Sempronia was an

Ancient Roman woman Freeborn women in ancient Rome were Roman citizenship, citizens (''cives''), but could not vote or hold Roman magistrate, political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historiography, Ro ...

of the late Republic who was the wife of Decimus Junius Brutus, the consul of 77 B.C. and step-mother of his son

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (27 April 81 BC – September 43 BC) was a Roman general and politician of the late republican period and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination. He had previously been an important support ...

who became one of

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 ...

assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...

Biography

Early life

It has been speculated that she may have been the daughter of

Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician in the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish ...

, although historian

Erich Gruen Erich Stephen Gruen ( , ; born May 7, 1935) is an American classicist and ancient historian. He was the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught full-time from 1966 until 200 ...

considers this unlikely. Others instead believes that she was the sister of

Fulvia Fulvia (; c. 83 BC – 40 BC) was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gai ...

's mother Sempronia, but this is unsure as well. A third option put forward is that she could have been the daughter of

Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC. Biography Early life Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a member of the plebeian gens Sempronia. His father had the same name and was senator ...

, the consul of 129 BC.

Adult life

Sempronia was described as a distinguished, witty, beautiful, accomplished, and passionate woman, who spoke

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

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 ...

. She could sing, play the lyre and dance very well. The historian

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

states she was extremely fortunate in life, marriage, and children, yet had a profligate character. According to him she had "masculine daring" and involved herself in politics. Without the knowledge or consent of her husband, she participated in the

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

Catiline Lucius Sergius Catilina ( 108 BC – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier. He is best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to violently seize control of the R ...

and allowed the conspirators to meet in her home to plan. Sempronia and women like her represented a "new woman" in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, with abilities and interests that would become common for women of Rome in later years, a contrast to classical Roman women like Cornelia who stood for values from the earlier Republican period. She was said to have had many male lovers and Sallust stated that she "sought out men more than she was sought out by them". Sempronia knew

and was likely one of his mistresses. Her step-son Decimus Albinus has been considered as one of Caesar's potential

illegitimate children Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

and it is likely Caesar knew them well.

Research

In the past she has sometimes been conflated with another woman by the same name who was the sister of the Gracchi brothers.

Johann Caspar von Orelli Johann Caspar von Orelli (Latin ''Iohannes Caspar Orellius''; 13 February 1787 – 6 January 1849), was a Swiss classical scholar. Life He was born at Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and ...

supposed that this Sempronia may be the same Sempronia who, according to Asconius, gave testimony at the trial of

Titus Annius Milo Titus Annius Milo (died 48 BC) was a Roman political agitator. The son of Gaius Papius Celsus, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC, he was prosecuted for the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher and exiled from ...

in 52 B.C. This Sempronia was the daughter of a Sempronius Tuditanus, and supposedly the mother of

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one ...

. However, as Clodius' wife was Fulvia, the daughter of a Sempronia and granddaughter of Sempronius Tuditanus, it seems that she was not the same Sempronia who married Brutus, and that the woman witnessing was actually Clodius' ''mother-in-law'', not ''mother''.

Cultural depictions

Sempronia is a focal character in the 1600s play by

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

, '' Catiline His Conspiracy''. She is the title character of the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

" The Consul's Wife" by

Steven Saylor Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. Saylor's best-known work is his ''Roma Sub Rosa'' historical mystery ...

where she and her lover are plotting to have her husband murdered. She also appears in Saylor's novel '' Catilina's Riddle''. In Saylor's works she is indeed depicted as the daughter of

, Saylor notes that he is aware that this is considered debatable among historians, but that he enjoys to speculate on the possibility due to it being interesting and fitting for her character, as the Graccus were known for their rebellious nature. Sempronia is mentioned, but does not appear, in the novel ''

The October Horse ''The October Horse'' is the sixth novel in Colleen McCullough's ''Masters of Rome series''. Plot introduction The book begins with Gaius Julius Caesar's Egyptian campaign in Alexandria, his final battles with the Republicans led by Metellus Sc ...

'' and appears in ''

Caesar's Women ''Caesar's Women'' is the fourth historical novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, published in 1996. Plot summary The novel is set during a ten-year interval, from 68 to 58 BC, which Julius Caesar spent mainly in Rome, climbing ...

'', by

Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and ''The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Life ...

. In the novel ''Respublica: A Novel of Cicero's Roman Republic'' Sempronia is portrayed as a vile woman who murders her husband and mentally and sexually abuses her son Decimus. She is the point of view character in the novel ''Catilinas sammansvärjning'' by Göran Hägg. She plays a major part in the novel '' A Slave of Catiline'' by Paul Anderson. She is also a character in the novel ''The Roman Traitor'' by

Henry William Herbert Henry William Herbert (7 April 1807 – 17 May 1858), pen name Frank Forester, was a British-born American novelist, poet, historian, illustrator, journalist and writer on sport. Starr writes that "as a classical scholar he had few equals ...

.Herbert, Henry William; ''The Roman Traitor: A True Tale of the Republic, a Historical Romance'', Volume 1–2 - page: 69

References

External links

{{Commons category, Sempronia (wife of Decimus Brutus) 1st-century BC Roman women 1st-century BC Romans Catilinarians Female criminals Mistresses of Julius Caesar Sempronii