Antonia the Elder
(b. 39 BC)
BIRTH
39 BC
PLACE
Athens, Greece
NAME
Antonia
DEATH
UNKNOWN
PLACE
Rome, Italy
FAMILY
HOMES
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
RELIGION NOT DOCUMENTED
DENOMINATION NOT DOCUMENTED
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
Antonia the Elder, born in 39 BCE, was the elder daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia and a niece of Augustus. She married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, linking two aristocratic families. Their son Gnaeus became the father of Nero, making Antonia his paternal grandmother. Her younger sister, Antonia Minor, is much better documented and must be kept distinct. Her death date and much of her individual life remain unknown rather than borrowed from her sister.
EARLY LIFE
Antonia the Elder was born in 39 BC, probably in Athens, the elder daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, the sister of Octavian, the future emperor Augustus. Her father left her mother for Cleopatra, and she was raised in Rome by Octavia, along with her younger sister, Antonia Minor, and her half siblings. She was betrothed as a small child to Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the son of one of Antony's supporters, as part of the political alliances between Antony and Octavian.
Antonia married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who became consul in 16 BC and later led Roman armies across the Elbe in Germany.
The couple had three children: Domitia, Domitia Lepida and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. Through Domitia Lepida, she was the grandmother of the empress Messalina, and through Gnaeus, who married Agrippina the Younger, she was the grandmother of Nero.
Little else is recorded of her life, including when she died.
CAREER
DEATH
Their son Gnaeus became the father of Nero, making Antonia his paternal grandmother. Antonia married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who became consul in 16 BC and later led Roman armies across the Elbe in Germany. The couple had three children: Domitia, Domitia Lepida and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. Through Domitia Lepida, she was the grandmother of the empress Messalina, and through Gnaeus, who married Agrippina the Younger, she was the grandmother of Nero. Little else is recorded of her life, including when she died. The available biographical account does not describe a continuous final medical course. It gives no dependable sequence of treatment and last symptoms from which to reconstruct a more detailed bedside narrative.
PARK
House of Livia, Palatine Hill
Via di San Gregorio 30 (Palatine Hill entrance), Rome, Lazio, Italy
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Antonia the Elder, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia and paternal grandmother of Nero. These are collective imperial studies and related biographies, distinct from books about Antonia Minor. Five dedicated biographies were not identified. These editorial selections include biographies where available, with personal writings, collective biography, reference works and related studies clearly labelled.
1. The Augustan Aristocracy — Ronald Syme. [Collective aristocratic biography] Find on Amazon
2. Imperial Women of Rome: Power, Gender, Context — Mary T. Boatwright. [Collective biography] Find on Amazon
3. Imperial Women: A Study in Public Images, 40 B.C.–A.D. 68 — Susan E. Wood. [Collective imperial and visual-biographical study] Find on Amazon
4. Antony and Cleopatra — Adrian Goldsworthy. [Related biography of her father] Find on Amazon
5. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome — Adrian Goldsworthy. [Related biography of her uncle] Find on Amazon
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