A simple tale of Roman law punishing immoral behaviour. However the players in the tale are not simple citizens of the ancient city. They are Julia and her father Augustus, the Princeps of Rome. The very first Emperor. Suddenly this isn't a simple case of a father exercising his Pater Familias power over his family, but a scandal that would rock the city.
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| The Roman Forum |
Julia had led a structured life, being married off by her father to various allies to help secure his position of power. Married to a cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus, he had died when she was sixteen. At the age of eighteen she was married to Augustus' great ally, trusted friend and general, Agrippa. Agrippa passed away in 12 BC (and after the birth of their child named Agrippa Postumus, who Julia was pregnant with at the time) she was betrothed and immediately married to Tiberius, her step-brother and for all intents and purposes Augustus' new heir.
Their's was not a happy marriage, blighted by the death of their child in its infancy. By 6 BC Tiberius had withdrawn from Rome, public life and his wife to Rhodes, giving Julia free reign of the city.
"He [Augustus] at length discovered that his daughter Julia was so dissolute in her conduct as actually to take part in revels and drinking bouts at night in the Forum and on the very rostra"
Augustus's response to his daughter can be seen as both harsh and lenient. At the time of the scandal breaking Augustus had been imposing laws to promote traditional Roman values. The shame of Julia's activities becoming public knowledge would have been highly embarrassing. It seems unlikely that Augustus wouldn't of already known of his daughters activities, it is hard to think of anything happening in Rome without his knowledge, but it is the public shaming of a man presenting himself as a model Pater Familias that probably resulted in her punishment.
"He informed the Senate of his daughters fall through a letter read in his absence by a quaestor, and for every shame would meet no one for a long time, and even thought of putting her to death"
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| A Marble Statue Identified as Julia the Elder |
In any event, Julia was banished to the island of Pandetria to live a spartan and harsh lifestyle. She was forbidden to drink wine and there were no men on the island. No visitors were allowed to visit without Augustus's express permission. Five years after her initial exile, Augustus relented a little and allowed her to return to the mainland, but not Rome. A divorce was directly sent to Tiberius, her husband, in his own self imposed exile.
"He learned that his wife Julia had been banished because of her immorality and adulteries and that a bill of divorce has been sent her in his name by authority of Augustus"
The case of Julia and Augustus is an interesting one. In many ways Augustus acts exactly within his powers as the traditional Pater Familias of his family. This gave him the power of punishment over his children, even as far as to sentence them to death legally. But there are also signs that this is no normal Roman family. A speech was delivered to the Roman senate to explain what was happening. It is possible that Augustus' imposing of a divorce upon Tiberius indicate a wish to keep a possible future heir in place and relatively untainted from scandal. The situation is handled both within the family and as part of public business.
The women of the Julio-Claudian family show up throughout the reign of the first emperors and it must be noted usually involved in some sort of scandal. Livia, Agrippina the Elder, Messalina and Agrippina the Younger are all fine examples. Perhaps it was due to Augustus' attempts to pass laws on morality that saw Julia punished so? Perhaps it was the public embarrassment of her father? However this first scandal is unique as being one involving a father and a daughter. A real family affair.
Thanks for Reading
James
That was very interesting. I've seen the dramas, but I also learned about this when studying Catullus, right? Nice to learn this sideshow as a main attraction.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think you might be thinking of the poet Ovid and his book The Art of Love. Ovid was exiled for having an affair with Julia the Younger.
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