Cannutia Crescentina
Cannutia Crescentina was a vestal virgin who was sentenced to death with three other priestesses by Emperor Caracalla in his function as pontifex maximus for alleged unchastity ( crimen incesti ) in the year 212 or at the beginning of the year 213 .
Cassius Dio , who was a contemporary critic of Caracalla, suggested that the indictment was a defensive claim by the emperor. The Roman senator and writer was convinced that the pontifex maximus , who as the chief priest had free access to the House of the Vestals , had committed himself to the Vestal Clodia Laeta . Presumably the priestesses Aurelia Severa , Pomponia Rufina and Cannutia Crescentina became aware of the process, so that they had to be removed as possible witnesses to the crime.
Cannutia Crescentina evaded the classic form of execution for unchaste vestals - to be buried alive - by suicide by throwing herself off a roof to her death.
literature
- Hans Georg Gundel : Cannutius 4. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Sp. 1038.
- Edmund Groag : Cannutius 5. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 2, Stuttgart 1899, col. 1486.
Remarks
- ↑ Nina Mekacher: The vestal virgins in the Roman Empire , Wiesbaden 2006, p. 36 f.
- ↑ Philip Matyszak, Joanne Berry: 79. Clodia Laeta. In: Who's Who in Ancient Rome. Emperors, citizens, gladiators. von Zabern, Mainz 2009, ISBN 978-3-8053-4078-6 , pp. 237-238.
- ^ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 78,16,1–3 (English translation) .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Crescentina, Cannutia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | roman vestal virgin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd century |