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Antonia Minor (PIR2 A 885), also known as '''Antonia the Younger''' or simply '''Antonia''' ( 31 January 36 BC - September/October 37 AD ). Antonia is one of the most prominent Roman women. She is celebrated for her virtue and beauty. She is the youngest daughter to Octavia Minor and Mark Antony and is also the youngest and favourite niece of her mother’s youngest brother Rome’s first Emperor Caesar Augustus . BIOGRAPHY Birth and early life She was born in Athens, Greece and after 36 BC was brought to Rome by her mother and her siblings. Antonia never had the chance to know her father, who divorced her mother in 32 BC and committed suicide in 30 BC. She was raised by her mother, her uncle and her aunt Livia Drusilla . Marriage to Drusus and children In 16 BC, she married the Roman general and consul Nero Claudius Drusus . Drusus was the step-son of her uncle Augustus, second son to Livia Drusilla and brother to future Emperor Tiberius . They had several children, only 3 survived. Their children were the famous general Germanicus Caesar , Livilla and the Roman Emperor Claudius . Antonia was the grandmother to Emperor Caligula , Empress Agrippina The Younger and great-grandmother and great-aunt to Emperor Nero . Drusus died in June 9 BC in Germany , due to complications from injuries he sustained after falling from a horse. After his death, although pressured by her uncle to remarry, she never did. Antonia raised her children in Rome and had Tiberius as their guardian. Germanicus died in 19 AD. On the orders of Tiberius and Livia Drusilla was forbidden to go to his funeral. When Livia Drusilla died in June 29, she took care of Caligula, Julia Drusilla , Julia Livilla and later Claudia Antonia , her younger grandchildren. Sejanus plot and death of Livilla Antonia, in 31, exposed a plot by her daughter Livilla and Tiberius’ notorious Praetorian Prefect Sejanus to murder the Emperor Tiberius and Caligula, to seize the throne for themselves. Sejanus was murdered on Tiberius’ orders and Livilla was handed over to her mother. Cassius Dio states that Antonia imprisoned Livilla in her room and allowed her to starve to death. Claudius Her only child left after Livilla's death was Claudius. Due to his constant illnesses and physical disabilities, she would constantly put him down. She would say ''a monster: a man whom nature had not finished but had merely begun'' or accused anyone of stupidity, would exclaim, ''he is a bigger fool even than my son Claudius!''. Property owner Due to inheritances, she owned properties in Italy , Greece and Egypt . She was a wealthy and influential woman who often received people, who were visiting Rome. Antonia had many male friends and they included wealthy Jewish freeman Tiberius Drusus Alexander and Lucius Vitellius , a consul and father of future Emperor Aulus Vitellius . Succession of Caligula and death When Tiberius died, Caligula became Emperor in March 37. Caligula awarded her with a senatorial decree, for all the honors, that Livia Drusilla received in her lifetime. She was also offered the title of '' Augusta '', previously only given to Augustus' wife Livia, but rejected it. Six months into his reign, Caligula became seriously ill and never recovered. Antonia would often offer him advice. He once told her, ''I can treat anyone exactly as I please!''. Having enough of Caligula’s anger at her criticisms and his behaviour she committed suicide. Suetonius’ Caligula, Clause 23, mentions how he might have poisoned her. When his grandmother Antonia asked for a private interview, he refused it except in the presence of the prefect Macro, and by such indignities and annoyances he caused her death; although some think that he also gave her poison. After she was dead, he paid her no honour, but viewed her burning pyre from his dining-room. Honoured by emperor Claudius When Claudius became Emperor, after his nephew’s assassination in 41, he gave his mother the title of ''Augusta''. Her birthday became a public holiday, which had yearly games and public sacrifices held. An image of her was paraded in a carriage. IN ART AND POPULAR CULTURE In ancient art
For more, see Nikos Kokkinos, Antonia Augusta: Portrait of a Great Roman Lady (London ; New York : Routledge, 1992) {Link without Title} . Popular culture Antonia is one of the main characters in the novel and television series I Claudius . ANCIENT SOURCES:
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