Atria Galla was a woman of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

related to various imperial intrigues by her husband, and reputed as "beautiful but low-born". She was first the wife of Domitius Silus but eventually left him for his friend

Gaius Calpurnius Piso Gaius Calpurnius Piso may refer to: * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (conspirator) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (consul 180 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (consul 67 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (praetor 211 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso Crassus Frugi Licinianus Gai ...

, whom she later became the second wife of (after Piso's marriage to

Livia Orestilla Cornelia Livia Orestina (her cognomen is sometimes given in the diminutive form Orestilla) was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Caligula in AD 37 or 38. Biography Background and name Her name is given in ancient sources in several variants l ...

was terminated by the emperor

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

). She may have been the mother of Piso's son, Calpurnius Piso Galerianus, though he also may have been

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

. Her husband Piso conspired against the emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

in 66 CE, and most of what we know about her comes from an anecdote on the

Pisonian conspiracy The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in AD 65 was a in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero (reign 54–68). The plot reflected the growing discontent among the ruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasingly despotic leadership, a ...

related by the writer

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

in his ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'', in which he describes Piso's wife as having no positive attributes other than her beauty, and that her history (of having left her previous husband for Piso) conferred a stain on Piso's reputation seemingly in line with his end as a traitor to the emperor. However he does also describe Piso as being very fond of her. Tacitus cites a rumor that Piso sought to align himself with

Claudia Antonia Claudia Antonia (Classical Latin: ANTONIA•CLAUDII•CAESARIS•FILIA (edd), ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933 - A 886) (c. AD 30–AD 66) was the daughter and oldest surviving child of the Roman Emperor ...

, daughter of the late emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

, to secure his position should the conspiracy succeed, but dismisses this story because (among other reasons) he believed Piso loved Atria too much to publicly entangle himself with another woman. We do not know what happened to Atria after Piso's forced suicide for his participation in the conspiracy. Since no reprisals are described, it is believed that she was not herself persecuted for her husband's participation. In some older sources such as the ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'' this person is given the name "Arria Galla" or "Satria Galla", but these are incorrect.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atria Galla 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans Atrii

See also

References