Iulia Augusti Filia
Augustus loved his family, had a large family and very "enlarged" in the modern sense and bore this love to the whole world that ruled by raising throughout the Empire to Livia statues, to Octavia, Antonia, mother of Germanicus and Claudius, but not a statue or image remained of the beautiful Iulia, his only daughter. It remains only his character in bas-relief of the Ara Pacis.
Recently in an excavation of a large Roman villa near Aranova was found the head of a statue that, according the Sovraintendenza cultural heritage for southern Etruria, has the face of Julia and I would retry the hairdo that was typical of the women of the gens Iulia. Was born on January 14 of 39 BC on the day in which Octavian, the father obtained a divorce from her mother Scribonia. Julia grew up in his father's house along with sons of Livia and also unto the sons of aunt Ottavia.
Julia's life was strongly controlled by the father who made the instrument very loving of his political vision for the problems related to the succession: Iulia was her only child and as such the only she could assure him a direct lineage. Octavian arranged the first marriage to Marcus Antonius Antyllus - son of Marcantonio, whohe was a small child - but you never went beyond the wedding vows.
At age 14 married her cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus, son of Octavia, who had 16 years: the bride and groom were young and beautiful and the people loved them, but Marcellus died after three years. Augusto wept his nephew, but wanted his heir and then took his great general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa as a son-in-law. He was 25 years older than Julia and not belonged to the patrician gens. Iulia gave five sons Agrippa and two heirs to the father, who adopted the grandsons Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar.
Iulia, as all women of the patrician gens at Rome, not expecting to find love in marriage, but one with Agrippa frees her from the control of her father and stepmother; When did not follow her husband on his travels, received consular in her beautiful Farnesina Villa, just beyond the Tiber, from the winter triclinium was spectacular with frescoes by small garlands of white flowers on a black background polished, or attending a group of intellectuals who did not share the idea of Augustus of Rome back to the mos maiorum.
The group included among others Iullus Antonius, (son of Mark Antony and Fulvia, who after the death of this was raised by Ottavia in the House of Augustus), perhaps the true love of Julia, and Ovid that was probably also lover of Julia. It was a club that was designated as factio antoniana, but with a more political and cultural sense that harks to the conception of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony more liberal State and engaged in a policy of expansion. The most important was certainly Iullus Antonius, has always been a lover of Greek culture; He composed an epic poem in 12 books where the origins of Rome traced to Diomedes and Aeneas ...
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by M.L. ©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (Ed 1.0 - 01/04/2015)