Antonia

1. (Ἀντωνία) A daughter of Antonius the orator, Cos. B. C. 99 [Antonius, No. 8], was seized in Italy itself by the pirates over whom her father triumphed, and obtained her liberation only on payment of a large sum. (Plut. Pomp. 24.]

2. 3. The two daughters of C. Antonius, Cos. B. C. 63, of whom one was married to C. Caninius Gallus (V. Max. 4.2.6), and the other to her first cousin, M. Antonius, the triumvir. The latter was divorced by her husband in 47, on the ground of an alleged intrigue between her and Dolabella. (Cic. Phil. 2.38; Plut. Ant. 9.)

3. Second daughter of C. Antonius, Cos. B. C. 63: see Antonia, no. 2

4. Daughter of M. Antonius, the triumvir, and his second wife Antonia, was betrothed to the son of M. Lepidus in B. C. 44, and married to him in 36. (D. C. 44.53; Appian, App. BC 5.93.) She must have died soon after; for her husband Lepidus, who died in 30, was at that time married to a second wife, Servilia. (Vell. 2.88; Drumann, Gesch. Roms, i. p. 518.)

5. The elder of the two daughters of M. Antonius by Octavia, the sister of Augustus, was born B. C. 39, and was married to L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, Cos.. B. C. 16. Her son by this marriage, Cn. Domitius, was the father of the emperor Nero. [See the Stemma, p. 84.] According to Tacitus (Tac. Ann. 4.44, 12.64), this Antonia was the younger daughter; but we have followed Suetonius (Suet. Nero 5) and Plutarch (Plut. Ant. 87) in calling her the elder. (Compare D. C. 51.15.)

6. The younger of the two daughters of M. Antonius by Octavia, born about B. C. 36, was married to Drusus, the brother of the emperor Tiberius, by whom she had three children: 1. Germanicus, the father of the emperor Caligula; 2. Livia or Livilla; and 3. the emperor Claudius. She lived to see the accession of her grandson Caligula to the throne, A. D. 37, who at first conferred upon her the greatest honours, but afterwards treated her with so much contempt, that her death was hastened by his conduct : according to some accounts, he administered poison to her. The emperor Claudius paid the highest honours to her memory. Pliny (Plin. Nat. 35.36.16) speaks of a temple of Antonia, which was probably built at the command of Claudius. Antonia was celebrated for her beauty, virtue, and chastity. Her portrait on the annexed coin supports the accounts which are given of her beauty. (Plut. Ant. 87; Dio Cass. Iviii. 11, 59.3, 60.5; Suet. Cal. 1.15, 23; Tac. Ann. 3.3, 18, 11.3; Val Max. 4.3.3; Eckhel, vi. p. 178, &c.)

7. The daughter of the emperor Claudius by Petina, was married by her father first to Pompeius Magnus, and afterwards to Faustus Sulla. Nero wished to marry her after the death of his wife Poppaea, A. D. 66; and on her refusing his proposal, he caused her to be put to death on a charge of treason. According to some accounts, she was privy to the conspiracy of Piso. (Suet. Clasud. 27, Ner. 35; Tac. Ann. 12.2, 13.23, 15.53; D. C. 60.5.)

patrician and plebeian. The patrician Antonii bear the cognomen Merenda [Merenda]; the plebeian Antonii bear no surname under the republic, with the exception of Q. Antonius, propraetor in Sardinia in the time of Sulla, who is called Balbus upon coins. (Eckhel, v. p. 140.) The plebeian Antonii are given under Antonius. Antonius, the triumvir, pretended that his gens was descended from Anton, a son of Hercules. (Plut. Ant. 4, 36, 60.) We are told that he harnessed lions to his chariot to commemorate his descent from this hero (Plin. Nat. 8.16. s. 21; comp. Cic. Att. 10.13); and many of his coins bear a lion for the same reason. (Eckhel, vi. pp. 38, 44.)

(1) Antonia Maior, the daughter of M. Antonius and Octavia, wife of L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, and mother of Cn. Domitius, the father of the emperor Nero.

(2) Minor, younger sister of the preceding, wife of Drusus, the brother of the emperor Tiberius, and mother of Germanicus, the father of the emperor Caligula, of Livia or Livilla, and of the emperor Claudius. She died A.D. 38, soon after the accession of her grandson Caligula. She was celebrated for her beauty, virtue, and chastity.

(3) The daughter of the emperor Claudius, put to death by Nero, A.D. 66, because she refused to marry him.