Lollia Paulina
Encyclopedia
Lollia Paulina (died 49) was a noble Roman woman who lived in the 1st century, and for six months in AD 38 was a Roman Empress as the third wife of the Emperor Caligula
.
Paulinus, who was a formal consul, and her mother was Volusia Saturnina, a sister of senator and consul Lucius Volusius Saturninus
. Her maternal grandmother was a distant relative to Emperor Tiberius
. Her father’s maternal uncle was senator and consul Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus
and paternal grandfather was the general Marcus Lollius
Paulinus. Paulina’s younger sister was Lollia Saturnina who was married to the consul Decimus Valerius Asiaticus
and by whom she had a son.
Paulina became exceedingly wealthy after inheriting her relative’s estates. Her first husband was suffect consul in 31 and a Roman Governor, Publius Memmius Regulus. Tacitus describes him as a man of ‘dignity, who was a person of influence and good name‘. Regulus died in AD 62. In AD 38, Caligula ordered Paulina from Regulus (she was with Regulus at the province he was governing) after he overheard a remark about her grandmother's beauty.
Paulina was forced to divorce Regulus and marry Caligula. She became his third wife and Empress in 38. Caligula divorced her after six months of marriage, ostensibly because she was infertile, and forbade her to sleep with or associate with another man.
Later on, Paulina became a rival to Caligula‘s sister Agrippina the Younger
and was considered a choice for fourth wife of Caligula's uncle, the Emperor Claudius
, following the death of Claudius's third wife, the Empress Valeria Messalina. In AD 49, Agrippina, now married to Claudius, had Paulina charged with sorcery
. Paulina never got a hearing. Her property was confiscated and she was sent into exile.
Tacitus
tells us that Paulina was forced to commit suicide under the watch of a colonel of the Guards, and implies that this was done under Agrippina's orders.
's Natural History as an example of ostentation for reportedly wearing a large share of her inheritance to a dinner party in the form of jewelry worth some 40 million sestertius
. A sepulchre was not erected in her honor until the reign of the Emperor Nero
.
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
.
Life
Lollia Paulina's father was Marcus LolliusMarcus Lollius
Marcus Lollius Paulinus, Roman was a general, the first governor of Galatia and served as consul in 21 BC. In 16 BC, when governor of Gaul , he was defeated by the Sicambri and Tencteri and Usipetes, German tribes who had crossed the Rhine...
Paulinus, who was a formal consul, and her mother was Volusia Saturnina, a sister of senator and consul Lucius Volusius Saturninus
Lucius Volusius Saturninus (suffect consul)
Lucius Volusius Saturninus was a Roman senator that lived during the 1st century BC and 1st century. Saturninus came from an ancient and distinguished senatorial family the never rose above the praetorship...
. Her maternal grandmother was a distant relative to Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. Her father’s maternal uncle was senator and consul Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus
Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus
Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus was a Roman who lived in the 1st century. He served as a senator during the Julio-Claudian dynasty and became consul in 20. He was the great-uncle to the Empress Lollia Paulina, who was Emperor Caligula’s third wife; and her sister Lollia Saturnina...
and paternal grandfather was the general Marcus Lollius
Marcus Lollius
Marcus Lollius Paulinus, Roman was a general, the first governor of Galatia and served as consul in 21 BC. In 16 BC, when governor of Gaul , he was defeated by the Sicambri and Tencteri and Usipetes, German tribes who had crossed the Rhine...
Paulinus. Paulina’s younger sister was Lollia Saturnina who was married to the consul Decimus Valerius Asiaticus
Decimus Valerius Asiaticus
Decimus Valerius Asiaticus was the husband of Lollia Saturnina, the sister of Caligula' third wife, Lollia Paulina, was twice a Roman consul , resigning early from his second suffect consulship, according to Dio Cassius , in order to avoid becoming involved in the conspiracies of the court—a...
and by whom she had a son.
Paulina became exceedingly wealthy after inheriting her relative’s estates. Her first husband was suffect consul in 31 and a Roman Governor, Publius Memmius Regulus. Tacitus describes him as a man of ‘dignity, who was a person of influence and good name‘. Regulus died in AD 62. In AD 38, Caligula ordered Paulina from Regulus (she was with Regulus at the province he was governing) after he overheard a remark about her grandmother's beauty.
Paulina was forced to divorce Regulus and marry Caligula. She became his third wife and Empress in 38. Caligula divorced her after six months of marriage, ostensibly because she was infertile, and forbade her to sleep with or associate with another man.
Later on, Paulina became a rival to Caligula‘s sister Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
and was considered a choice for fourth wife of Caligula's uncle, the Emperor Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, following the death of Claudius's third wife, the Empress Valeria Messalina. In AD 49, Agrippina, now married to Claudius, had Paulina charged with sorcery
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. Paulina never got a hearing. Her property was confiscated and she was sent into exile.
Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
tells us that Paulina was forced to commit suicide under the watch of a colonel of the Guards, and implies that this was done under Agrippina's orders.
Reputation
Lollia Paulina is mentioned in Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
's Natural History as an example of ostentation for reportedly wearing a large share of her inheritance to a dinner party in the form of jewelry worth some 40 million sestertius
Sestertius
The sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions...
. A sepulchre was not erected in her honor until the reign of the Emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
.