Quick Facts
Biography
Julia, or possibly Ilia (c. 129 BC – c. 104 BC), was a Roman noblewoman who was the first wife of Sulla, later a Roman dictator.
Biography
Little is known of her life and sources are confused as to whether her name was Julia or Ilia. There is no satisfactory identification for her. If Julia is correct, she could have been a daughter of Lucius Julius Caesar II and Popillia, therefore a sister of future consul Lucius Julius Caesar III and Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus. It is also possible that she was a daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar. Around 110 BC, while both were young, Julia married Sulla. A marital connection to the Julii Caesares may have served Sulla in his political life, as when he was chosen to serve under Gaius Marius in the Jugurthine War. Julia and Sulla had a daughter, Cornelia, who later was active in Roman society. Julia apparently died young, and Sulla married his second wife, Aelia.
Cultural depictions
In the historical novel, The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough she is a character called Julilla who is the younger daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar II, being portrayed as the little sister of the Julia who was the wife of Marius, her husbands mortal enemy.