Vitellius, aureus, AD 69, RIC I 72 (obverse)

The Woman of the Chatti ( la, Chatta mulier), or the Chattian seeress, is an alleged Germanic seeress of the

Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis''). They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in the valle ...

an tribe who according to

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

prophesied that Roman Emperor

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

(ruled in 69 AD) would reign for a long time if he survived his mother

Sextilia Sextilia (c. 5 BC – 69) was the mother of Lucius Vitellius the Younger and Vitellius, Aulus Vitellius. Family Sextilia came from a distinguished family and lived intimately with imperial intrigue, daughter of Marcus Sextilius, Triumvir Moneta ...

. This would have led to Vitellius murdering his aged mother by poison or starvation. No such seeress is mentioned by other sources, and so it may have been a malevolent rumour to justify the coup d'état by

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 ...

. Vitellius did however stay in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

near Chattian territory earlier in the year when he became emperor, and may have consulted with a seeress from that tribe.

Matricide

Around 100 AD,

wrote that the Roman emperor

trusted in the prophecies of his

seeress In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, from the

tribe ( (Vit. 14,5)). This was one of the vices attributed to him, and he was also described as a cruel and gluttonous emperor. His seeress promised him a secure and long rule if he would survive his mother

, and therefore he would have arranged so that his mother died of starvation when she was ill. However, he may also have poisoned her.

Historicity

There is however no evidence that Sextilia died of unnatural causes, because in 69 AD, she was an infirm woman of about 70. Moreover, Suetonius did not vouch for the information and he only mentions it as a suspicion, and Suetonius is known to have added scandalous rumours in his works. Vitellius did however, spend a short period as governor of Lower Germania between 1 December 68 and 2 January 69. When

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

committed suicide, on 9 June 68, the empire was politically unstable and Vitellius with his four legions had potential to influence the course of events, for his own benefit or for that of others. He was consequently liable to ask for advice from a range of possible advisors, such as friends and associates, and soothsayers. Vitellius had his headquarters in

(

Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and t ...

), which was close to the territories of the

an tribe, so he may also have consulted people from Germanic tribes who lived in Colonia. It is possible that malicious tongues who learnt of his solicitations distorted the information and combined it with rumours of a

matricide Matricide is the act of killing one's own mother. Known or suspected matricides * Amastrine, Amastris, queen of Heraclea, was drowned by her two sons in 284 BC. * Cleopatra III of Egypt was assassinated in 101 BC by order of her son, Ptole ...

, when he had risen to the position of emperor. The information about the alleged matricide may have been forged by

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

supporters in order to justify the coup d'état by

. There is no mention of a in the writings of

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 ...

and he would not have missed the opportunity to include it. So the information probably goes back to a source that was not considered trustworthy. The only retrievable fact may be that Suetonius and his contemporaries considered the Chatti to have seeresses. = Notes = = Sources = * * * * * * * * {{völvas Chatti Germanic seeresses 1st-century women