Porcia (before 95 BC – 46/45 BC), was the daughter of
Marcus Porcius Cato Marcus Porcius Cato can refer to:
*Cato the Elder (consul 195 BC)
*Cato the Younger (praetor 54 BC)
*Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 118 BC)
* Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 36)
*Marcus Porcius Cato (father of Cato the Younger)
*Marcus Porcius C ...
and
Livia.
Biography
Early life
She was the elder sister of
Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato "Uticensis" ("of Utica"; ; 95 BC – April 46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger ( la, Cato Minor), was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic. His conservative principles were focused on the pr ...
and the younger half-sister of
Servilia,
Servilia Minor and
Gnaeus Servilius Caepio. After her parents died, she lived with all her siblings in the household of their uncle
Marcus Livius Drusus until his assassination in 91 BC.
Marriage
She married
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was
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 54 BC and an ally of her brother Cato. They had a son named
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. They also probably had another son who was given in adoption to an Atilius Serrannus.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
claims that Porcia and her husband were in Naples in 49 BC, when her husband was besieged at
Corfinium
Corfinium (Greek: ) was a city in ancient Italy, on the eastern side of the Apennines, due east of Rome, near modern Corfinio, in the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo region).
History
Corfinium was the chief city of the Paeligni, situated in the v ...
by
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
. In 48 BC, Porcia lost her husband in the
Battle of Pharsalus
The Battle of Pharsalus was the decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War fought on 9 August 48 BC near Pharsalus in central Greece. Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the Roman Republic under the command of Pompey. P ...
. Porcia died towards the end of 46 BC to the beginning of 45 BC, her funeral elegy was pronounced by Cicero, who greatly commended her virtues.
[Plut., ''Cat.'' 1, 41; Cic., ''ad Att.'' XIII 37, 48.]
See also
*
Porcia gens
The gens Porcia, rarely written Portia, was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to achieve the consulship was Marcus Porcius Cato in 195 BC, and from then ...
References
90s BC births
40s BC deaths
Porcii
1st-century BC Roman women
1st-century BC Romans
Cato the Younger
Family of Servilia (mother of Brutus)
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