Fadilla

Daughter of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius

Fadilla

Born| c. 159
Rome, Italy
Died| after 211
Spouse| Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus
Dynasty| Nerva–Antonine
Father| Marcus Aurelius
Mother| Faustina the Younger

Annia Aurelia Fadilla, most commonly known as Fadilla (159 – after 211)[1] was one of the daughters born to Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina the Younger. She was a sister to Lucilla and Commodus. Fadilla was named in honor of her late maternal aunt Aurelia Fadilla. The cognomen Fadilla, was the cognomen of the mother and a half-sister of Antoninus Pius. Her maternal grandparents were Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder and her paternal grandparents were Domitia Lucilla and praetor Marcus Annius Verus.

## Life

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Fadilla was born and raised in Rome. During the reign of her father, she married Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus,[2] a Roman senator who later served twice as consul and as Augur, and who was a nephew of Roman emperor Lucius Verus (who had co-ruled with her father from 161–169 and through adoption was her uncle).[3] The mother of Plautius Quintillus was Ceionia Fabia, sister of Lucius Verus. Fadilla bore Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus two children: a son, (Plautius) Quintillus, and a daughter, Plautia Servilla.

When her father died in 180, her remaining brother Commodus succeeded him as Roman emperor. During Commodus' reign, Fadilla and her family lived in a private palace on Capitoline Hill in Rome which was later bestowed by the later Roman emperor Elagabalus (218–222) as one of his mother's favorite residences. Her husband became one of Commodus' main advisers.

According to Herodian (History of the Roman Empire 1.13.1), Fadilla warned Commodus about Marcus Aurelius Cleander, a Praetorian prefect, who was becoming too powerful. With the help from one of her sisters, she uncovered and revealed a palace conspiracy aimed at the removal of Commodus in 189.[4][5]

## Nerva–Antonine family tree

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Nerva–Antonine family tree

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Q. Marcius Barea Soranus| | Q. Marcius Barea Sura| | Antonia Furnilla| | | | | | | M. Cocceius Nerva| | Sergia Plautilla| | | | | | | P. Aelius Hadrianus
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Titus
(r. 79–81)| | Marcia Furnilla| | Marcia| | Trajanus Pater| | | | Nerva
(r. 96–98)| | | | Ulpia[i]| | Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus
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| | Flavia[ii]| | Marciana[iii]| | C. Salonius Matidius[iv]| | Trajan
(r. 98–117)| | Plotina| | P. Acilius Attianus| | P. Aelius Afer[v]| | Paulina Major[vi]
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Lucius Mindius (2)| | | Libo Rupilius Frugi (3)| | | Salonia Matidia[vii]| | L. Vibius Sabinus (1)[viii]| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Paulina Minor[vi]| | L. Julius Ursus Servianus[ix]
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| | Matidia Minor[vii]| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sabina[iii]| | Hadrian[v][x][vi] (r. 117–138)| | Antinous[xi]| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | C. Fuscus Salinator I| | Julia Serviana Paulina
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M. Annius Verus[xii]| | Rupilia Faustina[xiii][xiv]| | | | | | Boionia Procilla| | Cn. Arrius Antoninus| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | L. Ceionius Commodus| | Appia Severa| | C. Fuscus Salinator II
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| | | | | L. Caesennius Paetus| | | | | | Arria Antonina| | Arria Fadilla[xv]| | | T. Aurelius Fulvus| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | L. Caesennius Antoninus| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | L. Commodus| | Plautia| | unknown[xvi]| | C. Avidius Nigrinus
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M. Annius Verus[xiii]| | Calvisia Domitia Lucilla[xvii]| | | | Fundania[xviii]| | M. Annius Libo[xiii]| | Faustina[xv]| | Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[xv]| | | | L. Aelius Caesar[xvi]| | | | | | Avidia[xvi]
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Cornificia[xiii]| | Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)[xix]| | | Faustina Minor[xix]| | C. Avidius Cassius[xx][clarification needed]| | | Aurelia Fadilla[xv]| | Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)[xvi] (1)| | | Ceionia Fabia[xvi]| | Plautius Quintillus[xxi]| | Q. Servilius Pudens| | Ceionia Plautia[xvi]
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Cornificia Minor[xxii]| | M. Petronius Sura| | Commodus
(r. 177–192)[xix]| | | Fadilla[xxii]| | | M. Annius Verus Caesar[xix]| | Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)| | Lucilla[xix]| | | | | M. Plautius Quintillus[xvi]| | Junius Licinius Balbus| | Servilia Ceionia
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| | Petronius Antoninus| | L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)| | Aurelia Sabina[xxii]| | L. Antistius Burrus (1)| | Plautius Quintillus| | Plautia Servilla| | | C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus| | Antonia Gordiana| | Junius Licinius Balbus?
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Furia Sabina Tranquillina| | | Gordian III
(r. 238–244)

* (1) = 1st spouse
* (2) = 2nd spouse
* (3) = 3rd spouse
* Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty

lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned

grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants

bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties

* dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships
* Small Caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.

1. ^ Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
2. ^ Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
3. ^ a b Levick (2014), p. 161.
4. ^ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
5. ^ a b Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
6. ^ a b c DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
7. ^ a b Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
8. ^ Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
9. ^ Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
10. ^ Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
11. ^ Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
12. ^ Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
13. ^ a b c d Levick (2014), p. 163.
14. ^ It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.
15. ^ a b c d Levick (2014), p. 162.
16. ^ a b c d e f g Levick (2014), p. 164.
17. ^ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
18. ^ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
19. ^ a b c d e Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
20. ^ The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
21. ^ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
22. ^ a b c Levick (2014), p. 117.

References:

* DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
* Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2.
* Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2.
* Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
* Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

## References

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1. ^ Jona Lendering. "Fadilla". Livius.org. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
2. ^ Ackeren, Marcel van (2012-04-02). A Companion to Marcus Aurelius. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-21984-3.
3. ^ Jarvis, Paul (January 2022). "Pertinax and Plots in the Historia Augusta: A Dismissal in 170 and Two Conspiracies in 193 CE". Antichthon. 56: 180–202. doi:10.1017/ann.2022.6. ISSN 0066-4774.
4. ^ Scott, Andrew G. (2018-04-24). "Conspiracy as Plot Type in Herodian's Roman History". Mnemosyne. 71 (3): 434–459. doi:10.1163/1568525X-12342325. ISSN 0026-7074.
5. ^ Motta, Daniela (2021-11-25), "The demos in Herodian", Herodian's World, Brill, pp. 173–201, ISBN 978-90-04-50045-7, retrieved 2024-02-02

## Sources

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* "Women of History - F". A Bit of History.
* Lendering, Jona (2007). "Fadilla". Jona Lendering. Livius.org.

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