Lucilla

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An aureus with the portrait of Lucilla

Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (* March 7, 148 or 149 ; † 181/182) was the daughter of the Roman emperor Mark Aurel and the wife of his co-emperor Lucius Verus .

Life

Lucilla and Lucius Verus

Lucilla was born on March 7, 148 or 149, as the daughter of Emperor Mark Aurel and his wife Faustina . She was the older sister of the future emperor Commodus .

In 161 eleven-year-old Lucilla was betrothed to Emperor Lucius Verus. This did not prevent Verus from starting a relationship with the beautiful Pantheia from Smyrna , which lasted for many years. The wedding between the co-emperor and the emperor's daughter nevertheless took place around 164. Like her mother, Lucilla received the honorary title Augusta .

The following year Lucilla gave birth to a daughter in Antioch . A little later, Lucius Verus celebrated a brilliant triumph over the Parthian Empire together with Marcus Aurelius and the entire Antonine family . The family happiness did not last long. The so-called Antonine Plague broke out in the empire as early as 166 . After all, Lucilla's father should also fall victim to her. In addition, Germanic tribes invaded the empire. The two emperors set out for the northern border in 168, but then returned to Rome on the advice of court doctor Galen . Lucius Verus suffered a severe stroke while on the way . He died in Altinum three days later at the age of 39 . Lucilla was already a widow at the age of 19.

Lucilla and Pompeianus

After the death of Verus wild rumors spread. Lucilla was also suspected of having murdered her husband. It is very unlikely that she was actually responsible for his untimely death, as she lost her influential position as emperor's wife.

Before the end of the year of mourning, Marcus Aurelius was looking for a new husband for his daughter. He found it in Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus . He came from Syria and was an older, loyal supporter of the emperor, whose strengths lay primarily in the military field. He became the emperor's most loyal collaborator during the Marcomannic Wars . Lucilla accepted this marriage only with reluctance, as she would have preferred a younger, more distinguished husband like Avidius Cassius , whom she had met in Syria. Her mother was also against this connection. From the relationship came a son Claudius Pompeianus (* 170 or later).

Lucilla and Pompeianus accompanied the emperor in 172 to the Danube front to his field camp in Carnuntum near Vienna . Pompeianus supported Marcus Aurelius in 173 as consul . In 175 the situation in the empire calmed down again: the usurper Avidius Cassius, once Lucilla's preferred partner, was murdered and the Teutons on the Danube made peace with the Romans.

But in 178 the imperial court, including Lucilla and her husband, had to leave for the north again. Marcus Aurelius died just over a year later, presumably in Vindobona . Commodus now took power. His sister Lucilla's hopes that her husband Pompeianus would participate in power were not fulfilled.

Lucilla and Commodus

There are different reports about the events of the next two years. One tradition reports that tensions between Lucilla and Bruttia Crispina , the wife of Commodus, weighed heavily on the atmosphere at court. Lucilla felt neglected towards her sister-in-law. From these courtly disputes, the not unfounded accusation can be explained that she was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow her brother.

According to Herodian reports , Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus - probably a nephew of Pompeianus - together with Marcus Claudius Ummidius Quadratus organized a failed attack on the emperor in the Colosseum . Lucilla was now suspected of having instigated Quintianus. In addition, there was the probably not unfounded accusation that she had a relationship with her nephew.

Lucilla was then convicted and banished to the island of Capri . It remains uncertain whether she was actually partly responsible for the attack on her brother or fell victim to a subsequent wave of purges. She was eventually executed in 181 or 182.

swell

  • Herodian : History of the Empire according to Marc Aurel 1, 8.
    Even if Herodian's works are often very imaginatively decorated and cannot hide a predilection for family disputes, they are based on the generally quite reliable work of Cassius Dios . For the time of Lucilla this is only very incomplete, which makes Herodian the only detailed and halfway credible source.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Lucilla
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Annia Lucilla; Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter of Marcus Aurelius and wife of his co-emperor Lucius Verus
DATE OF BIRTH March 7th 148 or March 7th 149
DATE OF DEATH 181 or 182