Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata also known as Cornelia Volusia Torquata Licinia was a noble Roman woman who lived in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

in the second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd century.

Family background and early life

Torquata's ancestry is based on inference. According to Rudolf Hanslik, she is the granddaughter of Volusia Torquata and a Marcus Licinius; their surmised son, also named Marcus Licinius, who was also

pontifex A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was late ...

, was Torquata's father. "Volusius (27)", '' RE'', Supplementary volume 9, col. 1865 The name element "Torquata" comes from her great-grandmother Torquata, the wife of

Quintus Volusius Saturninus Quintus Volusius Saturninus (born AD 25) was a Roman Senator who lived in the Roman Empire during the Principate. He was consul in the year 56 with Publius Cornelius Scipio as his colleague. Family background The Volusii, according to Tacitus, ...

Marriage and offspring

Torquata married her cousin Lucius Volusius Saturninus, an

Augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying i ...

during the second century AD, and a

Suffect consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

during the reign of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. Marcus Metilius Aquillius Regulus Nepos Volusius Torquatus Fronto who served as a consul in 157, is thought to be their descendant.

Inscriptional evidence

The name of Torquata has been found in a funerary inscription in Rome now on display at the

National Museum of Rome The National Roman Museum (Italian: ''Museo Nazionale Romano'') is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological ...

. The inscription is dated from the second half of the 1st century through the first half of the 2nd century and reads in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(English translation follows): : Licinia Cornelia/M(arci) f(ilia) Volusia/Torquata/L(uci) Volusi co(n)s(ulis)/auguris : Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata, the daughter of Marcus, the wife of Lucius Volusius, consul, augur.

References

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Sources

Funerary inscription of Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata
*Biographischer Index der Antike (Google eBook), Walter de Gruyter, 2001 *J. Elsner & J. Huskinson ''Life, Death and Representation: Some New Work on Roman Sarcophagi'', Walter de Gruyter, 2011 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Roman women Licinia Cornelia Volusia Torquata