Domitia Lucilla (mother of Marcus Aurelius)

Calvisia Domitia Lucilla (also known as Domitia Lucilla Minor and Domitia Calvilla, d. 155–161), was a noble Roman woman who lived in the 2nd century. She is best known as the mother of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Domitia Lucilla
Calvisia Domitia P. f. Lucilla
Domitia Lucilla from Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
Other names	Lucilla Domitia Lucilla Minor Domitia Calvilla
Known for	mother of emperor Marcus Aurelius
Children	Marcus Aurelius Annia Cornificia Faustina
Parents	Publius Calvisius Tullus Ruso (father) Domitia Lucilla (mother)
Relatives	Nerva–Antonine dynasty
Family	Calvisii Rusones

Descent

Lucilla was the daughter of Domitia Lucilla Maior (Maior is Latin for the Elder) and the patrician Publius Calvisius Tullus Ruso.[1] Her biological maternal grandfather was Gnaeus Domitius Lucanus, adoptive maternal grandfather was Gnaeus Domitius Tullus and maternal step-grandfather was Lucius Catilius Severus. Lucilla's father served as consul in 109 and the date of his second consulship is unknown.[2][3]

Lucilla through her mother had inherited a great fortune, which included a tile and brick factory near Rome, close to the river Tiber. The factory provided bricks to some of Rome's most famous monuments including the Colosseum, Pantheon and the Market of Trajan, and exported bricks to France, Spain, North Africa and all over the Mediterranean.[4] The factory, or part of it, has been excavated at Bomarzo, 40 miles north of Rome.

Marriage

Arthur Hughes Aurelius and his mother (1868)

Lucilla married Marcus Annius Verus, a praetor, who came from a wealthy senatorial family.[5] Verus' sister Faustina the Elder was a Roman Empress and married the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. Verus was a nephew to Roman Empress Vibia Sabina and his maternal grandmother was Salonia Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan). With Verus, she had two children, a son, the future Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (26 April 121) and a daughter Annia Cornificia Faustina (122/123 – between 152 and 158).

Widowhood

In 124, her husband died. Her children were raised by herself and they were adopted by her father-in-law. Marcus Aurelius would later inherit the tile and brick factory.

In Lucilla's household, the future Roman Emperor Didius Julianus was educated and through her support he was able to start his legal career. Lucilla was a lady of considerable wealth and influence. In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius describes her as a 'pious and generous' person who lived a simple life (1.3n). She spent her final years living with her son in Rome.

Nerva–Antonine family tree

Q. Marcius Barea Soranus

Q. Marcius Barea Sura

Antonia Furnilla

M. Cocceius Nerva

Sergia Plautilla

P. Aelius Hadrianus

Titus
(r. 79–81)

Marcia Furnilla

Nerva
(r. 96–98)

Ulpia[lower-roman 1]

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Flavia[lower-roman 2]

Marciana[lower-roman 3]

C. Salonius Matidius[lower-roman 4]

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer[lower-roman 5]

Paulina Major[lower-roman 6]

Lucius Mindius (2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi (3)

Salonia Matidia[lower-roman 7]

L. Vibius Sabinus (1)[lower-roman 8]

Paulina Minor[lower-roman 6]

L. Julius Ursus Servianus[lower-roman 9]

Matidia Minor[lower-roman 7]

Suetonius?[lower-roman 10]

Sabina[lower-roman 3]

Hadrian[lower-roman 5][lower-roman 11][lower-roman 6] (r. 117–138)

Antinous[lower-roman 12]

Julia Balbilla?[lower-roman 13]

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 14]

Rupilia Faustina[lower-roman 15][lower-roman 16]

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla[lower-roman 17]

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

unknown[lower-roman 18]

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 15]

Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[lower-roman 19]

Fundania[lower-roman 20]

M. Annius Libo[lower-roman 15]

Faustina[lower-roman 17]

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[lower-roman 17]

L. Aelius Caesar[lower-roman 18]

Avidia[lower-roman 18]

Cornificia[lower-roman 15]

Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)[lower-roman 21]

Faustina Minor[lower-roman 21]

C. Avidius Cassius[lower-roman 22]

Aurelia Fadilla[lower-roman 17]

Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)[lower-roman 18] (1)

Ceionia Fabia[lower-roman 18]

Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 23]

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia[lower-roman 18]

Cornificia Minor[lower-roman 24]

M. Petronius Sura

Commodus
(r. 177–192)[lower-roman 21]

Fadilla[lower-roman 24]

M. Annius Verus Caesar[lower-roman 21]

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)

Lucilla[lower-roman 21]

M. Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 18]

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)

Aurelia Sabina[lower-roman 24]

L. Antistius Burrus (1)

Plautius Quintillus

Plautia Servilla

C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus

Antonia Gordiana

Junius Licinius Balbus?

Furia Sabina Tranquillina

Gordian III
(r. 238–244)

(1) = 1st spouse
(2) = 2nd spouse
(3) = 3rd spouse
  Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty
  lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned
  grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants
  bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties
dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships
Small Caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.

Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
Levick (2014), p. 161.
Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.
Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
Levick (2014), p. 163.
It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.
Levick (2014), p. 162.
Levick (2014), p. 164.
Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
Levick (2014), p. 117.

References:

DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 14 April 2015.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2.
Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

See also

Calvisia gens

References

Geoffrey William Adams (2013). Marcus Aurelius in the Historia Augusta and Beyond. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 57–. ISBN 978-0-7391-7638-2.
Jo-Ann Shelton (2013). The Women of Pliny's Letters. Routledge. pp. 291–. ISBN 978-0-415-37428-6.
Jacqueline M. Carlon (22 June 2009). Pliny's Women: Constructing Virtue and Creating Identity in the Roman World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 135–. ISBN 978-0-521-76132-1.
Annelise Freisenbruch (9 November 2010). Caesars' Wives: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire. Simon and Schuster. pp. 171–. ISBN 978-1-4165-8357-8.
Frank McLynn (20 July 2010). Marcus Aurelius: A Life. Da Capo Press. pp. 14–. ISBN 978-0-306-81916-2.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Calvisia Domitia Lucilla.

Roman Coinage of Domitia Lucilla
Marble portraits of Domitia Lucilla, under the heading for Marcus Aurelius

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