Antonia the Elder

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Roman imperial dynasties
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Chronology
Augustus 27 BC14 AD
Tiberius 1437 AD
Caligula 3741 AD
Claudius 4154 AD
Nero 5468 AD
Family
Gens Julia
Gens Claudia
Julio-Claudian family tree
Category:Julio-Claudian dynasty
Succession
Preceded by
Roman Republic
Followed by
Year of the Four Emperors

Antonia Major also known as Julia Antonia Major[1] (Latin: Antonia Maior, PIR2 A 884) (born August/September 39 BC), also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter of Triumvir Mark Antony and Octavia the Younger and a relative of the first Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was a niece of the first emperor Augustus, step cousin of the emperor Tiberius, paternal great-aunt of the emperor Caligula, maternal aunt and great-aunt-in law of the emperor Claudius, and paternal grandmother and maternal great-great aunt of the emperor Nero.

Antonia was born in Athens, Greece and after 36 BC her mother, along with her siblings and herself were brought to Rome. She was raised by her mother, her uncle and her aunt Livia Drusilla. According to Cassius Dio after her father died, Augustus allowed her and her younger sister Antonia Minor to benefit from their father's estate in Rome. Although little is known of her, Antonia was held in high regard like her sister Antonia Minor, the mother of the emperor Claudius, who was celebrated for her beauty and virtue.

Progeny

Around 22 BC Antonia married the consul, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Antonia bore Lucius three children:

Many scholars think the Ara Pacis (an altar from the Augustan Era), displays Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and his elder sister Domitia. The woman behind Domitia and Domitius is allegedly their mother Antonia Major and the man next to Antonia Major is her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

Gaius Stern and Sir Ronald Syme both dispute this claim, whose chief argument in its favor is that "it was written in German 100 years ago".[2] First of all, the young Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was born after the monument was completed. He cannot possibly be on the Ara Pacis. His father was governor of Africa in 13 and was not in Rome for the Ara Pacis ceremony. Additional arguments against can be found in Stern, "Nero's Father and Other Romantic Figures on the Ara Pacis Augustae, CAMWS 2003; Syme, "Neglected Children on the Ara Pacis," AJA 88 (1984), The Augustan Aristocracy (1985) 142, 155, 166-67. An image can be seen at [1].

There is a possibility that Antonia may have died before 25. From observations of Syme (Sen. Rh. Controv. 9.4.18) indicates that Antonia was alive after 33.

Ancestry

Family of Antonia the Elder
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Gaius Antonius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Marcus Antonius Orator
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Marcus Antonius Creticus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Mark Antony
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Lucius Julius Caesar II
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Lucius Julius Caesar III
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Julia Antonia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Antonia Major
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Gaius Octavius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Gaius Octavius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Gaius Octavius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Octavia Minor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Marcus Atius Balbus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Marcus Atius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Pompeia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Atia Balba Caesonia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Gaius Julius Caesar
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Julia Caesaris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Aurelia Cotta
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. Minto, The Heliopolis Scrolls, p. 159
  2. Stern, "Nero's Father and Other Romantic Figures on the Ara Pacis Augustae, CAMWS 2003
  • E. Groag, A. Stein, L. Petersen - e.a. (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III, Berlin, 1933 - . (PIR2)
  • J. Minto, The Heliopolis Scrolls, ShieldCrest, 2009