Domitia Lepida
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Domitia Lepida (PIR2 D 180), sometimes known simply as Lepida (c. 3 - 54), was the younger daughter of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (d 25) and Antonia Major. Her sister was Domitia (with whom she's sometimes confused) and her brother was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of the emperor Nero). She was a great-niece of Caesar Augustus and granddaughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. She also was grandmother to Claudia Octavia and Britannicus. Domitia Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure (Tacitus, Annals, 12.64). Like her sister, she was also very wealthy. She had holdings in Calabria and owned the praedia Lepidiana (Raepsaet-Charlier, p.286).
Lepida was married three times. Her first husband was her cousin Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus (PIR1 V 88; Suetonius, Vita Claudii, 26.29). Lepida married Barbatus probably around 15 (Barrett, Agrippina, p. 287 n. 154). Their daughter Valeria Messalina (c. 20-48) became Empress and third wife to the Emperor Claudius. Born no later than 12 BC and on the basis on his family distinction, Messalina's father could have expected a consulship by 23. Since he didn't become consul, it has been suggested that he must have died before that date (cf. Barrett, Agrippina, p. 233). Lepida's second husband was Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus (PIR2 C 1459), cos. suff. in 31. He was a descendant of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Around 25, their son Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (PIR2 C 1464; Dio 60.30.6a) was born. Faustus Cornelius Sulla and his brother Lucius Cornelius Sulla Magnus were senators, who lived in Tiberius' reign. Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus died of uncertain causes around 40. Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix married Claudius' daughter Claudia Antonia.
At the beginning of the reign of her son-in-law Claudius, Lepida married Gaius Appius Junius Silanus (consul of 28). In 42, Appius Silanus was summarily executed on the orders of Claudius. The reasons and circumstances of Appius Silanus' execution are not very clear. Claudius informed the Senate that Appius Silanus had determined to assassinate him and that was revealed in dreams experienced by his freedman Narcissus and his wife Messalina (Tacitus, Annals 11.29.1; Suetonius, Vita Claudii 37.2; Dio 60.14.2-4; Levick, Claudius, 58 ff.)
In 48, her daughter Messalina was executed on the orders of Claudius due to Messalina's mocked marriage with her lover which later became a political coup. During the most part of Messalina's influence and prosperity at the Imperial court, Lepida has been estranged from her daughter (this might have followed Appius Silanus' murder). But in Messalina's last hour in the Gardens of Lucullus, Lepida was at her side and encouraged her to end her own life (Tacitus, Annals 11.37). After Messalina was stabbed with a dagger by an officer, her body was given up to Lepida.
Her former sister-in-law, Agrippina the Younger, became Claudius' new wife in 49. Out of jealousy, Agrippina arranged the execution of Domitia Lepida sometime before the poisoning of Claudius, after which Nero became the new emperor. Agrippina charged Domitia Lepida with attempting her life by magic, disturbing Italian peace and failing to control her Calabrian slave-gangs. Agrippina thought that Domitia Lepida would use her kind influence on Nero, to turn him against Agrippina.
[edit] References
- E. Klebs, H. Dessau, P. Von Rohden (ed.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani, 3 vol., Berlin, 1897-1898. (PIR1)
- E. Groag, A. Stein, L. Petersen - e.a. (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III, Berlin, 1933 - . (PIR2)
- Levick, Barbara, Claudius. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990.
- Barrett, Anthony A., Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Roman Empire. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1996.
- Raepsaet-Charlier M.-Th., Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial (Ier-IIe siècles), 2 vol., Louvain, 1987, 285 ff.
