Pompeia Plotina

Pompeia Plotina (died 121/122) was Roman empress from 98 to 117 as the wife of Trajan. She was renowned for her interest in philosophy, and her virtue, dignity and simplicity. She was particularly devoted to the Epicurean philosophical school in Athens, Greece.^[1] She is often viewed as having provided Romans with fairer taxation, improved education, assisted the poor, and created tolerance in Roman society.

Pompeia Plotina
Augusta
Bust of Plotina, exhibited in the Vatican Museums.
Roman empress
Tenure	98 – 117
Born	Tejada la Vieja, Hispania or Nemausus, Gaul
Died	121/122
Spouse	Trajan
Regnal name Pompeia Plotina Augusta
Dynasty	Nerva–Antonine
Father	Lucius Pompeius

Early life

Plotina was raised in Tejada la Vieja (Escacena del Campo) in the province of Hispania. She was possibly born in Nemausus (Nîmes) during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero (r. 54–68), however she could have been born in the 70s. She was the daughter of Lucius Pompeius. Another woman from Nemausus named Pompeia L. f. Marullina may have been her relative;^[2] historian Christian Settipani proposed that they may have been sisters.^[3] Based on her cognomen Plotina her mother may have been named Plotia or similar.^[4] In Pompeii an inscription names an Ulpia Plotina,^[a] leading to the idea that Pompeia Plotina and Trajan were related. Little is known about Plotina's early life.

Marriage and life as Empress

Pompeia Plotina coin, celebrating the Fides on the reverse.

Trajan married Plotina before he became emperor, and their marriage was happy; they had no known children, probably due to the fact that Trajan himself was primarily interested in males.

Upon entering the imperial palace following Trajan's ascension, Plotina is said to have turned to those watching her and carefully announced, "I enter here the kind of woman I would like to be when I depart."^[6] She sought to dispel the memories of the domestic strife that had plagued the reign of Domitian and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Plotina behaved in the manner of a traditional Roman matron, and she was associated with chaste goddesses such as Vesta (the guardian of Rome's sacred fire) and Minerva (goddess of war and wisdom).^[7] In 100, Trajan awarded her with the title of Augusta, but she did not accept the title until 105. Plotina did not appear on coinage until 112.^[1]

When the future emperor Hadrian and his sister were 10 or 11 years old, they lost their parents. Trajan and the Roman officer Publius Acilius Attianus became the children's guardians. Hadrian was a first cousin-once-removed to Trajan (Trajan's father and Hadrian's paternal grandmother were siblings). Plotina matched Hadrian with his future wife Vibia Sabina.^[8]

Death of Trajan and accession of Hadrian

In 117, Trajan was on his deathbed at Selinus in Cilicia, where he was said to have written a letter in which he personally adopted Hadrian as successor to the Empire. The letter had been signed by the Empress Plotina, and when it arrived in Rome, it was suspect. Rumour named Attianus and Plotina as lovers—the two were very close to their ward Hadrian and the two had been present at Trajan's death—and they were rumoured to have forged Trajan's will to secure Hadrian's succession.^[1][9]

Annelise Freisenbruch dismisses this accusation: "Plotina, the silent spouse of the second century, thus joined Livia, Agrippina the Younger, and Domitia in the gallery of Roman imperial women accused of covering up or conspiring in their husband's deaths." Freisenbruch notes that there are many plausible explanations why Plotina's signature might legitimately be on this declaration: Trajan may have simply been too weak to sign the letter himself. Freisenbruch also notes these kinds of accusations have dogged the spouses of rulers through the centuries.^[10]

Along with Attianus and Matidia, the grieving widow Plotina accompanied Trajan's body to Seleucia and his ashes to Rome.^[9]

Later years

While Plotina was a widow, her best-documented act took place. During the year 121, while the emperor Hadrian was inspecting the provinces, Plotina engaged him in a series of letters to discuss who should be the new head of the Epicurean school of philosophy in Athens. She petitioned for a change in the law, so that Popillius Theotimus, the acting head of the school, could become the official head; in response, Hadrian agreed with her argument, and the relevant letters were preserved in a series of inscriptions. Freisenbruch notes, "In stark contrast to her passive anonymity in the literary record, this inscription from Athens recasts Plotina as a highly educated woman, active on behalf of causes close to her heart and with the kind of access to the emperor once enjoyed by Livia."^[11]

Plotina died of illness, and was deified. Her ashes joined Trajan's in the base of Trajan's Column. In 123, Hadrian built a basilica in her honor at Nîmes, in Provence.^[12]

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[i] Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus Flavia[ii] Marciana[iii] C. Salonius Matidius[iv] Trajan (r. 98–117) Plotina P. Acilius Attianus P. Aelius Afer[v] Paulina Major[vi] Lucius Mindius (2) Libo Rupilius Frugi (3) Salonia Matidia[vii] L. Vibius Sabinus (1)[viii] Paulina Minor[vi] L. Julius Ursus Servianus[ix] Matidia Minor[vii] Sabina[iii] Hadrian[v][x][vi] (r. 117–138) Antinous[xi] C. Fuscus Salinator I Julia Serviana Paulina M. Annius Verus[xii] Rupilia Faustina[xiii][xiv] Boionia Procilla Cn. Arrius Antoninus L. Ceionius Commodus Appia Severa C. Fuscus Salinator II L. Caesennius Paetus Arria Antonina Arria Fadilla[xv] T. Aurelius Fulvus L. Caesennius Antoninus L. Commodus Plautia unknown[xvi] C. Avidius Nigrinus M. Annius Verus[xiii] Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[xvii] Fundania[xviii] M. Annius Libo[xiii] Faustina[xv] Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161)[xv] L. Aelius Caesar[xvi] Avidia[xvi] Cornificia[xiii] Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180)[xix] Faustina Minor[xix] C. Avidius Cassius[xx][clarification needed] Aurelia Fadilla[xv] Lucius Verus (r. 161–169)[xvi] (1) Ceionia Fabia[xvi] Plautius Quintillus[xxi] Q. Servilius Pudens Ceionia Plautia[xvi] Cornificia Minor[xxii] M. Petronius Sura Commodus (r. 177–192)[xix] Fadilla[xxii] M. Annius Verus Caesar[xix] Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2) Lucilla[xix] M. Plautius Quintillus[xvi] Junius Licinius Balbus Servilia Ceionia Petronius Antoninus L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2) Aurelia Sabina[xxii] 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.

Notes

1. Possibly the same person as Ulpia, the grandmother of Hadrian.^[5]

References

1. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth-E.A. (edd.), Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 1214.
2. Syme, Ronald (2002). The Roman Revolution. Oxford paperbacks. Vol. 1. American Council of Learned Societies (illustrated, new ed.). OUP Oxford. p. 502. ISBN 9780192803207.
3. Settipani, Christian (2000). Continuité gentilice et continuité familiale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale: mythe et réalité. Prosopographica et genealogica (in Italian). Vol. 2 (illustrated ed.). Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, University of Oxford. p. 407. ISBN 9781900934022.
4. Gildersleeve, Basil; Miller, Charles William Emil; Meritt, Benjamin Dean; Frank, Tenney; Cherniss, Harold Fredrik; Thompson Rowell, Henry (1991). American Journal of Philology. Vol. 12. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 515.
5. Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. p. 101. ISBN 9781139576604.
6. Dio Cassius, LXVIII, 5
7. Annalise, Freisenbruch (2010). Caesars' Wives: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire. London and New York: Free Press. pp. 159–161.
8. Historia Augusta, "Hadrian", 3; translated by Anthony Birley, Lives of the Later Caesars (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976), p. 59
9. Jackson, Nicholas (2022). Trajan: Rome's Last Conqueror (1st ed.). Chapter: Conspiracy, Death and Deification: GreenHill Books. ISBN 978-1784387075.
10. Freisenbruch, Caesars’ Wives, pp. 162f
11. Freisenbruch, Caesars’ Wives, pp. 163f
12. Bennett, Julian (1997). Trajan: Optimum Princeps. London: Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 0-203-36056-7.

Further reading

• (in French) Minaud, Gérard, Les vies de 12 femmes d’empereur romain - Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés , Paris, L’Harmattan, 2012, ch. 6, La vie de Plotine, femme de Trajan, pp. 147–168.
• (in German) Temporini, Hildegard, Die Frauen am Hofe Trajans. Ein Beitrag zur Stellung der Augustae im Principat, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1979, pp. 10–183.

External links