Atilia Caucidia Tertulla (flourished 2nd century) was an aristocratic woman from Ancient Roman society

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

.

Atilia was a member of the Atilia (gens) and was born into a family of consular rank, probably of Patrician rank. Atilia was the daughter of the Roman Senator

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

, Consul and Governor Marcus Appius Bradua

Marcus Appius Bradua

Marcus Appius Bradua, also known by his full name Marcus Atilius Metilius Bradua was a distinguished Roman Politician who lived in the second half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century in the Roman Empire.-Biography:Bradua was a member of the Atilia...

 and Caucidia Tertulla . Her brother was Marcus Atilius Metilius Bradua Caucidius Tertullus…Bassus . He served as a polyonymous Proconsul

Proconsul

A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...

 of the Africa Province

Africa Province

The Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, and the small Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...

 under Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...

 (138-161) .

Atilia was an aristocratic, wealthy woman, little is known about her life. She married the distinguished Roman Senator Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus

Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus (consul 139)

Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus, sometimes known as Appius Annius Gallus was a Roman senator.Annius Gallus was the son of the Roman politician and general Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus and an unnamed Roman noble woman. His paternal grandfather could have been Appius Annius Gallus, one of the...

. The father of Atilia and the father of Annius Gallus were consular colleagues in 108 .

Atilia bore Annius Gallus two children who were:

• Son and future consul, Appius Annius Atilius Bradua
  Appius Annius Atilius Bradua
  Appius Annius Atilius Bradua was a Roman Senator that lived in the Roman Empire.Annius Bradua was born and raised in an aristocratic family of consular rank and was a member of the gens Annia. He was a member of the venerable family of the Annii Regilli . Regilli means 'Little Queen'.His father...
  
  
• Daughter, Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla, otherwise known as Aspasia Annia Regilla
  Aspasia Annia Regilla
  Aspasia Annia Regilla, full name Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla , was a wealthy, aristocratic and influential Roman woman, who was a distant relative of several Roman Emperors and Roman Empresses. She was the wife of the prominent Greek Herodes Atticus .-Genealogy:Regilla was born...
  
   who married the prominent Greek Herodes Atticus
  Herodes Atticus
  Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...
  
  

Aspasia Annia Regilla and her husband Herodes Atticus

Herodes Atticus

Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...

 had built at Olympia, Greece

Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...

 an outdoor monument called an exedra

Exedra

In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...

. Regilla and her husband on the monument had added statues honoring their various relatives and members of the ruling imperial family. Among the statues that Regilla added was of her mother. The headless statue of her mother is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia .

Sources

• http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/women_civicdonors.html
• http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/index13.html
• Σ. Θ. Φωτείνου, Ολυμπίά - Οδηγός Αρχαίοτητών, Συγροτήματος Γραφικών Τεχνών, Ανω Καλαμάκι Αθήνα, 1972
• A. R. Birley, The Roman Government of Britain, Oxford University Press, 2005
• S. B. Pomeroy, The murder of Regilla: a case of domestic violence in antiquity, Harvard University Press, 2007