Marcia Furnilla

Wife of emperor Titus
Marcia Furnilla
Bust believed to depict Furnilla
SpouseTitus
IssueFlavia

Marcia Furnilla was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century. Furnilla was the second and last wife of the future Roman Emperor Titus as well as the aunt of the future emperor Trajan.

Family

Marcia Furnilla came from a noble and distinguished family. She was from the gens Marcia who were of plebeian status,[1] claiming descent from the Roman king Ancus Marcius. She was a daughter of Roman Senator Quintus Marcius Barea Sura and Antonia Furnilla. Her sister was Marcia, the mother of Ulpia Marciana and of future Roman Emperor Trajan. Her father was a friend to future Roman Emperor Vespasian (who was Titus' father) and her paternal uncle was the senator Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, while her paternal cousin was the noblewoman Marcia Servilia Sorana. Furnilla's paternal grandfather was Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, who was Suffect consul in 34 and Proconsul of the Africa Province in 41–43, while her maternal grandfather could have been Aulus Antonius Rufus, a Suffect consul in 45.[2]

Life

Marcia Furnilla was born and raised in Rome. She married Titus, widowed from his first marriage, in 63. The marriage between Titus and Furnilla was an arranged one.

This marriage for Titus was an influential one and promoted his political career. Suetonius describes Furnilla as a "very well-connected" woman. Furnilla bore Titus a daughter named Flavia, previously assumed to have been Julia Flavia, but it is now regarded that Julia's mother was Titus first wife Arrecina Tertulla. Furnilla's daughter likely died young.[3]

Like Titus' first marriage, this one was short. Furnilla's family was connected to the opponents of Roman Emperor Nero and after the failure of the Pisonian conspiracy in 65, they were disfavored by the Emperor. Titus didn't want to be connected with any potential plotters and ended his marriage to Furnilla, but continued raising their daughter.

The fate of Furnilla afterwards is unknown. After her death, she was placed along with her mother in the mausoleum of Gaius Sulpicius Platorinus - a magistrate at the time of the first Roman Emperor Augustus - and his sister Sulpicia Platorina in Rome.

Nerva–Antonine family tree

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Nerva–Antonine family tree
Q. Marcius Barea SoranusQ. Marcius Barea SuraAntonia FurnillaM. Cocceius NervaSergia PlautillaP. Aelius Hadrianus
Titus
(r. 79–81)		Marcia FurnillaMarciaTrajanus PaterNerva
(r. 96–98)		Ulpia[i]Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus
Flavia[ii]Marciana[iii]C. Salonius Matidius[iv]Trajan
(r. 98–117)		PlotinaP. Acilius AttianusP. Aelius Afer[v]Paulina Major[vi]
Lucius Mindius (2)Libo Rupilius Frugi (3)Salonia Matidia[vii]L. Vibius Sabinus (1)[viii]
Paulina Minor[vi]L. Julius Ursus Servianus[ix]
Matidia Minor[vii]Sabina[iii]Hadrian[v][x][vi] (r. 117–138)Antinous[xi]
C. Fuscus Salinator IJulia Serviana Paulina
M. Annius Verus[xii]Rupilia Faustina[xiii][xiv]Boionia ProcillaCn. Arrius Antoninus
L. Ceionius CommodusAppia SeveraC. Fuscus Salinator II
L. Caesennius PaetusArria AntoninaArria Fadilla[xv]T. Aurelius Fulvus
L. Caesennius AntoninusL. CommodusPlautiaunknown[xvi]C. Avidius Nigrinus
M. Annius Verus[xiii]Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[xvii]Fundania[xviii]M. Annius Libo[xiii]Faustina[xv]Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[xv]		L. Aelius Caesar[xvi]Avidia[xvi]
Cornificia[xiii]Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)[xix]		Faustina Minor[xix]C. Avidius Cassius[xx]Aurelia Fadilla[xv]Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)[xvi] (1)		Ceionia Fabia[xvi]Plautius Quintillus[xxi]Q. Servilius PudensCeionia Plautia[xvi]
Cornificia Minor[xxii]M. Petronius SuraCommodus
(r. 177–192)[xix]		Fadilla[xxii]M. Annius Verus Caesar[xix]Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)Lucilla[xix]M. Plautius Quintillus[xvi]Junius Licinius BalbusServilia Ceionia
Petronius AntoninusL. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)Aurelia Sabina[xxii]L. Antistius Burrus (1)Plautius QuintillusPlautia ServillaC. Furius Sabinus TimesitheusAntonia GordianaJunius Licinius Balbus?
Furia Sabina TranquillinaGordian 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.

  1. ^ Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
  2. ^ Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
  3. ^ a b Levick (2014), p. 161.
  4. ^ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
  5. ^ a b Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
  6. ^ a b c DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
  7. ^ a b Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
  8. ^ Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
  9. ^ Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
  10. ^ Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
  11. ^ Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
  12. ^ Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
  13. ^ a b c d Levick (2014), p. 163.
  14. ^ It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.
  15. ^ a b c d Levick (2014), p. 162.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Levick (2014), p. 164.
  17. ^ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
  18. ^ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
  19. ^ a b c d e Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
  22. ^ a b c Levick (2014), p. 117.
References:
  • DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
  • 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.

References

  1. ^ Pauly-Wissowa, RE 14.2, 1535-1600.
  2. ^ Brian W. Jones (1992). The Emperor Domitian. ISBN 9780415042291.
  3. ^ W. Jones, Brian (1993). The Emperor Domitian. Taylor & Francis. pp. 38–41. ISBN 9780415101950.

External links

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  • Penelope.uchicago.edu