Poppaea Sabina the Elder

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Poppaea Sabina († 47 AD) was a Roman aristocrat of the 1st century AD and mother of the wife of the same name of the emperor Nero .

She was the daughter of Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus , who was a full consul in AD 9 , and was considered the most beautiful woman of her time.

Poppaea was initially married to Titus Ollius , a friend and fellow destiny of Lucius Aelius Seianus . The daughter from this marriage, later Nero's wife, took on the more respected name of the maternal family. In her second marriage she married Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio .

Poppaea was involved in several scandals. After an affair with the actor Mnester , she was forced to commit suicide by soldiers under threat of imprisonment in 47 because she had become a rival of Messalina , the wife of Emperor Claudius . Furious with jealousy, Messalina also brought a lawsuit against Decimus Valerius Asiaticus , who also belonged to Poppaea's circle and owned luxurious gardens on the Pincio Hill in Rome, on which Messalina, driven by her greed, had cast an eye. The official reason for the indictment, however, was the alleged incitement of soldiers, adultery and the "exposure of one's own body" (public fornication / homosexuality ). The accusation was represented by the famous Publius Suillius Rufus , who also managed to convict the actually eloquent and sovereign Asiaticus in a kind of secret trial (the questioning did not take place in front of the Senate, but in a room of the palace), whereupon he opened his veins should have. The Messalina's accomplices, on the other hand, were rewarded with large sums of money by the Senate. Tacitus suggests in his annals that Emperor Claudius did not know the true background of the legal proceedings and was overwhelmed as a judge. At a banquet, he is said to have unsuspectingly asked the husband of Poppaea Sabina why he came without his wife. For fear of Messalina's revenge, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio only replied that she had "died".

Remarks

  1. ↑ Tacitus , Annalen 13, 45, 2: aetatis suae feminas pulchritudine supergressa .
  2. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 13, 45, 1.
  3. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 13, 43, 2.
  4. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 11, 1-4.
personal data
SURNAME Poppaea Sabina the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sabina, Poppaea
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman aristocrat
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC BC or 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 47