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{{Short description|Wife of Cicero}}
{{otherpeople5|Terentia gens}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Terentia
| image = Terentia forcibly dragged from the Temple of Vesta.jpg
| caption = Terentia being dragged from the Temple of Vesta
| birth_date = 98 BC
| birth_place =
| death_date = 6 AD (aged 103–104)
| death_place =
| known_for = Being the wife (and ex-wife) of Cicero
| spouse = [[Cicero]]
| children = [[Tulliola]]<br>[[Cicero Minor]]
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}}
'''Terentia''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ə|ˈ|r|ɛ|n|ʃ|i|ə|,_|-|ʃ|ə}}; 98 BC – AD 6) was the wife of the renowned orator [[Marcus Tullius Cicero]]. She was instrumental in Cicero's political life both as a benefactor and as a fervent activist
==Family background==
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Terentia was born into a wealthy [[plebeian]] family by the name of [[Terentia gens|Terentius]]. She may have been a daughter of the Terentii Varrones, who were the most important senatorial branch of that family. This is suggested by the fact that Cicero had a cousin with the [[cognomen]] Varro and a friend by the name of [[Marcus Terentius Varro]]. This Varro owned a house near [[Arpinum]] not far from Cicero's own birthplace. Therefore, if Terentia was indeed the daughter of a Varro, Cicero's links to this family may have influenced his marriage to Terentia.<ref>Treggiari 30</ref>
Terentia had one half-sister named Fabia, who was a [[Vestal Virgin]] and the daughter of a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] named [[Fabius]]. If
She was endowed with a huge [[dowry]], which included at least two blocks of tenement apartments in Rome, a plot of woods in the suburbs of Rome, and a large farm.<ref name="Salisbury"/> The apartments and farm generated a considerable annual income. There is evidence that Terentia had much land in her own name. In addition to the public land she possessed, Terentia acquired a large woodland property among many other investments.<ref>[[s:Letters to Atticus/2.4]]</ref><ref>[[s:Letters to Atticus/2.15]]</ref><ref name="Treggiari 34">Treggiari 34</ref> She also owned a village which she intended to sell in the crisis of Cicero's exile.<ref name="s:Letters to friends/14.1">[[s:Letters to friends/14.1]]</ref>
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==Marriage, family life, and children==
Terentia was around 18 years old when she married Cicero in
Terentia was responsible for conducting family affairs as well. Besides assigning slaves to complete tasks such as weaving and cooking, Terentia was serious about making offerings to the gods and demonstrating proper piety. Cicero refers to her regular worship in several correspondences; in one letter he describes her piety as an act of pure devotion.<ref name="s:Letters to friends/14.4">[[s:Letters to friends/14.4]]</ref> In another, Cicero jokes that Terentia should sacrifice to the god that made him ill enough to expel his anxiety.<ref>Cicero ''Ad Familiares'' 14.7</ref>
[[Tullia (daughter of Cicero)|Tullia]], the daughter of Terentia and Cicero, was born in 78 BC. Since at this time they had already been married for two years without children, it is likely that the couple was not very fertile. Their son [[Cicero Minor|Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor]] was not born until 65 BC. Lack of fertility is also suggested by the fact that Tullia herself had problems conceiving children later in life.<ref>Treggiari 44</ref>
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==Cicero's exile and family crisis==
In 58 BC, Cicero was exiled from Rome for the allegedly illegal execution of Roman citizens in the [[Catiline]] conspiracy. [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]] enacted the bill with the purpose of getting revenge on Cicero for the fact that he had nullified Clodius' alibi in the [[Bona Dea]] affair.<ref name="Salisbury">[[Joyce E. Salisbury|Salisbury, Joyce E.]] ''Encyclopedia of women in the ancient world.'' Santa Barbara, Calif.: Abc-Clio, 2001</ref> [[Plutarch]], in his ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', tells us that Cicero was compelled to testify against Clodius by Terentia, in order to prove that he was not having an affair with [[Clodia (wife of Metellus)|Clodia]] (Clodius' sister). However, this story is most likely conceived either by Plutarch himself or a slanderer of Cicero. Plutarch's intentions were to show Terentia as an oppressive wife and thus to show Cicero as a weak man under the control of his wife.<ref>[[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Cicero]]</ref><ref>Treggiari 49</ref>
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Their time apart and the strained atmosphere of the civil war caused the letters of Terentia and Cicero to become increasingly emotionless and reserved. While Cicero was staying in [[Brundisium]], he often found time to write Terentia. However, his letters were terse and ineloquent, which was unlike most letters between the two.<ref>Burns</ref> The pair had further disagreement over Terentia's will in 47 BC, specifically about what should be left to their children.<ref>Treggiari 122 - 123</ref> At the same time, Tullia's marriage to Dolabella was going badly as his infidelity and neglect of her became more prominent. Cicero avoids blaming Terentia for making the match in the first place (despite Cicero's misgivings at the time), but it is clear that he wishes the decision had been made differently.<ref>Cicero ''Ad Atticum'' 11.25</ref> Despite the lack of affectionate feelings and the growing resentment and suspicion of Terentia, Cicero continued to trust her with the administration of their household.<ref>Treggiari 124 - 125, 129</ref>
The strain on their marriage led to divorce in 47 or 46 BC. Terentia was around 52 years old at the time. According to [[Jerome|Hieronymus Stridonensis]], Terentia later remarried two times, her second husband being the historian [[Sallust]] and her third the writer and general [[Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus]].<ref>[[Jerome|Hieronymus]]. Adversus Jovinianum Libri Duo, I, 48: "Illa [Terentia][…] nupsit Sallustio […], et tertio Messalae Corvino". Read online: [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/02m/0347-0420,_Hieronymus,_Adversus_Jovinianum_Libri_Duo,_MLT.pdf].</ref> But Hieronymus lived much later, in the fourth century AD, and his assertions are not confirmed by any other ancient writer. Prominent scholars of Roman prosopography such as [[Ronald Syme]] refute the possibility of those two marriages (for instance, both actual wives of Messala Corvinus are known).<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 638680|title = Sallust's Wife|last=Syme|first=Roland|year=1978|journal=The Classical Quarterly|volume=28|issue=2|pages = 292–295|doi = 10.1017/S0009838800034820|s2cid = 170773851}}</ref> She outlived her ex-husband by many years, dying at the age of
==Notes==
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==References==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*Treggiari, Susan. ''Terentia, Tullia and Publilia: The Women of Cicero's Family.'' New York: Routledge, 2007.
*Cicero, Marcus Tullius. ''Letters to Atticus.'' Trans. [[E.O. Winstedt]].Vol.2. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1912.
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*Lightman, Marjorie, and Benjamin Lightman. ''Biographical dictionary of ancient Greek and Roman women: notable women from Sappho to Helena.'' New York: Facts On File, 2000.
*Burns, Mary S.R., et al. "Chapter 17. Coolness towards Terentia." ''Introducing Cicero: A selection of passages from the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero.'' London: Bristol Classical Press, 2002.
{{Refend}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:AD 6 deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Roman women]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century Roman women]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman centenarians]]
[[Category:Terentii]]
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