Terentia: Difference between revisions

In 58 BC, Cicero was exiled from Rome for the allegedly illegal execution of Roman citizens in the [[Catiline]] conspiracy. [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]] enacted the bill with the purpose of getting revenge on Cicero for the fact that he had nullified Clodius' alibi in the [[Bona Dea]] affair.<ref name="Salisbury">Salisbury, Joyce E. ''Encyclopedia of women in the ancient world.'' Santa Barbara, Calif.: Abc-Clio, 2001</ref> [[Plutarch]], in his ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', tells us that Cicero was compelled to testify against Clodius by Terentia, in order to prove that he was not having an affair with [[Clodia MetelliPulchra (wife of Metellus)|Clodia]] (Clodius' sister). However, this story is most likely conceived either by Plutarch himself or a slanderer of Cicero. Plutarch's intentions were to show Terentia as an oppressive wife and thus to show Cicero as a weak man under the control of his wife.<ref>[[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Cicero]]</ref><ref>Treggiari 49</ref>