Claudia Marcella Minor

Claudia Marcella Minor (PIR C 1103, Minor Latin for the younger, born late 40 BC probably) as the younger daughter of Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. She was also known as Marcella Minor, Claudia Marcella the Younger and Marcella the Younger was the second daughter of Octavia Minor and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor.

Early life

Octavia was pregnant when she married Mark Antony in 40, and it is likely that the child was Marcella Minor - but this is not a certainty. If so, Marcella was born after the death of her father and she grew up part of the first post-Actium generation. Her older full siblings were Claudia Marcella Major and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, from her mother's second marriage to Mark Antony she would also gain two half sisters, Antonia Major and Antonia Minor.

Marriages

Marcella's first known marriage was to the future consul of 12 BC, Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus. Marcella bore Appianus a daughter named Claudia Pulchra and a son, named Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus. There has been some speculation among historians such as George Patrick Goold that her daughter Claudia Pulchra might have actually been the child of Publius Claudius Pulcher (the son of Clodius) but others such as Ronald Syme have rejected this proposal. Syme does on the other hand agree that Appianus likely wasn't Marcella's first husband, as the marriage is recorded rather late, he instead proposed a marriage to a son of Lucius Marcius Philippus who may have died or been repudiated before he was old enough to be consul.

Marcella later married the former consul and censor Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, also known as Paullus Aemilius Lepidus. Paullus was previously widowed. From the earlier marriage he had three children. The marriage of Marcella and Paullus linked two honored republican houses and tied them closely to the imperial circle. Marcella bore him a son called Paullus Aemilius Regulus. Regulus served as a quaestor during the rule of the Roman emperor Tiberius who reigned from 14 until 37.

Some scholars have tried to reverse the order of her husbands, but find difficulty if they delay Marcella's first marriage (as alleged) until 15 BC when she was 25. If so, she would be very old for a first marriage, and then have to remarry and immediately have two children before her second husband died in office in 12 BC. Instead, marriage 10 years earlier seems much more likely, given that Marcella's two younger half-sisters had already married by 15, and the younger Antonia gave birth to Germanicus on 24 May 15 BC.

According to the French Historian Christian Settipani, after the death of her second husband, Marcella married the Roman Senator Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus. Marcella bore Messallinus a daughter called Valeria Messallia born ca. 10 BC, who later married the praetor of 17, Lucius Vipstanus Gallus. However, Messallinus (son of Corvinus) was younger than Marcella. That fact does not prevent the marriage, but makes it unlikely, given Roman tradition.

In a tomb near Rome, numerous inscriptions have survived of slaves and freedmen of Marcella. A columbarium located between the Via Appia and Via Latina in Rome belonged to the family of Marcella. According to epigraphical evidence, the work on it was completed in 10, when the urns were divided among the shareholders of the company which had built the place.