Domitia Lepida (c. 5 BC – AD 54) was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of

Valeria Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation ...

, wife of the 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 ...

. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure. Like her sister, she was also very wealthy. She had holdings in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and owned the ''praedia Lepidiana''.

Biography

Lepida was married three times. Her first husband was her cousin,

Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation ...

. Lepida married Barbatus probably around AD 15, suggesting that she was born in approximately 4 BC. It was standard for princesses in the imperial family to marry before their 18th birthday. They had a daughter,

(c. AD 17/20-48), who became Empress and third wife to the Emperor Claudius. Barbatus most likely died around AD 20 or 21, shortly after Messalina was born. It is extremely unlikely that Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was their son, since Lepida's son by her second husband reached the consulship earlier than Messalla. Lepida's second husband was Faustus Cornelius Sulla,

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in AD 31, a descendant of the dictator Lucius Cornelius

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

. Their son,

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (22 – 62 AD) was one of the lesser known figures of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Ancient Rome. Life Felix was the son of Domitia Lepida the Younger and the suffect consul of 31, Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus, a ...

was born c. AD 22 and married

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 ...

, the daughter of Claudius through his second marriage to

Aelia Paetina Aelia Paetina or Paetina (fl. early 1st century AD) was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius. Her biological father was a consul of 4 AD, Sextus Aelius Catus, while her mother is unknown. Family She was born into the family of the A ...

. Faustus Cornelius Sulla died in 62. At the beginning of the reign of her son-in-law, Claudius, Lepida, now a widow, married

Appius Junius Silanus __NOTOC__ Appius Junius Silanus (died AD 43), whom Cassius Dio calls Gaius Appius Silanus, was consul in AD 28, with Publius Silius Nerva as his colleague. He was accused of ''majestas'', or treason, in AD 32 along with a number of senators, but he ...

, (cos. AD 28). In the following year (AD 42), Silanus was put to death by Claudius, allegedly because he had plotted to assassinate Claudius, but the rumor circulated that Messalina had framed him after he resisted her advances. Lepida was the maternal grandmother to Messalina's children Claudia Octavia (step-sister and first wife of Nero) and

Britannicus Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. For a time he was considered his father's heir, but that ...

. In AD 48, Messalina was executed on the orders of Claudius, due to Messalina's mock marriage with her lover Gaius Silius which swiftly evolved into a failed

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. During Messalina's heyday, Lepida argued with Messalina and they became estranged (this likely followed Appius Silanus' execution). In Messalina's last hour in the Gardens of Lucullus, Lepida was at her side and encouraged her to end her own life.Tacitus, ''Annals'' 11.37. After Messalina was stabbed with a dagger by an officer, her body was given up to Lepida. Lepida's former sister-in-law,

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claud ...

, became Claudius' new wife in AD 49. Out of jealousy, Agrippina arranged the execution of Lepida sometime before the poisoning of Claudius, after which Nero became the new emperor. Agrippina charged Lepida with attempting to take her life by magic, disturbing Roman peace, and failing to control her

n slave-gangs. Agrippina thought that Lepida would use her 'kind' influence on Nero to turn him against his mother.

Cultural depictions

She was played by

Moira Redmond Moira Redmond (14 July 1928 – 16 March 2006) was an English actress. Biography She was born in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England. Her parents were actors and director managers, although she was also cared for by other relatives. Her grandfathe ...

in the 1976 BBC TV series '' I, Claudius''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Levick, Barbara, ''Claudius''. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepida, Domitia 0s BC births 54 deaths 1st-century BC Roman women 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Roman women Executed ancient Roman women Lepida Julio-Claudian dynasty People executed by the Roman Empire Year of birth unknown

Biography

Cultural depictions

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography