whose wife was Antonia Major, daughter of Mark Antony, "was haughty, extravagant, and cruel, and when he was only an aedile, forced the censor Lucius Plancus to make way for him on the street": the story seems to hint at the poor reputation Plancus held after his censorship...

Photograph of Nero.

This biography says:

...* Domitia (aunt of Nero), Domitia or Domitia Lepida Major. She married, consul and senator Decimus Haterius Agrippa and bore him a son Quintus Haterius Antoninus...

That biography says:

...Lucius' father was grandson to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Aemilia Lepida through their son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Gnaeus was also a grandson to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor through their daughter Antonia Major. Through Octavia, he was the grand-nephew of Caesar Augustus. Nero's father had been employed as a praetor and was a member of Caligula's staff when the future-emperor traveled to the East...

Photograph of Agrippina the Younger.

Agrippina the Younger

This biography says:

...Her second husband was Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus, consul suffect in 27, proconsul of Asia and consul in 44 (who later married her sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger). * Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (PIR2 D 127) - This consul of 32 married his second cousin Agrippina the Younger; they were the parents to Roman Emperor Nero...

That biography says:

...Domitius came from a distinguished family. From his paternal side he descended from men of consular rank. Through his mother Antonia Major, he was related to the imperial family. Antonia Major was the elder sister to Antonia Minor and was another daughter to Octavia Minor and Mark Antony (Augustus being her maternal uncle)...

Photograph of Octavia Minor.

This biography says:

...August/September 39 BC), also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome’s first Emperor....

That biography says:

...She raised her children by Marcellus; Antony's two sons and their two daughters: Julia Antonia Major and Julia Antonia Minor, who were born there. She travelled with him to various provinces.

Photograph of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32).

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32)

That biography says:

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (11 December, 17 BC - January 40) was a close relative to the Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Domitius was the only son to Antonia Major (niece of Roman Emperor Augustus and daughter to Augustus' sister Octavia Minor to Mark Antony) and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC)...

Photograph of Domitia Lepida.

This biography says:

...* Domitia (aunt of Nero), Domitia or Domitia Lepida Major. She married, consul and senator Decimus Haterius Agrippa and bore him a son Quintus Haterius Antoninus...

That biography says:

...10 BC-54), was the younger daughter of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC) and Antonia Major. Her elder siblings were Domitia (aunt of Nero) (with whom she's sometimes confused) and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of the emperor Nero)...

Photograph of Mark Antony.

This biography says:

Antonia Major (in Latin: Antonia Maior, PIR2 A 884) (b. August/September 39 BC), also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to Augustus, Rome’s first Emperor....

That biography says:

...#Marriage to Fulvia, by whom he had two sons #*Marcus Antonius Antyllus, executed by Octavian in 30 BC #*Iullus Antonius Creticus, married Claudia Marcella Major, daughter of Octavia #Marriage to Octavia Minor, sister of Octavian, later Augustus; they had two daughters #*Antonia Major, married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; grandmother of the Emperor Nero #*Antonia Minor, married Drusus, the son of Livia; mother of the Emperor Claudius, grandmother of the Emperor Caligula, great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero #Children with Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, and former lover of Julius Caesar #*The twins #**Alexander Helios #**Cleopatra Selene II, married King Juba II of Numidia and later Mauretania #*Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Photograph of Valeria Messalina.

Valeria Messalina

That biography says:

...Her mother, Domitia Lepida, was the youngest child of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC) and Antonia Major. Messalina’s grandmothers were half sisters and nieces of Rome's first Emperor Augustus....

Photograph of Marcus Antonius Antyllus.

Marcus Antonius Antyllus

That biography says:

...His younger full blooded brother was Iullus Antonius. His maternal half sibling was Clodia Pulchra and his paternal half siblings were Antonia Major, Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, Antonia Minor and Ptolemy Philadelphus (Cleopatra)...

Photograph of Quintus Haterius Antoninus.

Quintus Haterius Antoninus

This biography says:

...* Domitia (aunt of Nero), Domitia or Domitia Lepida Major. She married, consul and senator Decimus Haterius Agrippa and bore him a son Quintus Haterius Antoninus. Agrippa died in 32. Her second husband was Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus, consul suffect in 27, proconsul of Asia and consul in 44 (who later married her sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger)...

That biography says:

...His paternal grandfather was the influential orator and senator Quintus Haterius. His maternal grandparents were Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC) and Antonia Major. Antonia was a daughter of Triumvir Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of Emperor Augustus....

Photograph of Iullus Antonius.

Iullus Antonius

That biography says:

...He was the full brother of Marcus Antonius Antyllus, half-brother to Clodia Pulchra, first wife of Augustus through his mother's first marriage, Antonia Major and Antonia Minor through his father's marriage to Octavia Minor and Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II and Ptolemy Philadelphus through his father's marriage to Cleopatra...

Photograph of Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix.

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix

This biography says:

...After the death of her first husband, she married Faustus Cornelius Sulla, cos. suff. in 31 and gave him a son, Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (who would become consul in 52). At the beginning of Claudius' reign, she married Gaius Appius Junius Silanus, cos...

That biography says:

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (22–62) was one of the lesser known figures of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of ancient Rome. His grandmother was Antonia Major, the niece of Emperor Augustus by her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC) (his maternal grandfather)...

Photograph of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC).

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC)

That biography says:

...In Emperor Augustus' will he was nominated to purchase Augustus' household possessions. Lucius Domitius married Antonia Major, Augustus' niece. They had Domitia (aunt of Nero) or Domitia Lepida Major, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Domitia Lepida...

Photograph of Decimus Haterius Agrippa.

Decimus Haterius Agrippa

This biography says:

...* Domitia (aunt of Nero), Domitia or Domitia Lepida Major. She married, consul and senator Decimus Haterius Agrippa and bore him a son Quintus Haterius Antoninus. Agrippa died in 32. Her second husband was Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus, consul suffect in 27, proconsul of Asia and consul in 44 (who later married her sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger)...

That biography says:

...Tacitus describes him as a "somnolent creature". He married Domitia (aunt of Nero), daughter of Antonia Major and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC). Their only child was the future consul Quintus Haterius Antoninus.

Photograph of Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus.

Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus

This biography says:

...* Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (PIR2 D 127) - This consul of 32 married his second cousin Agrippina the Younger; they were the parents to Roman Emperor Nero. * Domitia Lepida (PIR2 D 180) - She first married her cousin, the consul Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus to whom she bore a daughter, Roman Empress Valeria Messalina. After the death of her first husband, she married Faustus Cornelius Sulla, cos...

Photograph of Aemilia Lepida.

That biography says:

...Her only child was her son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC). Her son married Antonia Major, a niece of Roman Emperor Augustus and a daughter to Augustus' sister Octavia Minor and Mark Antony...

Photograph of Domitia (aunt of Nero).

Domitia (aunt of Nero)

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