|
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 2:18 PM
In the consulship of Rubellius and Fufius, both of whom had the
surname Geminus, died in an advanced old age Julia
Augusta. A Claudia by
birth and by adoption a Livia and a Julia, she united
the noblest blood
of Rome. Her first marriage, by which she had children,
was with Tiberius
Nero, who, an exile during the Perusian war, returned
to Rome when peace
had been concluded between Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire and the
triumvirs. After this
Caesar, enamoured of her beauty, took her away from her
husband, whether
against her wish is uncertain. So impatient was he that
he brought her
to his house actually pregnant, not allowing time for
her confinement.
She had no subsequent issue, but allied as she was
through the marriage
of Agrippina and Germanicus to the blood of Augustus,
her great-grandchildren
were also his. In the purity of her home life she was
of the ancient type,
but was more gracious than was thought fitting in
ladies of former days.
An imperious mother and an amiable wife, she was a
match for the diplomacy
of her husband and the dissimulation of her son. Her
funeral was simple,
and her will long remained unexecuted. Her panegyric
was pronounced from
the Rostra by her great-grandson, Caius Caesar, who
afterwards succeeded
to power.
Tiberius however, making no change in his
voluptuous life, excused
himself by letter for his absence from his last duty to
his mother on the
ground of the pressure of business. He even abridged,
out of moderation,
as it seemed, the honours which the Senate had voted on
a lavish scale
to her memory, allowing only a very few, and adding
that no religious worship
was to be decreed, this having been her own wish. In a
part of the same
letter he sneered at female friendships, with an
indirect censure on the
consul Fufius, who had risen to distinction through
Augusta's partiality.
Fufius was indeed a man well fitted to win the
affection of a woman; he
was witty too, and accustomed to ridicule Tiberius with
those bitter jests
which the powerful remember so long.
|
|
| << Navigate to Wednesday, July 28, 2010 |
Add New Comment |