Vitellia was a Roman noblewoman, who was the daughter of the emperor

Aulus Vitellius The gens Vitellia was a family of ancient Rome, which rose from obscurity in imperial times, and briefly held the Empire itself in AD 69. The first of this gens to obtain the consulship was Aulus Vitellius, uncle of the emperor Vitellius, in AD ...

and was married to the Roman senator

Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus (around 5 BCP.J. Sijpesteijn"Another οὐσία of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus in Egypt" ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 79 (1989), p. 19347 AD,Alston, ''Aspects of Roman History AD 14-117'', p. 92 el, ...

. A fictionalised Vitellia is a central character in the opera ''

La clemenza di Tito ' (''The Clemency of Titus''), K. 621, is an '' opera seria'' in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. It was started after most of ' (''The Magic Flute''), the last of ...

'' by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

Biography

Vitellia was the daughter of the emperor

, born from his second marriage to

Galeria Fundana Galeria Fundana (c. 40 – aft. 69) was a Roman empress, the second wife of Roman emperor Vitellius. Biography Early life Suetonius tells us that Galeria was the daughter of an ex-praetor, and bore two children during her marriage, a son and a ...

. Vitellia had a brother, Vitellius Germanicus and a half-brother Vitellius Petronianus, who was the son of Vitellius' first wife, Petronia. In 69, Vitellius began to struggle for power, and at this time Vitellia was in Rome with her mother. Whilst her father was away at war, she and the rest of her family came under the protection of the emperor

Otho Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etru ...

.Tacitus, ''History'', I. 75; Plutarch, ''Parallel Lives'', ''Othon'', 5, 16. After the first

Battle of Bedriacum The Battle of Bedriacum refers to two battles fought during the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69) near the village of Bedriacum (now Calvatone), about from the town of Cremona in northern Italy. The fighting in fact took place between Bedriacum ...

, where Vitellius defeated Otho, his wife and children joined him in

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settlem ...

. According to

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 ...

, Vitellius chose the legate of the Belgian province

as a husband for Vitellia. Vitellia's father was assassinated in 69 and in 70 Asiaticus died, leaving her with a son,

Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus (69/70 – after 134) was a prominentJosephus, ''Death of an Emperor'', p. 72 Roman Senate, Roman Senator who was a powerful figure in the second half of the 1st century and first half ...

. Later in 70, the new emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

took Vitellia under his wing, provided her with a dowry, a house and an unnamed husband. Some historians such as Settipani and Strachan have proposed that he was

Libo Rupilius Frugi Libo Rupilius Frugi (died 101) was a Roman senator and an ancestor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. He served as suffect consul in 88. Life His full name may have been Lucius Scribonius Libo Rupilius Frugi. He was one of the sons and among the chi ...

and that she was the mother of his daughter

Rupilia Faustina Marcus Annius Verus ( 50 – 138 AD) was the paternal grandfather and adoptive father of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and father-in-law of emperor Antoninus Pius. Biography Verus was the son of an elder Marcus Annius Verus, who gained the r ...

, thus explaining the use of the nomen Galeria among female members of the

Nerva–Antonine dynasty The Nerva–Antonine dynasty comprised 7 Roman emperors who ruled from 96 to 192 AD: Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), and Commodus (180� ...

.Rupilius
Strachan stemma.

Fictional portrayal

Vitellia is a central character in Mozart's ''

,'' where a dramatic account of her life has her attempt to assassinate Titus, after he declares his love for the Jewish princess Berenice. The opera is set in 79.

Notes

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References

External links

Introducing Helena Dix as Vitellia
Daughters of Roman emperors Vitellii 1st-century Roman women