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Marcia (wife of Cato the Younger)
Encyclopedia
Marcia was the second wife of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis
(Cato the Younger) and the daughter of Lucius Marcius Philippus
. She was born about 80 BC.
After Cato divorced his first wife Atilia
because of rumors about her infidelity, in 63 BC, he married Marcia, ""a woman of excellent reputation, about whom there was the most abundant talk" (Plutarch
). Marcia bore him two or three children; however, there is controversy about whether or not she was pregnant with this third child at the time of her second marriage to Hortensius. There is no indication that their marriage was unhappy: Plutarch relates that Marcia was concerned for Cato's safety, and Appian
says that Cato was extremely fond of Marcia.
Marcia's second marriage, in the year 56 BC, was to the renowned orator and advocate Quintus Hortensius
Hortalus, whom Cicero styled as "king of the courts". Hortensius was an admirer and friend of Cato’s, and he was eager to be more closely related to Cato and his family. Although Hortensius' own wife (daughter of Q. Lutatius Catulus) had just died without leaving Hortensius an heir, an alliance with Cato seems to be the chief reason for Hortensius, nearing 60 years old, to request to be married to Cato’s daughter Porcia
, who was only about 20 years old at the time. However, because Porcia was already married to M. Calpurnius Bibulus and the age difference was so great, Cato refused to give his consent. Hortensius immediately suggested that he marry Marcia instead because she had already borne Cato his heirs. Due to Hortensius' ardor, Cato acquiesced, but only on the condition that Marcia's father, L. Marcius Philippus, approve as well. With Philippus' consent obtained, Cato divorced Marcia, thereby placing her under her father's charge. Hortensius promptly married Marcia, and she bore him an heir. After Hortensius' death in 50 BC, she also inherited much of Hortensius' considerable wealth.
At the outbreak of the civil war in 49, Marcia and her children moved back into Cato’s household. Plutarch
asserts that Cato remarried Marcia after Hortensius's death, whereas Appian
's histories relate that Cato merely reestablished her in his own household.
accused Cato of wife trafficking and marrying Marcia off to Hortensius simply in order to gain his wealth. . "For why," said Caesar, "should Cato give up his wife if he wanted her, or why, if he did not want her, should he take her back again? Unless it was true that the woman was at the first set as a bait for Hortensius, and lent by Cato when she was young that he might take her back when she was rich." However, this is generally thought to be political mudslinging as, Plutarch
asserts that in actuality, in 49 BC Cato was fleeing Rome with the rest of the aristocracy with Pompeius
as a result of Caesar's approach. Because of his impending absence, he needed someone to look after his young daughters and household in his place, which Marcia did.
Plutarch described Marcia as "...a woman of reputed excellence, about whom there was the most abundant talk..." This suggests that she was a more mature woman and Appian suggests that Cato was extremely fond of her. Because of this, one can assume that the involved parties viewed marriage as a perpetuation of State without romantic ideals of love.
Many assumptions have been made regarding Cato's character based upon his endorsement of the marriage between Marcia and Hortensius. Appian said that "as a girl; [Cato] was extremely fond of her, and she had borne him children. Nevertheless, he gave her to Hortensius, one of his friends,— who desired to have children but was married to a childless wife..." This sacrifice is used by Plutarch and other historians to illustrate Cato's honorability and his willingness to sacrifice a wife he liked in the name of friendship. This positive interpretation of Cato's character is reflected in Lucan
's Pharsalia
and how the Uticans mourned his death.
In her Masters of Rome
series of novels, Colleen McCullough
suggests that Cato gave Marcia to Hortensius simply because he could not reconcile his passion for her with his Stoic
ideals, that he never let her go emotionally, and that he took her back at the first opportunity.
Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...
(Cato the Younger) and the daughter of Lucius Marcius Philippus
Lucius Marcius Philippus
Lucius Marcius Philippus was a member of a Roman senatorial family. He was a descendant of Roman King Ancus Marcius and the son of the consul and censor Lucius Marcius Philippus. He was a praetor in 60 BC, and became propraetor of Syria in 59 BC, although Appian records that he was...
. She was born about 80 BC.
Marriages
There is little information known about Marcia other than in regard to her marriages to Cato and Hortensius.After Cato divorced his first wife Atilia
Atilia
Atilia , daughter of C. Atilius Serranus and first wife of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticencis whom he married about 73 BC, after his intended wife, Aemilia Lepida, married Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica. She was born c...
because of rumors about her infidelity, in 63 BC, he married Marcia, ""a woman of excellent reputation, about whom there was the most abundant talk" (Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
). Marcia bore him two or three children; however, there is controversy about whether or not she was pregnant with this third child at the time of her second marriage to Hortensius. There is no indication that their marriage was unhappy: Plutarch relates that Marcia was concerned for Cato's safety, and Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
says that Cato was extremely fond of Marcia.
Marcia's second marriage, in the year 56 BC, was to the renowned orator and advocate Quintus Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus was a Roman orator and advocate.At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar, and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependants in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time...
Hortalus, whom Cicero styled as "king of the courts". Hortensius was an admirer and friend of Cato’s, and he was eager to be more closely related to Cato and his family. Although Hortensius' own wife (daughter of Q. Lutatius Catulus) had just died without leaving Hortensius an heir, an alliance with Cato seems to be the chief reason for Hortensius, nearing 60 years old, to request to be married to Cato’s daughter Porcia
Porcia
Porcia may refer to:*Porcia , sister of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis*Porcia Catonis , daughter of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, and wife of Marcus Junius Brutus*Lex Porcia a Roman law...
, who was only about 20 years old at the time. However, because Porcia was already married to M. Calpurnius Bibulus and the age difference was so great, Cato refused to give his consent. Hortensius immediately suggested that he marry Marcia instead because she had already borne Cato his heirs. Due to Hortensius' ardor, Cato acquiesced, but only on the condition that Marcia's father, L. Marcius Philippus, approve as well. With Philippus' consent obtained, Cato divorced Marcia, thereby placing her under her father's charge. Hortensius promptly married Marcia, and she bore him an heir. After Hortensius' death in 50 BC, she also inherited much of Hortensius' considerable wealth.
At the outbreak of the civil war in 49, Marcia and her children moved back into Cato’s household. Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
asserts that Cato remarried Marcia after Hortensius's death, whereas Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
's histories relate that Cato merely reestablished her in his own household.
Effects of the Marriage Exchange
Julius CaesarJulius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
accused Cato of wife trafficking and marrying Marcia off to Hortensius simply in order to gain his wealth. . "For why," said Caesar, "should Cato give up his wife if he wanted her, or why, if he did not want her, should he take her back again? Unless it was true that the woman was at the first set as a bait for Hortensius, and lent by Cato when she was young that he might take her back when she was rich." However, this is generally thought to be political mudslinging as, Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
asserts that in actuality, in 49 BC Cato was fleeing Rome with the rest of the aristocracy with Pompeius
Pompeius
Pompeius , sometimes anglicized as Pompey, is the nomen of the gens Pompeia, an important family of ancient Rome from the Italian region of Picenum, which lies between the Apennines and the Adriatic...
as a result of Caesar's approach. Because of his impending absence, he needed someone to look after his young daughters and household in his place, which Marcia did.
Plutarch described Marcia as "...a woman of reputed excellence, about whom there was the most abundant talk..." This suggests that she was a more mature woman and Appian suggests that Cato was extremely fond of her. Because of this, one can assume that the involved parties viewed marriage as a perpetuation of State without romantic ideals of love.
Many assumptions have been made regarding Cato's character based upon his endorsement of the marriage between Marcia and Hortensius. Appian said that "as a girl; [Cato] was extremely fond of her, and she had borne him children. Nevertheless, he gave her to Hortensius, one of his friends,— who desired to have children but was married to a childless wife..." This sacrifice is used by Plutarch and other historians to illustrate Cato's honorability and his willingness to sacrifice a wife he liked in the name of friendship. This positive interpretation of Cato's character is reflected in Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus , better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba , in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period...
's Pharsalia
Pharsalia
The Pharsalia is a Roman epic poem by the poet Lucan, telling of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Great...
and how the Uticans mourned his death.
In her Masters of Rome
Masters of Rome
Masters of Rome is a series of historical fiction novels by author Colleen McCullough set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Republic; it primarily chronicles the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompeius Magnus, Gaius Julius Caesar, and the early...
series of novels, Colleen McCullough
Colleen McCullough
Colleen McCullough-Robinson, , is an internationally acclaimed Australian author.-Life:McCullough was born in Wellington, in outback central west New South Wales, in 1937 to James and Laurie McCullough. Her mother was a New Zealander of part-Māori descent. During her childhood, her family moved...
suggests that Cato gave Marcia to Hortensius simply because he could not reconcile his passion for her with his Stoic
STOIC
STOIC was a variant of Forth.It started out at the MIT and Harvard Biomedical Engineering Centre in Boston, and was written in the mid 1970s by Jonathan Sachs...
ideals, that he never let her go emotionally, and that he took her back at the first opportunity.