Claudia Quinta

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Claudia Quinta
fourteenth century medieval woodcut

Claudia Quinta was a Roman matron of legendary fame during the time of the Second Punic War when Scipio Africanus and Publius Sempronius were consuls.

She was a woman that had a reputation of doing things in excess beyond what most Roman women did at the time. As an example, while she was always beautifully dressed, she did have an extensive wardrobe. Her makeup was excessive and she gave the appearance of extraordinary boldness. To the serious Roman woman it presented an appearance that she was unchaste and dishonorable.

Around the year 205 BC the statue of the Cult of the Great Mother (also known as Magna Mater or the Cult of Cybele) was moved from Pessinus to Rome. Scipio Nassica was given the order to take all the married women of Rome to go and receive the statue when it arrived in port at Ostia Harbor.

However before arriving in port as scheduled the ship carrying the statue ran onto a sandbar at the mouth of the Tiber River and would not proceed any further. They tied ropes to the stuck vessel and all the young men of the area were put into service. Using all their strength they pulled to no avail. They then called on Claudia to come up with a solution to their problem as she was the other person with Scipio that called the women to the port for the arrival of the statue. Claudia prayed in front of them and then with confidence she ordered that the ropes be tied to her sash and the men to step aside.^[1] Claudia then pulled and pulled until the vessel started floating again. She towed it out off the sandbar and into port. Needless to say, she instantly became a hero and had vindicated herself.^[2] The Temple of Cybele then went to the Palatine Hill in Rome.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Magna Mater Project
^ Dana, Charles Anderson The American Cyclopaeia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge , p 644, Appleton (1873), University of Michigan