Avidia Plautia

Anonymous. Portrait of Avidia Plautia. Ca. 136-138. New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Art Gallery.

Avidia Plautia Nigrini, or most commonly known as Avidia Plautia (flourished 2nd century), was a well-connected noble Roman woman. She is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire.

Plautia was the daughter of the well-connected Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and the unattested Roman noble woman Ignota Plautia. She was born and raised in Faventia (modern Faenza, Italy). Her family was distinguished, wealthy and well-connected.

Her family was friends to the Greek Historian Plutarch, Roman Senator Pliny the Younger, Roman Emperor Trajan and his family. Her family had strong links to Greece, as her paternal grandfather Gaius Avidius Nigrinus had served at an unknown date during the reign of Roman Emperor Domitian (81-96) as Proconsul of Achaea, a position which her paternal uncle Titus Avidius Quietus and her paternal great uncle Tiberius Avidius Quietus had also served as. Her family may have been related to the consul Gaius Petronius Pontius Nigrinus, who had served his consulship at the time that the Roman Emperor Tiberius had died in 37. She had two known cousins: a paternal first cousin a younger Titus Avidius Quietus who served as suffect consul in 111 and a paternal second cousin a younger Tiberius Avidius Quietus, who also served as suffect consul in 111 and later served as Proconsul in two Roman Provinces.

Plautia’s father was executed in 118 on orders from the Roman Senate, because he was one of four senators involved in a failed plot to overthrow the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Sometime after her father’s execution, there is a possibility that her mother, Ignota Plautia may have married another Roman Senator.

Before 130 Plautia married the powerful Roman Senator Lucius Aelius Caesar. Aelius was adopted by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 136 as his first heir. Plautia bore Aelius two sons and two daughters who were:

In early 138, Aelius had died, and Hadrian had adopted Antoninus Pius as his second son and heir. On the condition that Antoninus Pius was adopted by Hadrian, Antoninus had to adopt Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius as his adopted sons. If Aelius lived long enough to succeed Hadrian and rule as Emperor, Plautia could have been an Empress of Rome.

After the death of Aelius, it is unknown whether if Plautia had remarried. In 136-138, when Aelius was the first adopted heir of Hadrian, three portrait busts were created of her that have survived. These three portrait busts have been identified as Avidia Plautia because of her similar physical similarities to the portrait busts of her son Lucius Verus.

When her son reigned as co-Roman Emperor with Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus had dedicated two honorific inscriptions to his mother. These inscriptions have been found in Rome. The inscriptions honor her as the daughter of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and the mother of Roman Emperor Lucius Verus. It is unknown whether Plautia lived long enough to see her son co-rule as Emperor.

Nerva–Antonine family tree

Nerva–Antonine family tree
Q. Marcius Barea SoranusQ. Marcius Barea SuraAntonia FurnillaM. Cocceius NervaSergia PlautillaP. Aelius Hadrianus
Titus
(r. 79–81)		Marcia FurnillaMarciaTrajanus PaterNerva
(r. 96–98)		Ulpia[lower-roman 1]Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus
Julia Flavia[lower-roman 2]Marciana[lower-roman 3]C. Salonius Matidius[lower-roman 4]Trajan
(r. 98–117)		PlotinaP. Acilius AttianusP. Aelius Afer[lower-roman 5]Paulina Major[lower-roman 6]
Lucius Mindius
(2)		Libo Rupilius Frugi
(3)		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]Suetonius?[lower-roman 10]Sabina[lower-roman 3]Hadrian[lower-roman 5][lower-roman 11][lower-roman 6] (r. 117–138)Antinous[lower-roman 12]
Julia Balbilla?[lower-roman 13]C. Fuscus Salinator IJulia Serviana Paulina
M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 14]Rupilia Faustina[lower-roman 15]Boionia ProcillaCn. Arrius Antoninus
L. Ceionius CommodusAppia SeveraC. Fuscus Salinator II
L. Caesennius PaetusArria AntoninaArria Fadilla[lower-roman 16]T. Aurelius Fulvus
L. Caesennius AntoninusL. CommodusFundania Plautiaignota[lower-roman 17]C. Avidius Nigrinus
M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 15]Domitia Lucilla[lower-roman 18]Fundania[lower-roman 19]M. Annius Libo[lower-roman 15]FAUSTINA[lower-roman 16]Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[lower-roman 16]		L. Aelius Caesar[lower-roman 17]Avidia Plautia[lower-roman 17]
Cornificia[lower-roman 15]MARCUS AURELIUS
(r. 161–180)[lower-roman 20]		FAUSTINA Minor[lower-roman 20]C. Avidius CassiusAurelia Fadilla[lower-roman 16]LUCIUS VERUS
(r. 161–169)[lower-roman 17]
(1)		Ceionia Fabia[lower-roman 17]Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 21]Q. Servilius PudensCeionia Plautia[lower-roman 17]
Cornificia Minor[lower-roman 22]M. Petronius SuraCOMMODUS
(r. 177–192)[lower-roman 20]		Fadilla[lower-roman 22]M. Annius Verus Caesar[lower-roman 20]Ti. Claudius Pompeianus
(2)		Lucilla[lower-roman 20]M. Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 17]Junius Licinius BalbusServilia Ceionia
Petronius AntoninusL. Aurelius Agaclytus
(2)		Aurelia Sabina[lower-roman 22]L. Antistius Burrus
(1)		Plautius QuintillusPlautia ServillaC. Furius Sabinus TimesitheusAntonia GordianaJunius Licinius Balbus
Furia Sabina TranquillinaGORDIAN 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.

  1. ↑ Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
  2. ↑ Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
  3. 1 2 Levick (2014), p. 161.
  4. ↑ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
  5. 1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
  6. 1 2 3 DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
  7. 1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
  8. ↑ Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
  9. ↑ Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
  10. ↑ Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
  11. ↑ Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
  12. ↑ Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2-5, etc.
  13. ↑ Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.
  14. ↑ Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 163.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 162.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Levick (2014), p. 164.
  18. ↑ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
  19. ↑ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
  21. ↑ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
  22. 1 2 3 Levick (2014), p. 117.
References:


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