Marcia Furnilla

Marcia Furnilla was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century. Furnilla was the second and last wife of the future Roman Emperor Titus as well as the aunt of the future emperor Trajan.

Marcia Furnilla
Bust believed to depict Furnilla
Spouse	Titus
Issue	Flavia

Family

Marcia Furnilla came from a noble and distinguished family. She was from the gens Marcia who were of plebeian status,[1] claiming descent from the Roman king Ancus Marcius. She was a daughter of Roman Senator Quintus Marcius Barea Sura and Antonia Furnilla. Her sister was Marcia, the mother of Ulpia Marciana and of future Roman Emperor Trajan. Her father was a friend to future Roman Emperor Vespasian (who was Titus' father) and her paternal uncle was the senator Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, while her paternal cousin was the noblewoman Marcia Servilia Sorana. Furnilla's paternal grandfather was Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, who was Suffect consul in 34 and Proconsul of the Africa Province in 41–43, while her maternal grandfather could have been Aulus Antonius Rufus, a Suffect consul in 45.[2]

Life

Marcia Furnilla was born and raised in Rome. She married Titus, widowed from his first marriage, in 63. The marriage between Titus and Furnilla was an arranged one.

This marriage for Titus was an influential one and promoted his political career. Suetonius describes Furnilla as a "very well-connected" woman. Furnilla bore Titus a daughter named Flavia, previously assumed to have been Julia Flavia, but it is now regarded that Julia's mother was Titus first wife Arrecina Tertulla. Furnilla's daughter likely died young.[3]

Like Titus' first marriage, this one was short. Furnilla's family was connected to the opponents of Roman Emperor Nero and after the failure of the Pisonian conspiracy in 65, they were disfavored by the Emperor. Titus didn't want to be connected with any potential plotters and ended his marriage to Furnilla, but continued raising their daughter.

The fate of Furnilla afterwards is unknown. After her death, she was placed along with her mother in the mausoleum of Gaius Sulpicius Platorinus - a magistrate at the time of the first Roman Emperor Augustus - and his sister Sulpicia Platorina in Rome.

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

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)

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]

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 I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 14]

Rupilia Faustina[lower-roman 15][lower-roman 16]

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla[lower-roman 17]

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

unknown[lower-roman 18]

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 15]

Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[lower-roman 19]

Fundania[lower-roman 20]

M. Annius Libo[lower-roman 15]

Faustina[lower-roman 17]

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[lower-roman 17]

L. Aelius Caesar[lower-roman 18]

Avidia[lower-roman 18]

Cornificia[lower-roman 15]

Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)[lower-roman 21]

Faustina Minor[lower-roman 21]

C. Avidius Cassius[lower-roman 22]

Aurelia Fadilla[lower-roman 17]

Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)[lower-roman 18] (1)

Ceionia Fabia[lower-roman 18]

Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 23]

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia[lower-roman 18]

Cornificia Minor[lower-roman 24]

M. Petronius Sura

Commodus
(r. 177–192)[lower-roman 21]

Fadilla[lower-roman 24]

M. Annius Verus Caesar[lower-roman 21]

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)

Lucilla[lower-roman 21]

M. Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 18]

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)

Aurelia Sabina[lower-roman 24]

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".
Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
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.
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

Pauly-Wissowa, RE 14.2, 1535-1600.
Brian W. Jones (1992). The Emperor Domitian. ISBN 9780415042291.
W. Jones, Brian (1993). The Emperor Domitian. Taylor & Francis. pp. 38–41. ISBN 9780415101950.

External links

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