Trajanic/Hadrianic Women Flashcards
(19 cards)
What are the reign dates for the Trajanic/Hadrianic period?
96-98 - Nerva
98-117 - Trajan
117-138 - Hadrian
What are the sources for the Trajanic/Hadrianic period?
Pliny the Younger (especially his Panegyric 61-112)
Cassius Dio; writing circa 235 CE
Historia Augusta; arguments about the reliability of this source (late 4th c. CE)
Who were the women under Trajan?
Marcia: mother of Trajan
Ulpia Marciana: older sister to Trajan
Pompeia Plotina: wife of Trajan
Salonia Matidia (= Matidia the Elder), niece of Trajan
Vibia Sabina, grandniece of Trajan
Mindia Matidia (= Matidia the Younger), grandniece of Trajan
Who was Marcia?
Mother of Trajan. Died shortly after he came to power
She was NOT deified
His father was deified (actual father), alongside his adoptive father Nerva, and both were commemorated on Trajan’s coinage
Who was Plotina?
Wife of Trajan
Who was Marciana?
Sister of Trajan
What does Pliny, Panegyric 84 say about the women around Trajan?
Trajan accepts the title of Augustus in 98 soon after his accession, the two women (Plotina/Marciana) don’t receive theirs until 105
Careful with this text, though, as it is not certain who Pliny is intending to praise, might be backhanded to highlight the women instead of Trajan
What are the two sites where Plotina and Marciana are honoured?
Ancona and Timgad
Which women were elevated under Trajan and why?
Ulpia Marciana and Plotina are both made Augustae in 105
Why sister and wife? To protect them maybe, to give sister more status as her lineage is presumably going to be where the next emperor comes from (despite her having daughters, not sons), he is potentially protecting his family line by giving her this title
Did Plotina have power / influence?
Trajan never had children with his wife Plotina - was there genuine affection there? That the marriage endured without an heir
First woman to have Pudicitia on her coinage (chaste modesty?)
What can the material evidence tell us about Plotina?
Well placed for patronage, inscription indicating her as a benefactress of schools etc. (ILS 7784; 121 CE)
This is a woman involved in lots of things not evidenced or represented in written sources, she has friendships throughout the empire, a personal relationship with the Epicureans in Athens etc.
Who was Trajan’s neice?
Matidia the Elder (= Salonia Matidia), daughter of Marciana in 112
Who were Trajan’s grand-neices?
Mindia Matidia (= Matidia the Younger)
Vibia Sabina
Did Matidia the Younger have power / influence?
Husband? Brennan argues that she was not allowed to marry because of the potential challenge posed by any children to the emperor or line of succession
Never Augusta
Very wealthy, various foundations set up in her or her mother’s name
Hadrian does not emphasise this women during his reign, he potentially saw her as a threat ( he owed his rule partly due to a marriage with her half sister) and tried to sideline her because of her dynastical strength
What can the statue of Matidia the Younger from the theatre at Suessa Aruncuna tell us?
Dedication for her patronage of the restoration of the theatre
Clearly had quite a significance to this community - paying for restorations out of her own pocket
Who was the key woman for the reign of Hadrian?
Vibia Sabina - wife of Hadrian
Who was Vibia Sabina?
Ca. 87 - 137
Grand-neice of Trajan
Married Hadrian in 100
Augusta in 119?
No children
Deified
Represented on coinage as pudicitia (chaste modesty)
Was there conflict between Sabina and Hadrian, as per the written sources?
Died late 137 CE and is deified - represented on coinage as being carried away by an eagle
This image may come from a monumental altar that was constructed for her in the Arco di Portogallo in Rome
This seems to disprove this idea that Hadrian hated her or didn’t trust her after the Suetonius scandal
What do we know about Sabina’s status post-mortem?
Singled out by Antoninus Pius on a funerary monument of Hadrian; she is called DIVAE SABINAE, but Hadrian is not titled with DIVUS, as the senate were clearly still debating whether he would be deified. In this monument, she outranks him
