Ceionia Plautia

Ceionia Plautia (flourished 2nd century) was a Roman noblewoman and is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire.

Life

Plautia was the second daughter born to Roman Senator Lucius Aelius Caesar, the first adopted heir of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117–138) and Avidia.^[1] Plautia was born and raised in Rome. Her cognomen Plautia, she inherited from her mother and her grandmothers. She had three siblings: a sister called Ceionia Fabia; two brothers the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus who co-ruled with Marcus Aurelius from 161 to 169 and Gaius Avidius Ceionius Commodus.^[2][3]

Her maternal grandparents were the Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and the surmised but undocumented noblewoman Plautia. Although her adoptive paternal grandparents were the Roman Emperor Hadrian and Roman Empress Vibia Sabina, her biological paternal grandparents were the consul Lucius Ceionius Commodus and noblewoman Plautia.

Plautia married Quintus Servilius Pudens, consul in 166.^[4] Plautia bore Pudens a daughter called Servilia, who married Junius Licinius Balbus, a man of consular rank. Servilia and Balbus had a son called Junius Licinius Balbus.^[5]

Nerva–Antonine family tree

v t e Nerva–Antonine family tree
Q. Marcius Barea Soranus Q. Marcius Barea Sura Antonia Furnilla M. Cocceius Nerva Sergia Plautilla P. Aelius Hadrianus Titus (r. 79–81) Marcia Furnilla Marcia Trajanus Pater Nerva (r. 96–98) Ulpia[lower-roman 1] Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus Flavia[lower-roman 2] Marciana[lower-roman 3] C. Salonius Matidius[lower-roman 4] Trajan (r. 98–117) Plotina P. Acilius Attianus P. Aelius Afer[lower-roman 5] Paulina Major[lower-roman 6] Lucius Mindius (2) Libo Rupilius Frugi (3) Salonia Matidia[lower-roman 7] L. Vibius Sabinus (1)[lower-roman 8] Paulina Minor[lower-roman 6] L. Julius Ursus Servianus[lower-roman 9] Matidia Minor[lower-roman 7] Sabina[lower-roman 3] Hadrian[lower-roman 5][lower-roman 10][lower-roman 6] (r. 117–138) Antinous[lower-roman 11] C. Fuscus Salinator I Julia Serviana Paulina M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 12] Rupilia Faustina[lower-roman 13][lower-roman 14] Boionia Procilla Cn. Arrius Antoninus L. Ceionius Commodus Appia Severa C. Fuscus Salinator II L. Caesennius Paetus Arria Antonina Arria Fadilla[lower-roman 15] T. Aurelius Fulvus L. Caesennius Antoninus L. Commodus Plautia unknown[lower-roman 16] C. Avidius Nigrinus M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 13] Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[lower-roman 17] Fundania[lower-roman 18] M. Annius Libo[lower-roman 13] Faustina[lower-roman 15] Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161)[lower-roman 15] L. Aelius Caesar[lower-roman 16] Avidia[lower-roman 16] Cornificia[lower-roman 13] Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180)[lower-roman 19] Faustina Minor[lower-roman 19] C. Avidius Cassius[lower-roman 20][clarification needed] Aurelia Fadilla[lower-roman 15] Lucius Verus (r. 161–169)[lower-roman 16] (1) Ceionia Fabia[lower-roman 16] Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 21] Q. Servilius Pudens Ceionia Plautia[lower-roman 16] Cornificia Minor[lower-roman 22] M. Petronius Sura Commodus (r. 177–192)[lower-roman 19] Fadilla[lower-roman 22] M. Annius Verus Caesar[lower-roman 19] Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2) Lucilla[lower-roman 19] M. Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 16] Junius Licinius Balbus Servilia Ceionia Petronius Antoninus L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2) Aurelia Sabina[lower-roman 22] L. Antistius Burrus (1) Plautius Quintillus Plautia Servilla C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus Antonia Gordiana Junius Licinius Balbus? Furia Sabina Tranquillina Gordian III (r. 238–244)
(1) = 1st spouse (2) = 2nd spouse (3) = 3rd spouse   Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty   lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned   grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants   bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships Small Caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)
Notes: Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree. Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7. Giacosa (1977), p. 8. Levick (2014), p. 161. Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161. Giacosa (1977), p. 7. DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian". Giacosa (1977), p. 9. Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161. Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus". Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322. Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc. Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163. Levick (2014), p. 163. It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman. Levick (2014), p. 162. Levick (2014), p. 164. Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10. Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163. Giacosa (1977), p. 10. The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24. Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164. Levick (2014), p. 117.
References: DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14. Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2. Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2. Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9. Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

References

1. Cagnat, René (1883). Explorations épigraphiques et archéologiques en Tunisie (in French). Imprimerie nationale.
2. Warmington, B. H. (November 1954). "The Municipal Patrons of Roman North Africa". Papers of the British School at Rome. 22: 39–55. doi:10.1017/S0068246200006528. ISSN 2045-239X. S2CID 130696290.
3. Bejor, Giorgio (2004). "Il ritratto di Ceionia Fabia". Archaeologica Pisana: Scritti per Orlanda Pancrazzi. - ( Terra Italia; 7): 1000–1005. doi:10.1400/41466.
4. Schuler, Christof; Haensch, Rudolf; Killen, Simone (2017-11-20). 2017 (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-056698-7.
5. Jarvis, Paul (January 2022). "Pertinax and Plots in the Historia Augusta: A Dismissal in 170 and Two Conspiracies in 193 CE". Antichthon. 56: 180–202. doi:10.1017/ann.2022.6. ISSN 0066-4774. S2CID 254676900.

Sources

• Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone, The Cambridge ancient history, Volume 11 Second Edition. 2000
• Anthony Richard Birley, Marcus Aurelius. London: Routledge, 2000.
• Guido Migliorati, Cassio Dione e l'impero romano da Nerva ad Antonino Pio: alla luce dei nuovi., 2003.
• C. Konrad, Plutarch's Sertorius: A Historical Commentary. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.