Julia Minor (sister of Caesar)

Julia Minor[lower-roman 1] (before 100 BC – 51 BC) was the second of two daughters of Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia. She was an elder sister of the dictator Julius Caesar, and the maternal grandmother of Rome's first emperor Augustus.

For her great-great-granddaughter, see Julia the Younger.
For other people with similar names, see Julia (women of the Julii Caesares).
Julia
BornBefore 100 B.C.
Died51 B.C.
Spouse(s)Marcus Atius Balbus
ChildrenAtia Balba Prima (possibly)
Marcus Atius Balbus (possibly)
Atia Balba Secunda
Atia Balba Tertia
Parent(s)Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia

Biography

Early life

Julia and her siblings were born and raised at Rome. Because Roman daughters typically received praenomina only if they had several elder sisters, the elder sister came to be known as "Julia Major", and the younger as "Julia Minor", when it was necessary to distinguish between them.[lower-roman 2]

Bona Dea scandal

It is not known if it was the elder or the younger of the dictator's sisters who gave evidence against Publius Clodius Pulcher when he was impeached for impiety in 61 BC. Julia and her mother gave the legal courts a detailed account of the affair he had with Pompeia, Julius Caesar's wife. Caesar divorced Pompeia over the scandal.[1]

Marriage and offspring

Julia married Marcus Atius Balbus, a praetor and commissioner who came from a senatorial family of plebeian status. Julia bore him three (or two, according to other sources) daughters and possibly a son.[2][3][4] The second daughter was the mother of Octavia Minor (fourth wife of triumvir Mark Antony) and of the first Emperor Augustus. Her youngest daughter was the wife of Lucius Marcius Philippus, and they had a daughter named Marcia.[5]

Another Atia, who may have been her daughter or granddaughter may have been married to Gaius Junius Silanus. His son, also named Gaius Junius Silanus, became consul in AD 10. Though, "Atia" may have been the emendation of "Appia". Sons of the consul in 10 were Appius Junius Silanus (consul in 28), Decimus Junius Silanus (who involved in the disgrace of Julia the Younger) and Marcus Junius Silanus (consul suffectus in 15).[6]

Death

Balbus died in 52 BC and Julia died a year later. At age 12 Octavius, her youngest grandson, the future Emperor Augustus, delivered her funeral oration.

Footnotes
  1. Sometimes translated to Julia the Younger.
  2. Note that these names also applied to other members of the Julia gens, in particular to Julia the Elder, the daughter of Augustus, and his granddaughter, Julia the Younger.

References
  1. Suet. Caes. 74; Schol. Bob. in Clod. p. 337, Orelli.
  2. http://www.strachan.dk/family/attius.htm
  3. Wardle, D. (2014). Suetonius: Life of Augustus. Oxford University Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780199686452.
  4. Syme, Ronald (1970). Ten Studies in Tacitus. Clarendon P. p. 63. ISBN 9780198143581.
  5. Lovano, Michael (2014). All Things Julius Caesar: An Encyclopedia of Caesar's World and Legacy. ABC-CLIO. p. 72. ISBN 9781440804212.
  6. Syme, Ronald (1989). The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-19-814731-2. A third Atia can now be conjured up. (Limited Previes: "Atia, wife of Marcius Philippus (suff. 38 BC)" and "A daughter (Atia) would supply a wife for C. Silanus" of this page in Google Books)

Sources
  • Suetonius - The Twelve Caesars - Caesar and Augustus.
  • Julia, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
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