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Video: Tullia, Daughter of Cicero: How Her Inherited Oratory Helped a Girl Save Her Father
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
On August 5, 78 BC, a daughter was born to the famous ancient Roman orator Mark Tullius Cicero. Later, she went down in history not just as the daughter of a great man, but as one of his closest assistants, who also had great oratorical abilities.
Tullia's family
Cicero was married twice. His first wife was a woman named Terence, a relative of one of his friends, Mark Terrence Varro. The Terentiev clan was not noble, but very rich and influential, and the father of Mark Tullius's future wife died when she was a very young child or, according to another version, even before her birth. Terence inherited all the money and estates that brought him a large income: she had no brothers, and her only half-sister Fabia became a vestal.
In general, the dowry of the bride of Cicero was huge - 100 thousand denarii. But it would be wrong to say that this marriage was beneficial only to a young speaker starting his career. Terence, as they would say now, saw great potential in her future husband and realized that if you help him with money and connections, she would soon turn out to be the wife of one of the most famous and respected people in Rome.
A few years after the wedding, which took place in 78, her calculations were fully justified. Already in 75, Cicero, who belonged to the class of equestrians, moved to the more noble class of senators, and in 63 he was elected consul. Three more years - and the orator, who exposed the conspiracy of Catiline and saved many people from unjust sentences, was awarded the most honorable title in the Roman Empire: Father of the Fatherland.
"Non-female" interests
By that time, the daughter of Cicero and Terence named Tullia was already fifteen years old, and their son, Mark Tullius Cicero the Younger, was two years old. Tullia from an early age was a very inquisitive child who constantly asked her parents questions about how the world works, and her father began to teach her a variety of sciences, although girls in ancient Rome were often taught only the essentials for life. As she grew older, Cicero's daughter began to take an interest in his work. Sometimes he rehearsed his speeches in her presence, and the girl listened to them attentively, and then asked her father about everything that seemed incomprehensible to her in his speech.
The famous speaker was very pleased with this. Terence was not interested in his speeches and generally did not understand well what he was talking about in them and what creative techniques he was using. One thing was important to her: that these speeches would help her husband become famous and advance in his career. Tullia, as it turned out, could appreciate the oratory of Cicero, and the further, the better she understood its intricacies. Mark Tullius was proud of her intelligence and enjoyed talking to her on a variety of topics, discussing famous poets of that time, arguing on philosophical topics.
Daughter for father
Shortly after Cicero became consul, his daughter married. Her fiancé, Guy Calpurnius Pison Frugi, was only a year or two older than her, but was considered a promising military career. After marriage, Tullia continued to often see her father, listen to his new speeches and talk with him - all this was still the most interesting thing in her life for her.
Such a happy and successful life of Cicero and his family continued until 58 BC, when the famous orator had an active and influential ill-wisher - Publius Clodius Pulcher. This man quickly made a political career and forced Cicero to leave the capital of the Roman Empire and go into exile in the Greek city of Thessalonica, after which all his houses were plundered and destroyed. Terence with her little son hid at this dangerous time with her sister, among the Vestals. And Tullia did not hide or leave Rome - the young woman decided to try to help her father.
First, Cicero's daughter tried to persuade her father's friends and close associates to get him back from exile. She urged them to speak out against Publius Clodius using the same oratorical techniques as Marcus Tullius, and found that her speeches also have an impact on the audience. Inspired by her, Roman politicians, in particular, the praetor Marcus Caesonius, began to persuade Clodius to pardon the orator. In 54, Tullia and her supporters finally managed to achieve their goal: Cicero was allowed to return to Rome.
Dreams of a child
Tullia's first husband had died by that time, and she married a second time - to Publius Fury Crassiped, the son of an influential politician. After Cicero returned to Rome, the couple divorced, and the speaker's daughter again began to live with him and with her mother. She was glad to resume interesting conversations with her father, but she still wanted to start her own family and have children.
In 50, Tullia again got married, and this time a young man named Publius Cornelius Dolabella became her chosen one. Her parents were against this marriage: Dolabella had a reputation for being a windy, frivolous and constantly changing boyfriend, and they believed that their daughter deserved the best. But Tullia insisted on her own and nevertheless became his wife, although she later regretted her decision. Dolabella cheated on her, they constantly dispersed, then converged again, and in 49 they had a son who lived only a few days.
For Tullia, this was a huge tragedy, but she still did not give up the hope of becoming a mother. Four years later, the daughter of Cicero again briefly got on with her husband, and in 45, after the final divorce from him, she gave birth to a boy, who was given the name Publius Cornelius Lentulus. This child was healthy, but Tullia herself became very weak after giving birth, and then she also caught a cold.
She died in the house of her father, who at that time had already separated from her mother and married a second time. Until the last moment he was next to his daughter and read her regular speeches to her, at her request.
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