Calpurnia (wife of Caesar): Difference between revisions
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[[File:Calpurnia Pisonis.jpg|thumb|200px|Calpurnia from "Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum "]] |
[[File:Calpurnia Pisonis.jpg|thumb|200px|Calpurnia from "Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum "]] |
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'''Calpurnia Pisonis''' (born [[75 BC]]), daughter of [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus]], sister of [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso (consul 15 BC)|Lucius Calpurnius Piso]], "the Pontifex", was |
'''Calpurnia Pisonis''' (born [[75 BC]]), daughter of [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus]], sister of [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso (consul 15 BC)|Lucius Calpurnius Piso]], "the Pontifex", was a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Women in Rome|woman]] and the third and last wife of [[Julius Caesar]]. Calpurnia was the great-granddaughter of a lieutenant of [[Lucius Cassius Longinus]], whose name was Lucius Piso. The grandfather of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesonius, |
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he was killed by the [[Tigurini]] during the [[Gallic Wars]], as was Lucius Cassius Longinus.<ref>''Caesar's Gallic War, Book 1, |
he was killed by the [[Tigurini]] during the [[Gallic Wars]], as was Lucius Cassius Longinus.<ref>''Caesar's Gallic War, Book 1, |
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Julius Caesar, Hinds & Noble, [[1898]], pg. 83.</ref> |
Julius Caesar, Hinds & Noble, [[1898]], pg. 83.</ref> |
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Revision as of 11:26, 18 July 2010
Calpurnia Pisonis (born 75 BC), daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, sister of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, "the Pontifex", was a Roman woman and the third and last wife of Julius Caesar. Calpurnia was the great-granddaughter of a lieutenant of Lucius Cassius Longinus, whose name was Lucius Piso. The grandfather of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesonius, he was killed by the Tigurini during the Gallic Wars, as was Lucius Cassius Longinus.[1]
Marriage and Caesar's demise
Caesar and Calpurnia married in late 59 BC. Calpurnia was a sixteen-year-old virgin.[2] No children resulted from the union. Following Caesar's death on the Ides of March (March 15) of 44 BC, Calpurnia delivered all Caesar's personal papers, including will and notes, and most precious possessions to Mark Antony, one of the new leaders of Rome. She did not remarry after the death of Caesar.
According to historical tradition, reflected in some ancient sources,[3] Calpurnia had a premonition of her husband's murder and tried to warn him in vain. She also encouraged Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus to send word to the senate that Caesar was sick on the day of his death, but Caesar refused to lie.
Calpurnia in literature and film
- In Shakespeare's play, Calpurnia has a dream that a statue of Caesar was flowing with blood as many Romans wash their hands in the blood. She also saw in her dream that Julius Caesar would die in her arms.
- A version of Calpurnia was portrayed by Haydn Gwynne in HBO's series Rome.
- Her character from Shakespeare's play was also portrayed by Sylvia Lennick in Wayne and Shuster's comedy sketch "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga", parodied as a hysterical Italian-American housewife repeatedly wailing "I told him, Julie! Don't go!" in a Bronx accent.[4]
- She was also been portrayed by British actresses Greer Garson in the 1953 adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, by Joan Sims in Carry on Cleo, by Italian actress Valeria Golino in the 2002 made for TV movie Julius Caesar, and by Gertrude Michael in Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 Cleopatra.
- She is shown in Mist Of Prophecies (part of the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor) taking part on solving a murder.
References
- ^ Caesar's Gallic War, Book 1, Julius Caesar, Hinds & Noble, 1898, pg. 83.
- ^ Cicero: The Secrets of his Correspondence, Volume 1, Jerome Carcopino translator, Taylor & Francis, 1951, pg. 352.
- ^ Vita Caesaris, chapters 19–24, recounts Caesar's assassination; extracts are quoted in "The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC". EyeWitness to History. Retrieved 9 November 2005.. For an assessment of Nicolaus and his sources see Sihler, E.G. Annals of Caesar: A Critical Biography with a Survey of the Sources (New York : G. E. Stechert, 1911), pp. 293–4
- ^ "Sylvia Lennick, Wayne & Shuster sidekick, dies at 93". The Globe and Mail, August 10, 2009.