Antistia

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This article is about the first wife of Pompey the Great. For the genus of mantis, see Antistia (genus).

Antistia was the first wife of Pompey the Great. Pompey had been arraigned on charges of peculation of plunder. The judge of Pompey's trial happened to be Antistia's father. Pompey made a deal with Antistius, and agreed to marry Antistia. In exchange, he was acquitted.

However, the marriage did not last. Lucius Cornelius Sulla had been fighting against Mithridates the Great of Pontus whilst Lucius Cornelius Cinna and Gnaeus Papirius Carbo ruled Rome. Upon his return, Sulla went to war against Carbo, as Cinna had died the year before. In retaliation, Carbo murdered any man who he believed to be an adherent of Sulla. Among those who perished were Antistia's father. Her mother committed suicide after her father's death.

The end of the marriage was precipitated by the young Pompey's prodigious military skill and defiance of tradition. Pompey brought Sulla an army, and used it expertly to further Sulla's purposes. Wishing to form a stronger alliance, Sulla offered Pompey his pregnant stepdaughter Aemilia Scaura, and Pompey readily divorced Antistia.

References

Plutarch, Pompey, IX

Persondata
Name	Antistia
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Short description	First wife of Pompey the Great
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