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Antonia gens
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The gens Antonia was a Roman family of great antiquity, with both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Titus Antonius Merenda, one of the second group of Decemviri called, in 450 BC, to help draft what became the Law of the Twelve Tables. The most prominent member of the gens was Marcus Antonius.[1]
Origin
[edit]Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, claimed that his gens was descended from Anton, a son of Heracles.[2] According to ancient traditions the Antonii were Heracleidae and because of that Marcus Antonius harnessed lions to his chariot to commemorate his descent from Heracles, and many of his coins bore a lion for the same reason.[2][3][4][1]
Praenomina
[edit]The patrician Antonii used the praenomina Titus and Quintus. Titus does not appear to have been used by the plebeian Antonii, who instead used Quintus, Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius. There are also a few instances of Aulus, while Marcus Antonius the triumvir named one of his sons Iulus. This name, also borne by a later descendant of the triumvir, may have been an ancient praenomen revived by the family, but it was probably also intended to call to mind the connections of his family with the illustrious gens Julia.
Branches and cognomina
[edit]The patrician Antonii bear the cognomen Merenda; the plebeian Antonii bear no surname under the Republic, with the exception of Quintus Antonius, propraetor in Sardinia in the time of Sulla, who is called Balbus on coins.[1]
Members
[edit]- This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
- Titus Antonius Merenda, Decemvir in 450 BC, defeated by the Aequi on Mount Algidus.[5][6][7]
- Quintus Antonius T. f. Merenda, consular tribune in 422 BC.[8][7]
- Marcus Antonius, magister equitum in 333 BC.[9][10]
- Lucius Antonius, expelled from the Senate by the censors in 307 BC for divorcing his wife.[11]
- Quintus Antonius, one of the officers in the fleet under the praetor Lucius Aemilius Regillus, in the war with Antiochus the Great, in 190 BC.[12]
- Aulus Antonius, sent by the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus, with two others to Perseus, after the defeat of the latter, in 168 BC.[13]
- Marcus Antonius, tribune of the plebs in 167 BC, opposed the bill introduced by the praetor Marcus Juventius Thalna for declaring war against the Rhodians.[14]
- Lucius Antonius, defended by Cato the Elder c. 150 BC.[15]
- Gaius Antonius, 2nd-century BC moneyer, was for many years incorrectly assumed to have been the father of the orator and consul of 99 BC.[16]
- Marcus Antonius M. f., father of Marcus Antonius the orator, may have been the son of Marcus Antonius, tribune of the plebs in 167 BC.
- Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., the orator, praetor in 104 BC, consul in 99 BC, censor in 97 BC, put to death by Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna in 87 BC.
- Quintus Antonius Balbus, praetor in Sardinia in 82 BC, killed by Lucius Marcius Philippus, the legate of Sulla.[17]
- Marcus Antonius, a proscribed senator who fled to Sertorius in Hispania during his revolt, and later conspired in his assassination in 73 BC.[18]
- Marcus Antonius Gnipho, a distinguished rhetorician and tutor of Caesar.
- Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed Creticus, praetor in 75 BC.
- Gaius Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed Hybrida, consul in 63 BC.
- Antonia M. f. M. n., the daughter of Marcus Antonius the orator, was captured by pirates, and ransomed.[19]
- Antonia M. f. M. n., wife of Publius Vatinius.
- Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., the triumvir, was magister equitum in 47 and consul in 44 BC.
- Gaius Antonius M. f. M. n., praetor in 44 BC, was put to death by Brutus in 42.
- Lucius Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed Pietas, consul in 41 BC.
- Antonia C. f. M. n. Hybrida Major, married Lucius Caninius Gallus.[20]
- Antonia C. f. M. n. Hybrida Minor, married her cousin, Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, but was divorced from him in 47 B.C.[21][22]
- Antonia M. f. M. n., daughter of the triumvir, who was betrothed to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the younger.[23][24]
- Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., called Antyllus by the Greek writers, put to death by Augustus in 30 BC.
- Iulus Antonius M. f. M. n., consul in 10 BC, condemned to death by Augustus in 2 BC.
- Antonia M. f. M. n. Major, the wife of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, was grandmother of the empress Messalina and the emperor Nero.[25][26]
- Antonia M. f. M. n. Minor, the wife of Nero Claudius Drusus, was mother of the emperor Claudius, and grandmother of Caligula.
- Antonius Musa, a physician at the time of Augustus, and author of works on medicine and medicinal plants.
- Lucius Antonius Iuli f. M. n., exiled to Massilia in 2 BC.[27]
- Iula Antonia Iuli f. M. n., daughter Iulus Antonius, the consul of 10 BC.
- Lucius Antonius Pedo, an eques who was praefectus of Roman Egypt around AD 11.[28]
- Antonia Tryphaena, Queen of Thrace, and a granddaughter of Marcus Antonius, the triumvir.
- Antonius Atticus, a Roman rhetorician of the first century; he was contemporary with both Seneca and Quintilian.[29]
- Aulus Antonius Rufus, consul suffectus in AD 45[30]
- Marcus Antonius Felix, a freedman of the emperor Claudius, later procurator of Judaea.
- Marcus Antonius Pallas, a freedman, brother to Marcus Antonius Felix. Secretary first to Claudius, and then to Nero, who had him executed in AD 63.
- Antonia, wife of a Livius, perhaps a senator.[31][32]
- Antonius Natalis, one of the conspirators of Gaius Calpurnius Piso against Nero.
- Marcus Antonius Julianus, procurator of Judaea from AD 66 to 70.
- Lucius Antonius Naso, tribune of the Praetorian Guard in AD 69, and procurator of Bithynia in the reign of Vespasian.[33][34]
- Antonius Flamma, governor of Cyrenaica under Nero, banished at the beginning of Vespasian's reign for his extortion and cruelty.[35]
- Antonius Novellus, one of Otho's principal generals, but possessed no influence with the soldiery.[36]
- Antonius Castor, a botanist at Rome during the first century, who lived more than a hundred years.[37]
- Antonius Rufus, a Latin grammarian, and perhaps also a playwright, in the time of Quintilian.[38][39]
- Antonius, a Roman of high rank, and a contemporary and friend of Pliny the Younger, among whose letters there are three addressed to Antoninus. Pliny heaps the most extravagant praise upon his friend both for his personal character and his skill in composing Greek epigrams and iambics.[40]
- Marcus Antonius L. f. Iuli n., the principal general of Vespasian, and consul in AD 69.
- Marcus Antonius Primus, Camillus with the arvals in 118.[41]
- Antonius Taurus, a tribune in the Praetorian Guard in AD 69.[33]
- Marcus Antonius M. f. Agrippa, son of Marcus Antonius Felix, the procurator of Judaea, died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
- Antonia M. f. Clementiana, daughter of Marcus Antonius Felix.
- Lucius Antonius Saturninus, governor of Germania Superior, rebelled against the emperor Domitian in AD 91.
- Lucius Antonius Albus, consul in AD 102.[42]
- Marcus Antonius Rufinus, consul in AD 131.[43]
- Lucius Antonius L. f. Albus, consul suffectus around AD 132.[44]
- Marcus Antonius Hiberus, consul ordinarius in 133.
- Antonius Diogenes, author of a Greek romance, who may have lived in the second century.
- Antonius, a notable herbalist mentioned by Galen, probably dated to the second century, but perhaps the same person as Antonius Castor.
- Antonius Julianus, a friend and contemporary of Aulus Gellius, and a teacher of grammar and oratory.[45]
- Marcus Antonius Polemon, a celebrated sophist and rhetorician who flourished under Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.
- Julius Antonius Seleucus, governor of Moesia in the early 3rd century. Possibly the same figure as the contemporary usurper Seleucus, who revolted against Elagabalus. Other sources identify him with the consul Marcus Flavius Vitellius Seleucus.
- Marcus Antonius Sabinus, equestrian governor of Mauretania Caesariensis AD 215–217.[46]
- Marcus Antonius Gordianus I, surnamed Africanus, emperor in AD 238.
- Marcus Antonius M. f. Gordianus II, emperor with his father in AD 238.
- Antonia M. f. Gordiana, daughter of the emperor Gordianus I, and mother of Gordianus III.
- Marcus Antonius Gordianus III, grandson of Gordianus I, and emperor from AD 238 to 244.
- Claudius Antonius, consul in AD 382.
- Rufius Antonius Agrypnius Volusianus, proconsul of Africa, praefectus urbi from AD 417 to 418, and praetorian prefect of Italy.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 210 ("Antonia Gens").
- ^ a b Plutarch, "The Life of Marcus Antonius", 36, 60.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, viii. 16. s. 21; comp. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, x. 13.
- ^ Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, vi. pp. 38, 44.
- ^ Dionysius, x. 58, xi. 23, 33.
- ^ Livy, iii. 35, 38, 41, 42.
- ^ a b Fasti Capitolini AE 1900, 83; 1904, 114.
- ^ Livy, iv. 42.
- ^ Fasti Capit
- ^ Livy, viii. 17.
- ^ Valerius Maximus, ii. 9. § 2.
- ^ Livy, xxxvii. 32.
- ^ Livy, xlv. 4.
- ^ Livy, xlv. 21, 40.
- ^ Priscian. p. 286.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 213 ("Antonius", No. 7).
- ^ Florus, 86.
- ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Sertorius", 26.
- ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Pompeius", 24.
- ^ Valerius Maximus, iv. 2. § 6.
- ^ Cicero, Philippicae, ii. 38.
- ^ Plutarch], "The Life of Marcus Antonius", 9.
- ^ Cassius Dio, xliv. 53.
- ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, v. 93.
- ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Nero", 5.
- ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Marcus Antonius", 87.
- ^ Tacitus, Annales, iv. 44.
- ^ Bastianini, "Prefetti d'Egitto", p. 269.
- ^ Seneca the Elder, Suasoriae, 2. p. 19 (ed. Bipontina).
- ^ Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Claudius", pp. 408, 424.
- ^ Raepsaet-Charlier, Prosopographie des femmes, vol. 1, p. 91.
- ^ Bruun, Christer (2007). "Nero's 'Architects', Severus and Celer, and Residence Patterns in Rome". Scripta Classica Israelica. 26: 73–86.
- ^ a b Tacitus, Historiae, i. 20.
- ^ J. Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, ii. p. 404.
- ^ Tacitus, Historiae, iv. 45.
- ^ Tacitus, Historiae, i. 87, ii. 12.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, xxv. 5.
- ^ Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, i. 5. § 43.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 670 ("Antonius Rufus").
- ^ Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, iv. 3, 18, v. 10.
- ^ Rüpke and Glock, Fasti Sacerdotum, p. 538.
- ^ Cooley, Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, p. 467.
- ^ Cooley, Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, p. 470.
- ^ Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand, p. 213.
- ^ Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, iv. 1, ix. 15, xv. 1, xviii. 5, xix. 9, xx. 9.
- ^ AE 1955, 56
Bibliography
[edit]- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, Philippicae.
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia (Roman Antiquities).
- Titus Livius (Livy), History of Rome.
- Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Elder), Suasoriae (Rhetorical Exercises).
- Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), Historia Naturalis (Natural History).
- Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (Pliny the Younger), Epistulae (Letters).
- Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Quintilian), Institutio Oratoria (Institutes of Oratory).
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales, Historiae.
- Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans.
- Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
- Lucius Annaeus Florus, Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC (Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years).
- Appianus Alexandrinus (Appian), Bellum Civile (The Civil War).
- Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae (Attic Nights).
- Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio), Roman History.
- Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum (The Study of Ancient Coins, 1792–1798).
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
- Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
- Guido Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p" (List of the Prefects of Egypt from 30 BC to AD 299), in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, vol. 17 (1975).
- Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antonien (The Consulate and Senatorial State under the Antonines), Rudolf Habelt, Bonn (1977).
- Paul A. Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Claudius", in Classical Quarterly, vol. 28, pp. 407–426 (1978).
- Marie-Thérèse Raepsaet-Charlier, Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial: Ier-IIe siècles (Prosopography of Women of the Senatorial Order: First and Second Centuries), Peeters, Louvain (1987).
- Jörg Rüpke and Anne Glock, Fasti Sacerdotum: A Prosopography of Pagan, Jewish, and Christian Religious Officials in the City of Rome, 300 BC to AD 499, Oxford University Press (2008).
- Alison E. Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, Cambridge University Press (2012).
Antonia gens
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The gens Antonia was an ancient plebeian family of Rome, among the oldest attested, with its first prominent member Titus Antonius Merenda serving as one of the decemviri legibus scribundis in 451–450 BC to codify Roman law during the early Republic.[1] The family rose through the Conflict of the Orders, exemplified by Quintus Antonius Merenda's election in 422 BC as the first plebeian military tribune with consular power, challenging patrician dominance in high office.[1] Though the Antonia claimed mythical descent from Anton, a son of Hercules—a legend emphasized by later members to bolster prestige—the gens achieved enduring historical significance in the late Republic and early Empire through political and military roles.[2] Its most renowned figure was Marcus Antonius, the triumvir who wielded immense power after Julius Caesar's assassination, commanding legions, governing eastern provinces, and engaging in civil wars that reshaped the Roman state, ultimately allying with Cleopatra VII before defeat at Actium in 31 BC.[1] Through Antonius's daughters, Antonia Maior and Antonia Minor, the family connected to the Julio-Claudian dynasty: Antonia Minor, wife of Nero Claudius Drusus, bore Germanicus, Livilla, and Claudius, the latter becoming emperor in 41 AD.[3] Earlier consuls like Marcus Antonius Orator (99 BC) and praetors such as Antonius Creticus elevated the gens's status via triumphs and provincial commands, though the family experienced declines and exiles amid factional strife.[1] The Antonia thus exemplified plebeian ascent from legal reformers to imperial kin, influencing Rome's transition from republic to monarchy.
Nomenclature
Praenomina
The Antonia gens employed a limited set of praenomina, reflecting distinctions between its patrician and plebeian branches. The patrician Antonii favored Titus and Quintus, with the earliest prominent example being Titus Antonius Merenda, who served as a decemvir in 450 BC alongside Appius Claudius and others to codify the Twelve Tables.[1] Quintus Antonius, son of Titus Merenda, held the office of consular tribune in 422 BC. The plebeian Antonii, who rose to greater prominence in the late Republic, commonly used Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius. Marcus Antonius, known as Mark Antony (c. 83–30 BC), exemplified this usage as triumvir and key figure in the civil wars following Julius Caesar's assassination. His brother Lucius Antonius served as consul in 41 BC. Inscriptions from the imperial period show continued but varied application, with over 60% of Antonii praenomina in certain corpora being Marcus prior to proscriptions.[4] Following Antony's defeat at Actium in 31 BC and suicide in 30 BC, Octavian (later Augustus) issued a decree prohibiting any future member of the gens Antonia from bearing the praenomen Marcus, a measure aimed at erasing his legacy; this is attested in the histories of Plutarch (Life of Antony 86) and Cassius Dio (51.19).[5] The ban persisted into the Principate, though epigraphic evidence indicates occasional deviations or revivals in less prominent branches.[4] Other praenomina like Gaius appear sporadically in provincial contexts, such as Crete, but remained secondary to the core set.[6]Branches and Cognomina
The gens Antonia encompassed both patrician and plebeian branches, with the patrician line primarily identified by the cognomen Merenda. Titus Antonius Merenda, serving as one of the decemviri legibus scribundis in 451 BC, exemplifies this branch's early involvement in Roman governance, including military engagements near Algidus Mons.[1] The plebeian branch, originating from similar antiquarian roots but confirmed as non-patrician by the mid-Republic, achieved greater historical prominence without a fixed hereditary cognomen.[1] In the plebeian Antonia line, personal cognomina or agnomina were acquired individually, often denoting achievements, traits, or ironic attributes rather than denoting fixed family subdivisions. Marcus Antonius Orator, consul in 99 BC and censor, earned his cognomen for oratorical prowess, while triumphing over the Thracians in 100 BC.[1] Marcus Antonius Creticus, praetor in 74 BC, received Creticus despite failing to subdue Cretan pirates, dying in 72 BC during the campaign.[1] Gaius Antonius Hybrida, consul in 63 BC and later governor of Macedonia, bore Hybrida, possibly alluding to reputed hybrid ancestry or physical features.[1] Additional plebeian cognomina included Balbus, as in Quintus Antonius Balbus, praetor and governor of Sardinia in 82 BC, who met his end amid provincial unrest.[1] The absence of a standardized cognomen in the main plebeian branch persisted into the late Republic, as evidenced by Marcus Antonius (the triumvir), who relied solely on his nomen and praenomen without a familial surname.[7] This structure reflects the gens's evolution from early republican offices to influential military and political roles amid Rome's internal strife.[1]Origins
Etymology and Geographic Theories
The nomen Antonius, the basis for the gens Antonia, possesses an etymology that scholars regard as uncertain, likely rooted in a pre-Latin Italic or Etruscan substrate language. Proposed derivations include an Etruscan provenance, reflecting the influence of non-Indo-European elements in early Roman nomenclature, though no definitive linguistic evidence confirms this.[8] Alternative interpretations, often folk etymological, suggest a meaning of "priceless" or "inestimable," potentially from a reconstructed compound akin to Greek anti- ("against" or "in place of") and ōnios ("for sale"), implying something beyond monetary value; however, this lacks attestation in ancient sources and appears as a later rationalization rather than a primary origin.[9][10] Geographic theories for the gens's origins emphasize its plebeian status and integration into early Roman society, pointing to central or southern Italic regions rather than patrician strongholds like Sabine hills or Etruscan territories. Attestations in Oscan-influenced areas such as Capua suggest possible Sabellian affiliations, aligning with the migration patterns of Italic tribes into Latium during the monarchy and early Republic; this would position the Antonii among allied peoples incorporated into Rome's client networks.[11] Yet, direct evidence tying the gens to specific locales remains sparse, with no archaeological or epigraphic finds predating the third century BCE to substantiate claims of extraterritorial roots, underscoring the challenges in tracing plebeian gentes beyond legendary narratives like descent from Hercules' son Anton.[1] Such theories prioritize empirical onomastic patterns over unverified traditions, highlighting the gens's likely emergence from Rome's expanding Latin hinterland.Earliest Attestations
The earliest surviving attestation of the gens Antonia occurs in the context of the second decemvirate of 450–449 BC, when Titus Antonius Merenda, a plebeian, was appointed as one of the ten commissioners tasked with drafting and completing the Leges Duodecim Tabularum, Rome's foundational legal code.[12] Livy records Merenda among the second board's members, elected after the initial decemvirate's controversial tenure under Appius Claudius, comprising figures such as Kaeso Duillius, Spurius Oppius Cornicen, and Manius Rabuleius, with the group focused on codifying customary law amid patrician-plebeian tensions.[13] This appointment marks the gens's initial emergence in public records, as no prior members are documented in consular fasti, triumphs, or other archaic inscriptions.[1] Merenda's role underscores the gens Antonia's plebeian status and early involvement in legislative reform during the Struggle of the Orders, though he held no further attested magistracies. Dionysius of Halicarnassus corroborates the decemvirate's composition and timeline but omits Merenda by name, relying instead on broader annalistic traditions; Livy's account, drawn from earlier sources like the Annales Maximi, provides the specific identification, though early Republican prosopography remains fragmentary due to reliance on later historians. No epigraphic evidence predates this period, with the gens's obscurity prior to 450 BC suggesting origins among mid-level plebeian landholders rather than elite patrons.[1]Republican Period
Rise to Prominence
The Antonia gens, an ancient plebeian family, first attained notable status in the early Republic when Titus Antonius Merenda served as one of the decemviri legibus scribundis appointed in 451 BC to codify Roman law into the Twelve Tables.[1] This role marked the gens's entry into high-level legislative and political activity, though Merenda's tenure ended amid controversy following a military defeat near Algidus Mons during conflicts with the Aequi.[1] Shortly thereafter, Quintus Antonius Merenda became, in 422 BC, the first non-patrician to hold the office of military tribune with consular power, further elevating the family's visibility in Rome's expanding magistracies amid the Struggle of the Orders.[1] Subsequent generations saw intermittent advancement, such as Marcus Antonius's appointment as magister equitum in 334 BC under the dictator Gaius Poetelius Libo Visci, though he resigned under senatorial pressure, reflecting the gens's precarious foothold among entrenched elites.[1] The family then entered a period of relative obscurity, with sparse records of senatorial membership or minor roles, such as Lucius Antonius's expulsion from the Senate in 307 BC for personal misconduct and Quintus Antonius's service as legatus in 190 BC during the war against Antiochus III.[1] A resurgence in prominence occurred in the late second century BC, catalyzed by Marcus Antonius Orator, who as praetor in 102 or 103 BC commanded forces against Cilician pirates, earning a triumph in 100 BC and later serving as consul in 99 BC and censor.[1] This success, documented in accounts by Cicero and others, positioned the Antonii as influential orators and military leaders, paving the way for their expanded role in the turbulent politics of the first century BC.[1]Major Figures and Events
The gens Antonia first gained prominence in the early Republic with Titus Antonius Merenda, a member of the second college of decemviri appointed in 450 BC to codify Roman law alongside Appius Claudius Caecus.[7] This early involvement marked the family's entry into high political office, though sustained influence emerged later. In the late second century BC, Marcus Antonius, known as the Orator (c. 143–87 BC), elevated the family's status. As praetor around 102 BC, he campaigned successfully against Cilician pirates, securing a triumph in 100 BC for safeguarding eastern trade routes. Elected consul in 99 BC and censor in 97 BC, he prosecuted opponents like Gnaeus Papirius Carbo and defended allies of Lucius Caecilius Metellus during political strife. Allying with Sulla in the First Civil War (88–87 BC), he was captured by Marian forces and executed in 87 BC, depriving the gens of a key leader.[1] His son, Marcus Antonius Creticus (d. 72/71 BC), received praetorship in 74 BC and an extraordinary imperium to combat Mediterranean piracy, a growing threat to grain supplies. Operating from Sicily in 73 BC and Crete thereafter, his forces failed to decisively defeat the pirates, instead engaging in plunder of allied regions, earning the derisive cognomen "Creticus" from the Senate's refusal of a triumph. He died during the Cretan operations in 72 BC, leaving the campaign unresolved until Pompey's later success.[1][14] Gaius Antonius Hybrida, a relative, held tribunate of the plebs in 68 BC, praetorship in 66 BC, and consulship in 63 BC with Marcus Tullius Cicero. Governing Macedonia afterward, he faced accusations of extortion and initial leniency toward Catiline's conspiracy before aiding its suppression. Prosecuted under the lex Gabinia in 59 BC, he was exiled but recalled by 44 BC.[1] The most influential figure, Marcus Antonius (83–30 BC), grandson of the Orator, advanced through equestrian service in 57 BC and quaestorship in 52 BC, gaining Caesar's favor during the Gallic Wars. As tribune in 49 BC, he defended Caesar's interests, triggering civil war; appointed magister equitum in 47 BC and consul in 44 BC, he delivered Caesar's funeral oration, sparking riots against assassins. In the Second Triumvirate (43 BC), he secured victories at Philippi (42 BC) against Brutus and Cassius, redistributing lands and consolidating power in the East, events central to the Republic's terminal crises.[15][16]Imperial Period
Key Marriages and Alliances
The most significant marriage of the Antonia gens in the imperial period was that of Antonia Minor (born 36 BC) to Nero Claudius Drusus, the younger son of Livia Drusilla and stepson of Augustus, which occurred around 16 BC.[17] This union, arranged under Augustus's oversight to consolidate Julio-Claudian lineage, produced three sons who survived to adulthood: Germanicus Julius Caesar (born 15 BC), the future emperor Claudius (born 10 BC), and Tiberius Gemellus's short-lived sibling contextually tied to the family.[17] The alliance reinforced the integration of Antony's descendants into the imperial household, with Drusus's Claudian heritage linking the plebeian Antonii to the patrician Claudii, thereby ensuring the gens's enduring influence despite Antony's prior defeat at Actium in 31 BC.[17] Antonia Minor's fidelity to Drusus, who died in 9 BC from illness sustained during campaigns in Germania, exemplified the marital stability prized in Augustan moral reforms, as no evidence suggests infidelity or remarriage on her part following his death.[17] Their offspring extended these ties: Germanicus's adoption by Tiberius in AD 4 positioned him as a potential heir, while Claudius's eventual accession in AD 41 directly descended from this marriage, highlighting its dynastic weight.[17] Complementing this, Antonia Maior (born c. 39 BC), Antonia Minor's elder sister, married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, a consul in 16 BC from the patrician Domitii Ahenobarbi, likely in the late teens BC amid Augustus's efforts to bind elite families.[18] Their son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (born 7 BC, later Nero Caesar), married Agrippina the Younger in AD 28, producing the emperor Nero (born AD 37), thus forging a pivotal alliance between the Antonia gens and the emerging imperial succession.[18] This connection embedded Antony's bloodline into the final Julio-Claudian ruler, underscoring the gens's role in sustaining republican-era networks into the principate despite political vicissitudes.[18] These marriages, devoid of recorded scandals in primary accounts like those preserved in Suetonius and Dio Cassius (though filtered through imperial patronage), prioritized strategic kinship over personal affection, aligning with Roman elite practices where such unions secured patronage, military commands, and senatorial influence for the Antonii amid the centralization of power under Augustus and his successors.[17] No other major Antonia gens alliances in the imperial era rivaled these in scope, as the family's male lines waned post-Republic, shifting prominence to female-mediated ties.[19]Notable Imperial Figures
Antonia Minor (36 BC–AD 37), daughter of triumvir Marcus Antonius and Octavia Minor, emerged as a central figure in the Julio-Claudian dynasty through her marriage to Nero Claudius Drusus, brother of Emperor Tiberius, in 20 BC.[17] She gave birth to Germanicus Caesar in 15 BC, Emperor Claudius in 10 BC, and Livilla in 13 BC, thereby linking the Antonian lineage directly to imperial succession.[3] Following Drusus's death in 9 BC from illness during a military campaign in Germania, Antonia Minor withdrew from remarriage despite overtures from suitors, maintaining her status through wealth from her dowry and inherited estates, which included properties in Italy and Gaul.[17] Her household served as an educational center for dynastic youth, including her grandsons Gaius (Caligula) and future Agrippina the Younger, fostering loyalty to the imperial family amid intrigues.[20] After Livia Drusilla's death in AD 29, Antonia Minor inherited the position of domina or senior matriarch in the imperial household, advising Tiberius on court matters and upholding traditional Roman virtues of piety and restraint, as evidenced by her refusal of divine honors and public statues during her lifetime.[17] Under Caligula's reign beginning AD 37, tensions escalated; ancient accounts report her criticism of his excesses led to her starvation or forced suicide at age 73, though modern analyses suggest possible natural causes amid political isolation.[3] Her influence extended posthumously, as her son Claudius's ascension in AD 41 validated her lineage's enduring power, with Caligula honoring her memory through deification decrees despite prior conflicts.[20] Freedmen bearing the Antonian name also rose prominently in imperial administration, reflecting the gens's indirect sway through client networks. Marcus Antonius Pallas, a freedman originally from Arcadia and manumitted by Antonia Minor, served as secretary ab epistulis under Claudius from AD 41, amassing a fortune exceeding 30 million sesterces through fiscal oversight and influence over appointments.[21] His brother, Marcus Antonius Felix, similarly freed by Antonia, governed Samaria before appointment as procurator of Judaea circa AD 52–60 under Claudius and Nero, where he suppressed banditry but faced accusations of corruption and extortion upon recall to Rome.[21] Felix's tenure included the trial of Paul of Tarsus circa AD 58, deferring judgment for bribes, highlighting the freedmen's exercise of discretionary power in provincial administration tied to Antonia's legacy.[22] These figures underscore how the gens Antonia, post-Republic, exerted influence via maternal patronage rather than direct patrilineal office-holding.Legacy
Restrictions and Decline
Following the triumvir Marcus Antonius's defeat at Actium in 31 BC and suicide in 30 BC, the prominent plebeian branch of the gens Antonia faced targeted political restrictions and purges under Augustus. Male descendants were systematically eliminated to neutralize potential threats from Antonius's lineage; his eldest son, Marcus Antonius Antyllus, was executed in Alexandria on 30 August 30 BC shortly after the city's surrender to Octavian's forces. Similarly, Iullus Antonius, the triumvir's son by Fulvia, who had risen to consul in 10 BC and proconsul of Asia in 7–6 BC, was forced to suicide in 2 BC on charges of adultery with Augustus's daughter Julia, amid suspicions of conspiracy.[23] These events decimated the male line of the Antonii associated with the triumvir, with no further recorded consuls or major magistrates from the gens after 10 BC.[24] The proscriptions and civil war alignments had already thinned the family's ranks earlier, contributing to a broader pattern where gentes like the Antonia suffered attrition for opposing the emerging imperial order.[25] Under the Principate, surviving female members such as Antonia Minor—daughter of the triumvir by Octavia—integrated into the Julio-Claudian house through marriage to Nero Claudius Drusus, but their offspring adopted the nomina of imperial lines rather than perpetuating Antonius. This shift, combined with the centralization of power away from traditional gentes, ensured the gens Antonia's political extinction as an independent force by the early 1st century AD, its legacy reduced to historical notoriety rather than institutional continuity.[26]Scholarly Interpretations
Scholars consensus holds that the gens Antonia originated as a plebeian family of considerable antiquity, with its earliest documented member, Titus Antonius Merenda, serving among the decemviri legibus scribundis in 451 BC, as recorded by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.[1] Although ancient sources like Dionysius suggested possible patrician roots, modern analyses reject this, attributing such claims to antiquarian embellishments rather than evidence, and affirm the gens' firmly plebeian status based on consistent lack of patrician privileges in early records.[1] This interpretation underscores the gens' role in early Republican legal and military institutions, exemplified by Merenda's participation in campaigns near Algidus Mons and the later consular tribunate of Quintus Antonius Merenda in 422 BC, marking one of the first non-patrician elevations to high command.[1] The trajectory of the gens Antonia illustrates plebeian social mobility through martial and political service, rising to nobility by the late Republic under figures like Marcus Antonius Orator, consul in 99 BC, who secured triumphs against Cilician pirates and advanced censorial roles, yet whose career also reflected opportunistic alignments, such as tentative support for Sulla amid the Social War.[1] Historians caution against overreliance on Cicero's Philippics for assessments of Antonine character and strategy, given the orator's personal debts to the family and subsequent enmity toward Mark Antony, which colored portrayals of their ambition as symptomatic of Republican decay.[1] Ernst Badian's analysis highlights uncertainties in Orator's precise maneuvers during civil strife, emphasizing evidentiary gaps in prosopographical reconstructions.[1] Post-Actium decline interpretations attribute the gens' marginalization to proscriptions and dynastic realignments, with male lines decimated following Mark Antony's defeat in 31 BC, though female descendants like Antonia Minor facilitated indirect continuity via Julio-Claudian intermarriages, effectively subsuming Antonine identity into imperial nomenclature.[25] This view frames the Antonia as emblematic of gentes eroded by autocratic consolidation, where political fidelity trumped ancestral prestige, leading to their eclipse by the 2nd century AD despite foundational contributions to Roman governance.[1]References
- https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/From_the_Founding_of_the_City/Book_3