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Aemilia Tertia, better known as Aemilia Paulla (c. 230-after 174 BC), was the wife of Scipio Africanus (also known as the elder Scipio), Roman general and statesman. She was the daughter, possibly the third surviving daughter, of another Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul in 216 BC whom was killed at the Battle of Cannae of the Second Punic War) and sister of another famous Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus (consul 182 and 168 BC). The female name Aemilia was derived from the gens Aemilius, one of the five most important patrician families of Ancient Rome; Roman women of the Middle Republic were always known by their father's gens (family or clan), and were distinguished by their birth order.
Nothing is known when Aemilia Tertia married, but the marriage probably took place sometime between 213 BC and 210 BC (when Scipio went first to Sicily and thence to Spain). Aemilia Tertia and Scipio Africanus had a fruitful marriage, and according to Livy and other historians, they were very happily married. They had two sons and two daughters, the younger being the famous Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi. Aemilia Tertia was allegedly of a very mild disposition, but was fiercely loyal to her husband who upset many Senators by challenging the older leaders in their military strategy, and conservative Romans by his adoption of some parts of Greek lifestyle.
Polybius wrote of Aemilia Tertia : This lady used to display great magnificence whenever she took in women's religious ceremonies. For apart from the righness of her own dress and the decorations of her carriage, all the baskets, cups and other utensils of the sacrifice were of gold or silver and were borne in her train on such solemn occasions, while the number of her maids and servants in attendance was correspondingly large. (Polybius. xxxii, 12 ; Diod. Exc. xxxi.; Val. Max. vi. 7. § 1}
This passage shows that Aemilia Tertia had unusual freedom and wealth for a patrician married woman, both given her by an unusually liberal husband. As such, she was an important role model for many younger Roman woman, just as her youngest daughter Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, would be an important role model for many Late Republican Roman noblewomen, including allegedly, the mother of Julius Caesar. Cornelia Scipionis Africana was the mother of Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus ("Mother of the Gracchi", infamous brothers).
Scipio died of a lingering illness in 183 BC, and was survived by his widow and four children. His two sons failed to become consuls, the elder becoming praetor and flamen dialis (priest of Jupiter) but failing to engender sons of his own. [He adopted instead his first cousin, better known as Scipio the Younger]. The younger son Lucius adopted a dissolute lifestyle, was elected praetor in 174 BC in flagrant violation of the rules and was expelled from the Senate for his immorality and probably died by 170 BC.
The daughters did better. The elder Cornelia Africana Major married her second cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum (son of the consul of 191 BC who was himself son of Scipio's elder paternal uncle Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus); her father-in-law and husband were both distinguished jurists and the younger Scipio Nasica would become consul (twice), censor, Princeps Senatus (briefly) and Pontifex Maximus until his death. This Scipio Nasica is best known for opposing Cato the Censor's policy on Carthage. The elder Cornelia Africana had one surviving son, himself a consul and Pontifex Maximus, but better known for his role in his cousin Tiberius Gracchus's death.
The younger Cornelia Africana married a middle-aged consul Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus in 172 BC, and bore him 12 children, most of whom died very young. Three children survived to adulthood, two of them being the famous Brothers Gracchi and the eldest being wife of Scipio the Younger.
Aemilia Tertia long survived her husband and outlived both her sons. She had two daughters surviving upon her own death, which took place sometime between 174 BC and 160 BC (when her own brother died). However, thanks to the lex Voconia (which prohibited women from inheriting much or from passing on their own wealth to females), her possessions were inherited by her grandson by adoption, Scipio Africanus II, or Scipio the Younger (better known to Romans as Scipio Aemilianus). He in turn gave them to his mother Papiria, whom was divorced from his own natural biological father L. Aemilius. (Plutarch. Aem. 2; Liv. xxxviii. 57.).
[edit] Children
- Publius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio Africanus (fl 174 BC); he became a priest, was flamen dialis (according to his tomb inscription), and served as praetor. Some sources seem to imply that he was married (as flamens dialis, he would have needed a wife or flaminica; references are made to the fact that he had no sons, but not that he was childless), but his wife, if any, is unnamed. He appears to have died at some point after 174 BC, and probably before 167 BC (Battle of Pydna) where Scipio Aemilianus is his adoptive son.
- Lucius Cornelius P.f. P.n. Scipio (fl 174 BC); he led a dissolute lifestyle, and was expelled from the Senate in the year that he was elected praetor. This son is most notable for having been captured by pirates circa 192-191 BC and being released without ransom before the Battle of Magnesia which would cause his father political problems. Date of death unknown, but he probably died between 174 BC and 170 BC. No wife or issue mentioned by any Roman historian.
- Cornelia Africana Major (fl 174 BC), eldest daughter of Aemilia was born approximately 201 BC; her date of death is unknown, but she probably married circa 183 BC. Her husband was her own second cousin Scipio Nasica Corculum, consul in 162 BC and 155 BC, censor 159 BC, and later Princeps Senatus (until overthrown i.e. not chosen again) and Pontifex Maximus until his death. Cornelia Major had one known son, Scipio Nasica Serapio, also consul and Pontifex Maximus 141 BC-132 BC, who left descendants surviving to 45 BC or later.
- Cornelia Africana Minor (c.192-121 BC), youngest daughter, was born about 192 BC, married in 172 BC, and died in 121 BC after her youngest child Gaius Sempronius Gracchus committed suicide to avoid execution. Better known as Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, she was the wife of the elderly but distinguished Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, twice consul and censor (d. 154 BC), to whom she bore 12 children. Her only surviving descendant circa 45 BC was Fulvia, thrice married, lastly to Mark Antony, and Fulvia's numerous children. Further descendants were alive in the later reign of Augustus Caesar.
The sources for this section are the histories of Livy and Polybius, as well as William Smith's Dictionaries, all available online.
[edit] References
- Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician by H. H. Scullard Cornell University Press Ithaca, New York 1970 printed in England. Standard Book Number 8014-0549-1;
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 76-98158 H. H. Scullard, Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician, Thames and Hudson, London, 1970. ISBN 0-500-40012-1 - Plutarch's Lives, Volume II of The Project Gutenberg EBook by Aubrey Stew
- Additional references to husband Scipio Africanus
- Friedrich Munzer, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families (1920)
- T.R.S. Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1950-1, 1986)
