Domitia | |
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![]() Domitia from
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum | |
Spouse(s) |
Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus Decimus Haterius Agrippa Quintus Junius Blaesus |
Children |
Quintus Haterius Antoninus Junius Blaesus |
Parents |
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Roman imperial dynasties | ||
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Julio-Claudian dynasty | ||
Chronology | ||
27 BC – AD 14 |
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AD 14–37 |
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AD 37–41 |
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AD 41–54 |
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AD 54–68 |
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Domitia ( c. 8 BC-June 59) was the oldest child of Antonia Major and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and the oldest granddaughter to triumvir Mark Antony by Octavia Minor, a great-niece of the Roman Emperor Augustus, first cousin once removed to the Emperor Caligula (as well as his brother-in-law's sister), first cousin to the Emperor Claudius, maternal aunt to the Empress Valeria Messalina, and paternal aunt to Emperor Nero.
She had two younger siblings: Domitia Lepida and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (cos. AD 32). The date of her birth is not recorded and can be only estimated as no later than 7 BC, but possibly as much as 10 years earlier, if one would allow a long delay between her birth and those of her two siblings.
Domitia was likely married to a cousin of Sejanus named Quintus Junius Blaesus with whom she had a son named Junius Blaesus who served as a governor under emperor Vitellius. [1] She married the consul Decimus Haterius Agrippa, who died in 32 as a victim of Tiberius' reign of terror. Domitia bore Agrippa a son, Quintus Haterius Antoninus (cos. AD 53) in approximately 20. In 33 Domitia married the witty, wealthy, and influential Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus. Crispus was the adopted grandson and biological great-great nephew of the historian Sallust. After January 41, Crispus divorced Domitia, so he could marry Domitia's former sister-in-law Agrippina the Younger, who had recently returned from exile. Thereby, Crispus became the stepfather of Agrippina's son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus ( Nero), who was Domitia's nephew. Crispus soon died mysteriously, leaving a fortune to Agrippina and her son.
Alternatively, Christian Settipani had suggested that Domitia wasn't actually married to Blaesus - it was her daughter from marriage to Sallustius Crispus who become a wife of Blaesus's son. According to his hypothesis, the marriage between Domitia and Crispus took place earlier, c. 20-25. [2]
During the reigns of Caligula, Claudius and Nero, Domitia was an influential rival to Agrippina. In June 59, she died while confined to a bed with severe constipation. Nero was visiting her at the time, and she commented that when he shaved his beard (a Roman symbolic act, usually performed during a ceremony at the age of twenty-one), she would gladly die peacefully. Nero turned to those with him and joked, "I'll take it off at once." According to a rumor, he then ordered the doctors to administer a fatal dose of laxative to his aunt and seized her property while she was dying. Modern scholars such as Miriam T. Griffin distrust the claim that Nero poisoned her.