Claudia Pulchra (14 BCAD 26) ( PIR2 C 1116) was a Patrician woman of Ancient Rome who lived during the reigns of the Augustus and Tiberius.
Biography
Early life
She was a daughter of Claudia Marcella Minor and the Roman consul of 12 BC, Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus.
[Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, p.205] Her maternal grandmother was Octavia the Younger, sister of Augustus.
[Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65] There has been some speculation among historians such as George Patrick Goold
that her father might actually have been Publius Claudius Pulcher (the son of Clodius) but others such as
Ronald Syme have rejected this proposal.
Marriage
She became the third wife of the Roman general and politician Publius Quinctilius Varus.
[Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65] Pulchra bore Varus a son, also named Publius Quinctilius Varus.
[Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65] Her husband committed
suicide in September AD 9 during the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Germania Inferior
[Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg] and she never remarried.
Later life
Pulchra was always a close friend to her second cousin Agrippina the Elder. Through her friendship with Agrippina, Pulchra became the victim of the intrigues associated with the treason trial of
Sejanus in AD 26.
[Tacitus, Annals 4.52.] Domitius Afer accused her of an attempt to poison Tiberius, casting magic and immorality. She died in
exile.
[Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65] The Roman historian
Tacitus considered the trial to be an indirect political attack against Agrippina.
Her son became wealthy through the inheritance of both his parents. In 27, the younger Varus found himself facing accusations of treason and was nearly condemned. His trial has been attributed to the increasing distrust of Tiberius and the machinations of Sejanus.[Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg, p.65][Barrett, Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire, p.36&78]
See also
Bibliography
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J. R. Abdale, Four days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg (Google eBook), Trafford Publishing, 2013
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M. Lightman & B. Lightman, A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, Infobase Publishing, 2008
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A. Barrett, Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire, Yale University Press, 1998
