Cornelia | |
---|---|
Born | 97 BC Rome |
Died | 69 BC (age 28) Rome |
Known for | The first wife of Julius Caesar |
Spouse(s) | Julius Caesar |
Children | Julia Caesar |
Cornelia, sometimes known as Cornelia Minor, (c. 97 BC – 69 BC), daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna (one of the great leaders of the Marian party), and a sister to suffect consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna, was married to Gaius Julius Caesar, who would become one of Rome's dictators. Cinna's political party was called the Populares, and his union with Cornelia identified Caesar with this faction.
Caesar and Cornelia married in 84 BC.
When Lucius Cornelius Sulla commanded Caesar to divorce Cornelia, the young husband refused to do so and chose rather to be deprived of her fortune and to be proscribed himself. Cornelia bore him his daughter Julia, in c. 76 BC.
Cornelia was the matron of Caesar's household in their home at the Subura in Rome for sixteen years. She died in 69 BC, during Caesar's quaestorship, and left him a daughter. Caesar delivered an oration in praise of her from the Rostra.
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