Aemilia (2) ( rst century b.c.e.

) Roman: Rome political wife

Aemilia was the daughter of Caecilia Metella ( ) from the rich and powerful Metelli
clan. Aemilia’s father was Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, consul in 115 b.c.e. After the
death of her father, Aemilia’s mother married Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the general who
later became dictator of Rome. It was considered the match of the season, a great
coup for Sulla who gained critical political support and wealth from the Metelli. For
Caecilia, it was a chance to play politics using her family’s stature and wealth to
support a newcomer from an old patrician family that had long been out of the
limelight. Sulla and Caecilia Metella persuaded Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great)
to divorce his wife Antistia ( ) and marry Aemilia. At the time, Aemilia was pregnant
and living with her husband, Manius Acilius Glabrio, future consul in 67 b.c.e. An
alliance with Sulla and the Metelli through Aemilia clearly enhanced and enriched
Pompey. Aemilia’s views on her divorce and remarriage are not known. She died
during childbirth in 80 b.c.e. shortly after her marriage with Pompey.

Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 9.2. Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae
(Parallel Lives): Sulla 33.3

Bibliography
Haley, Shelly P. “The Five Wives of Pompey the Great.” In Women in Antiquity, ed. by
Ian McAuslan and Peter Walcot. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 103 ff .
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie d. Classischen
Altertumswissenschaft 1893–. (Germany: multiple publishers) 154. Syme, Ronald. The
Roman Revolution. London: Oxford University Press, 1963, pp. 31–32.
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