Marcia (wife of Fabius Maximus)

Marcia († after 14 AD) was a maternal cousin of Emperor Augustus and the consul's wife from 11 BC. BC, Paullus Fabius Maximus .

Life

Marcia belonged to the ancient Roman family of Marcier . She was the daughter of the suffect consul from 38 BC. Chr., Lucius Marcius Philippus , and his wife Atia , the younger sister of the mother of the same name of Augustus. Paullus Fabius Maximus was Marcia's husband and a good friend of Augustus. Their marriage lasted about 15 BC. BC, because shortly before this time the Roman poet Horace dedicated an ode to Fabius, who was still unmarried (4, 1). Marcia gave birth to her husband around 1 AD, a son, Paullus Fabius Persicus , who held the ordinary consulate in 34 AD, and possibly a daughter named Fabia Numantina . A monument to Marcia was erected in the Cypriot city of Paphos . She was close friends with the third wife of the poet Ovid .

Tacitus reports that Marcia's loquacity allegedly resulted in the tragic death of her husband, but the Roman historian does not believe this version unreservedly. According to this, Augustus is said to have undertaken a secret trip to his exiled grandson Agrippa Postumus on the island of Planasia near Elba at the beginning of the summer of 14 AD and was only accompanied by Fabius. Fabius reported about this visit to his wife Marcia, who in turn reported to the Empress Livia . Therefore, the Princeps was angry with Fabius, who might have taken his own life. Tacitus emphasizes that the version of Fabius' suicide was controversial. In any case, Fabius 'death occurred shortly before Augustus' death. When Marcia attended her husband's funeral, she made loud accusations that she was responsible for his death. Finally, Livia is said to have poisoned her husband, the old emperor, out of concern for the successor of her son Tiberius . The whole episode is usually considered unbelievable in research, for example by Jochen Bleicken .

literature

Max Fluß : Marcius 120). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 2, Stuttgart 1930, Sp. 1605 f.
Marcia II . In: Bernhard Kytzler : Women of antiquity . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt 1997, ISBN 3-458-33598-6 , p. 113.

Remarks

^ Ovid , Ex Ponto 1, 2, 140f. and fasti 6, 801-810; Tacitus , Annals 1, 5, 1f .; Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes III 939 .
^ Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes III 939 .
^ Ovid, Ex Ponto 1, 2, 139ff.
↑ Tacitus, Annalen 1, 5, 1f .; Cassius Dio 56, 30, 1f .; Pliny , Naturalis historia 7, 150; Plutarch , On Chatter 11, Moralia p. 502a (who mistakenly lets Marcia die before her husband); on this Jochen Bleicken, Augustus , Berlin 1998, p. 661.

personal data
SURNAME	Marcia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Wife of Paullus Fabius Maximus
DATE OF BIRTH	1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	after 14

[1] Ovid , Ex Ponto 1, 2, 140f. and fasti 6, 801-810; Tacitus , Annals 1, 5, 1f .; Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes III 939 .

[2] Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes III 939 .

[3] Ovid, Ex Ponto 1, 2, 139ff.

[4] Tacitus, Annalen 1, 5, 1f .; Cassius Dio 56, 30, 1f .; Pliny , Naturalis historia 7, 150; Plutarch , On Chatter 11, Moralia p. 502a (who mistakenly lets Marcia die before her husband); on this Jochen Bleicken, Augustus , Berlin 1998, p. 661.