Appuleia Varilla (flourished 1st century AD) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

noblewoman and the daughter of Quinctilla Varilla and Sextus Appuleius. She was a grand-niece of the emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

as her father was the son of Octavia Major.

Biography

Early life

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

described her as the grand-niece of

.Tacitus, ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'', II.50 For a long time it was uncertain how exactly she was related to Augustus, with many assuming she was a daughter of Claudia Marcella Major but historian

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

reports that an inscription from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

confirms she was the daughter of that consul of 29 BC Sextus Appuleius and a sister of Publius Quinctilius Varus.Syme, ''The Augustinian Aristocracy'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), p. 317 She had a brother also named Sextus Appuleius.

Later life

In 17, she was charged by

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

with adultery and insulting the

Roman empress This is a list of Roman and Byzantine empresses. A Roman empress was a woman who was the wife of a Roman emperor, the ruler of the Roman Empire. The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as '' augusta'' (Greek ...

(his mother Livia) and his step-father Augustus. In the trial she was acquitted of treason, but her adultery was punished. She was exiled from Rome and ordered not to come within 200 miles of the city. This punishment by relatives was traditional in this circumstance. Manlius, her lover, was banned from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Africa Province Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Appuleia Varilla Julio-Claudian dynasty Varilla 1st-century Roman women People acquitted of treason Ancient Roman exiles

Biography

Early life

Later life

See also

References