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THE WOMEN OF CAESAR'S FAMILY'BY MONROEE. DEUTSCHUniversity of California

It is an exceedingly interesting and striking fact that JuliusCaesar's immediate family was composed almost exclusively ofwomen-he had virtually no close male family ties duringhis life.His father, of the same name as himself, died in 85 B.C., whenthe boy was but fifteen years old.3 We know next to nothing ofthe elder Caesar, and what has come down to us but illustrateshow quaint the fragmentsare that time casts on the shoresof thepresent. We are told that he had held the praetorshipand diedone morningat Pisa as his shoes were being fastened.4 His deathleft the guidance of Julius Caesar'seducation to his mother, andindeed it would seem that even before this time it had been underher charge.She was namedAurelia5and is describedas a pure and virtuouswoman.6 Her care of her son's education is likened to Cornelia'srearingof the Gracchiand Atia's trainingof the future Augustus.7It is interesting to read that one of the teachers securedfor theboy Caesarwas MarcusAntonius Gnipho,a Gaul.8 So early didhis connectionwith that landbegin. We are told that he receiveda nurtureand a trainingcorresponding o the dignity of his noblebirth, and that he was rearedin the best possible way. 9 Onemarkedcharacteristicof Caesar'sstyle in his maturity-indeed the

' Read at the third annual meeting of the Classical Association of the PacificStates.2 Throughout this paper ioo B.C.istaken as the year of Caesar's birth.3Suet. Iul. I. 4Plin. N.H. vii. 181.s In addition to the passages later discussed she is also mentioned in Ioh. LydusDe mens. iv. io2; cf. Zon. x. ii.6 Plut. Caes. 9. 7 Tac. Dial. de orat. 28. 8 Suet. de gram. 7.9Dio 44. 38. The translations of Dio and Appian employed are those in the LoebClassical Library.

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THE WOMEN OF CAESAR'S FAMILY 503most marked characteristic-was his elegantia,a nicety and pre-cision in the use of words, and this, we are led to believe, was insome measuredue to the traininghe receivedat home.'Apparently Aurelia lived with her son, and there was greatmutual affection. We shall get a glimpse of this if we take ourstand at the door of Caesar's house on a certain morning in theyear 63 B.C.2 Caesar had dared to become a candidate for theoffice of pontifexmaximusagainst two eminentleadersof the state.It is the day of the election, and as he leaves his home he thinks ofthe debt into which he has plunged, staking everything on hispolitical success. Aurelia weeps as she comes forth with him; heembraces her and declares: Mother, today you shall see your sonpontifexmaximusor-an exile. His sweepingvictory preventedthe fulfilmentof the threat.The strict virtue of this Roman matron is seen in connectionwith that famous scandal that occurred in 62 B.c. and had suchfar-reachingconsequences.3 In that year the rites of Bona Deawere celebratedin Caesar'shouse by his wife, Pompeia;these riteswere regularlyheld at the house of the consul or praetor (duringthis year Caesarwas praetor)andpresidedoverby the magistrate'swife. It was a festival for women, and men were forbiddento bepresent. But the notorious Publius Clodius was in love with Pom-peia and believed it possible to gain an entrance to her in disguiseon account of his feminineappearance.4 Apparentlyhe had foundan obstacle to earliereffortson his part in the rigidcareof Aurelia.Strict watch was kept upon Pompeia's apartments;and Aureliaby an unwearyingpersonal attendance upon her daughter-in-lawrendereddifficult and hazardousany meeting between the lovers. SOn this occasion Clodius succeeded in making his way into thehouse, but ultimately his voice betrayed him. Aurelia firststopped the secret rites of the goddess, and made the women veilthemselves;then, commanding he doorsto be closed,went through

' Cic. Brut. 252.2 Suet. Iul. I3; Plut. Caes. 7. The quotations from Plutarch, save in the case ofthe life of Pompey, are from the translation by W. R. Frazer.3 Suet. Iul. 6. 2; Dio 37. 45; Plut. Caes. 9-io; Appian B.c. 11. 14.4 Suet. iul. 6. 2; Liv. Per. io3; Plut. Caes. io. 5Plut. Caes. 9.




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504 THE CLASSICALJOURNALthe house, torch in hand, in searchof Clodius. He was discoveredto have takenrefuge n the chamberof the wenchwhohad admittedhim: and, his identity proved, the womendrove him out of doors.Even though it was night, the women straightway dispersed [itwill be observedthat human nature has not changed]and relatedthe circumstancesto their husbands.

When the case came to trial,' Aurelia scrupulouslytold everydetail,2 but Clodiuswasacquitted-through bribery, t wasbelieved.During the trial the jury had requestedthat they be given a guardto protect themselves against Clodius. When they acquittedhim, Catulus declaredthat they had asked for the guard, not toprotect themselves,but to protect the money they had received.3It will be remembered hat in the trial Clodius attempted toprove an alibi. But when he persistently asserted, in reply tothe chargeof impiety, that he had not even been in Rome at thetime,but was staying in the depths of the country,Ciceroappearedas witness against him, and deposedthat Clodius had come to hishouse upon that very day and had had some conversation withhim. 4 Fromthis incidentsprangClodius'hatredof Cicero,whichlasted until he had brought about Cicero'sbanishment,and evenbeyond that until Clodius himself was murderedby Milo's bandon the Appian Road.We know nothing further of Aurelia'slife save that she badeher last farewell to her son early in 58 B.c., when he started forGaul,and that she died in 54 B.C.,swhen Caesarwas accomplishingthe achievement that loomed larger in the imagination of hiscountrymenthan any other deed of his during his Gallic procon-sulate-the leading of Roman legions to Britain, the land beyondthe ocean,a secondworld.As far as we know, Caesarhad no brothers and but two sisters,JuliaMaiorandJuliaMinor. Oneof them (wedo not knowwhich)was called on together with her mother for evidence in regardtothe famous Bona Dea affair, and supported Aurelia's words bytellinghonestlyeverythingshe knewof the matter.6

xSuet. lul. 6. 2; Dio 37. 46.*Suet. Iul. 74. 2.3Dio 37. 46.

4 Plut. Cic. 29.s Suet. Iul. 26.6 Suet. Iul. 74. 2.




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THE WOMENOF CAESAR'SFAMILY 505The elder Julia was married twice, to Lucius Pinarius andQuintus Pedius; her two grandsons, of the same names as theirgrandfathers, inherited jointly one-fourth of the great Caesar'sestate.'Julia MinormarriedMarcus Atius Balbus 2 they had a daughterAtia, who was the mother of the future Augustus. The latterinherited the remainingthree-fourthsof his great-uncle'sproperty3and was adopted by him in his will. In the year 52 B.c. JuliaMinor died (another loss sustained by Caesar during his Gallic

campaign), and her funeral eulogy was delivered by the youngAugustus,thenstill Octavius,at the matureageof eleven.4 BecauseCaesar's sister thus married into the Atian gens, and the emperorAugustus derived his lineage from them as well as from the Julii,Virgil (Aen. v. 568) tells us that the boy Iulus had a belovedfriendAtys, from whom the Atii weresprung:AlterAtys,genusundeAtiiduxereLatini,parvusAtyspueroqueuerdilectusulo.

BeforeCaesarhad assumedthe toga of manhoodhe had alreadybecomeengagedto a certainCossutia,sa womanof only equestrianfamily, but recommendedby her wealth. Apparently Caesar'sfather, then still alive, had been responsiblefor the engagement,and when the boy donned the togavirilis,he seemsto have marriedher.6 Fromthis union there was no offspring,and in 84B.C.,7afterhis father's death, Caesardivorced her and made a brilliant mar-riagewith Cornelia,7 aughterof the great Cinna,partnerof Mariusin the leadership of the popular party. Cinna was probablydead when his daughter married, but it must have pleased thepopularesto have this precocious boy, whose aunt was Marius'widow,' bound by an additional tie to their party. In the follow-ing year Corneliabore him a daughter,7Julia, Caesar'sonly legiti-mate child.

I Suet. lul. 83. 2; Appian B.c. iii. 22.2 Suet.Aug.4.3 Suet. Iul. 83. 2. Liv. Per. 116 incorrectly says heresex partedimidia.4 Suet. Aug. 8. I. Quint. Inst. Or. xii. 6. i. gives the age as twelve, while Nicolausof Damascus (chap. 3) states that he was about nine years of age.s Suet. Iul. I. 6 Classical Philology, XII, 93-96. 7 Plut. Caes. i.



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