The Top Ten Scandalous Women in Ancient Rome:Finale

The final compilation of the scandalous women from Ancient Rome. Enjoy!

NUMBER 3



 



Statue of Poppaea in the
Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greece).
 Wikicommons.

Name: Poppaea Sabina (30AD–65AD) a.k.a Poppaea Sabina the Younger

Vices: Adultery, 2 Murders, Plotting, Ruthlessness, Manipulation,

Weakness: Ambition, Children, Power

Prime Examples: Poppaea was said to have married her second husband,Otho, in order to seduce the Emperor Nero. Ironically, she divorced her husband Otho in order to marry emperor Nero, but Otho would briefly be emperor after Nero’s death. She became the emperor Nero’s mistress and persuaded Nero to murder his mother(Agrippina the Younger), who forbade their marriage. Before marrying Nero, ancient authors also accredited her to inducing Nero to murdering his first wife: Octavia Claudia (emperor Claudius’ daughter). If you wish to learn more of her life visit here.

Ergo:  Poppaea places 3rd on her list for her manipulation of men to pursue power. Poppaea has been recorded by several authors to have been ruthless and ambitious. It has been said that she was murdered by Nero either by poison or by assault. Authors attest that, while pregnant, Nero kicked her in the stomach causing death. Other authors say, she simply died due to complications of a miscarriage.

 NUMBER 2

Sculpture of Agrippina crowning her young son Nero. Wikicommons

Name: Julia Agrippina the Younger (7 November 15 or 6 November 16 – 19/23 March 59)

Vices: Incest, 3Murders, Plotting, Seduction

Weakness: Her Son, Her Daughter in Law (Number 3 on our list )

Prime Examples: Emperor Caligula (brother to Agrippina)was a crazy ruler who was said to have had incestuous relationships with his sisters. She murdered her second husband, Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, in order to obtain his estates and inheritances. When her uncle emperor Claudius executed Messalina, Agrippina saw her opportunity to become empress. She became the mistress to one of Claudius’ advisers, Marcus Antonius Pallas, in order to persuade her way to royalty. Claudius and Agrippina married and removed everyone that stood in her or her son’s, Nero, path to power. She managed to have Claudius adopt Nero as his son and for Nero to marry Octavia Claudia ( Claudius’ daughter.) Lastly, she may have had in hand in the death of Britannicus (Claudius’ son and heir) who Nero succeeded for the throne. She employed the infamous poisoner Locusta to murder Claudius and give her son the Roman empire. More can be read on her here.

Ergo: Agrippina is places second on this list for willing to seduce for power even if it means committing incest (both with her brother Caligula and her uncle Claudius) , her employment of a poisoner to remove people from her way, and for the murder of her uncle/husband Claudius and his son Britannicus, her cousin. However, she was murdered by Number 3 on our list: Poppaea Sabina.

NUMBER 1

Portrait of Livia in Egyptian basalt,
 c. 31 BC, Louvre. Wikicommons

Name: Livia Drusilla (30 January 58 BC– 28 September AD 29)

Vices:  Poisoning, 4 Murders, Mass Manipulation, Viricide, Seduction

Weakness: Family, Tiberius, Power, BBC Portrayals, Pride

Prime Examples: Livia was the second and last wife of emperor Augustus. She met Augustus while still married to her first and pregnant with her second child. The meeting was said to be “love at first sight” which caused Augustus to divorce is wife. He was so in love with Livia that he divorced his wife on the very day she gave birth to only child: Julia the Elder (Number 7 on our list). He, also, forced Livia’s husband to divorce her and married Livia only three days after she gave birth to her second child: Drusus (Claudius’ father).This rush to be married was unconventional for the time and only further implicates her seducing nature. Furthermore according to the historians Dio, Suetonius, and Tacitus, Livia was responsible ether directly or indirectly for the deaths of several of her family members. She is reported to have murdered Marcellus(Augustus’ nephew and first adopted son), and Gaius and Lucius Caesar ( Augustus’ grandsons and adopted sons). It is believed she murdered these young men (respectively: 21, 16, 15 years old) so that her own son Tiberius (from a previous marriage) would be emperor.  Lastly, she is reported to have killed her husband, Augustus, of 51 years by poisoning his fig trees which he grew and ate from. You can read her more on her life here.

Ergo: Livia places first on our list for good reason. She murdered several people including her husband in order that her son may be emperor. She was perhaps a blueprint for Agrippina the Younger (#2). Disregarding all her faults, historian do attest that she was loyal, proper, and chaste.

All the women that have been placed upon this list have their faults, but it would be interesting to know their side of the tale. Many of the women that have been spotlighted in this list can be seen in BBC’s I, Claudius, which will be redone by HBO and BBC in the future.

Top Ten Most Scandalous Women of Ancient Rome

The following blog post is from my other blog, I manage, at Transparent Language Latin Blog

Ancient Rome was quite a scandalous time. While, we can not believe everything that is written in ancient sources; one must admit there are certainly some astonishing tales. So this month, this blog will be taking a look at some of the most infamous, malicious, scheming women from Ancient Rome.

NUMBER 10



Theodora, detail of a Byzantine mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna

Name: Empress Theodora (500AD-548AD)
Vices:  Roman Actress (Prostitute), Defying an Emperor, Brothel Worker, Wit
Weakness: Responsibility, Stubbornness
Prime Examples: She became a prostitute out of necessity(to support her family), but pursued the scandalous lifestyle even when she left her family. In the Secret History, she was recorded for her indecent exposure, theatrics, sexual services off the stage, and even her lecherous portrayal of “Leda and the Swan.” Emperor Justinian I, so enamored with her, repealed the law that government officials could not marry actresses in order to marry her and even treated her illegitimate daughter and grandson as legitimate children.
Ergo:  Theodora places 10th on our list due to her “low” beginnings, although she only began working as a prostitute and “actress” to support her orphaned sibling and herself. History regards Theodora as a great empress of Rome, who was strong, courageous, intelligent, and decisive(i.e: she saved Justinian’s throne in the Nika Riots and was firm in religious policy even if it opposed Justinian). History does not implicate that she was an plotting woman, but it is not difficult to discern that a former “actress” could seduce the emperor, persuade him to change laws to marry her, make her queen, and give her power to rule. Click here to read more of her life story.

NUMBER 9

Faustina the Younger Marble, ca. 161 AD. Courtesy of ChrisO.

Name: Faustina the Younger (125-130AD-175AD)

Vices: Ordering Death Sentences, Poisoning, Promiscuity, Excessive Adultery, Inciter of Revolutions
Weakness: Self-Control, Victim to Gossipy Literature, and Insatiable Lust
Prime Examples: Although Faustina the Younger was given various titles of honor such as Augusta and Mater Castorum (Mother of the Camp), she has also been recorded as a woman of shameful lust and murder. Cassius Dio records that Faustina, wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, ordered the deaths of several people by poisoning or execution and he claims that she had affairs with sailors, gladiators, and even soldiers (This give the title Mater Castorum a new meaning). She , also, was accused of inciting a revolution between her husband and Avidius Cassius.
Ergo:  Due to her promiscuity and willingness to kill for power, Faustina has made this list of infamous and devious women. However, the sources on her infamy and scandal are somewhat uncertain and this is why she is in 9th place.  You can read more here.

NUMBER 8

 

Fulvia with the Head of Cicero by Pavel Svedomsky.

Name:Fulvia Flacca Bambula (83BC-40 BC) a.k.a Fulvia
Vices: Gang Leader, Manipulator, Political Match-Maker, Mutilation, Jealousy
Weakness: Power, Politics, and Marc Antony
Prime Examples:  Fulvia used marriage to acquire power.  She acquired the loyalties of a gang or collegium from her first husband, money from her second, and she did not survive her third husband; Marc Antony. According to Plutarch, she was a mass manipulator who was responsible for rendering Marc Antony easily controllable by women (Now, we know who Cleopatra should thank!). Furthermore,  Dio reports that she pierced the tongue of the decapitated head of Cicero out of disdain. Also, in Appian’s Civil War, Fulvia’s  jealous supposedly fueled the tension between Lucius and Octavian against Antony thus sparking the Perusine War.
Ergo: Fulvia earns the 8th spot in this countdown for her immoral actions all for the sake of power.  Even though a highborn woman, she went through husbands as a gold-digger, allowed her jealous to fuel a war, performed wanton violence against a dead man’s head, and manipulated all those around her for power.  You can read more on her here.


Lucrezia in a fresco by Pinturicchio. c. 1494

 HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK 

Name: Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519)
Vices: Poisoner, Murder, Incest, Adultery
Weakness: Family
Prime Examples: As seen within Showtime’s Borgia, Lucrezia was a pawn within her family’s politics and social climbing. She was daughter of the Pope Alexander VI and was married off to any man that would ameliorate their family. It also rumored that she had incestuous relations with her brother. More of Lucrezia’s life can be read here.
Ergo: Although Lucrezia is not ancient, she encompasses the idea: “Don’t Mess with Roman Women” (Albeit, the Borgias are from Spain; Lucrezia was born near Rome.), because Rome seems to breeds murderous women who use seduction, poison, and their cunning wit to achieve power.

Next week we will be looking at #5-7; who do you think made that list?