Bruttia Crispina - Wikipedia Bruttia Crispina From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Roman noblewoman and Augusta (164 – 191) Augusta Bruttia Crispina Augusta Head of Bruttia Crispina, Roman Empress Empress of the Roman Empire Tenure 178 – 191 Born 164 AD Rome, Roman Empire Died 191 AD (aged 26-27) Capri, Roman Empire Spouse Commodus Names Bruttia Crispina Regnal name Bruttia Crispina Augusta House Nerva–Antonine Father Gaius Bruttius Praesens Mother Valeria Bruttia Crispina (164 – 191 AD) was Roman Empress from 178 to 191 as the consort of Roman Emperor Commodus.[1] Her marriage to Commodus did not produce an heir, and her husband was instead succeeded by Pertinax. Contents 1 Family 2 Marriage 3 Death 4 References 5 External sources Family[edit] Crispina came from an illustrious aristocratic family and was the daughter of twice consul Gaius Bruttius Praesens[2] and his wife Valeria.[3] Crispina’s paternal grandparents were consul and senator Gaius Bruttius Praesens and the rich heiress Laberia Hostilia Crispina, daughter of another twice consul, Manius Laberius Maximus. Crispina's brother was future consul Lucius Bruttius Quintius Crispinus. Her father’s family originally came from Volceii, Lucania, Italy and were closely associated with the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. Crispina was born and raised in Rome or Volceii. Marriage[edit] Crispina married the sixteen-year-old Commodus in the summer of 178 and brought him, as a dowry, a large number of estates. These, when added to the Imperial holdings, gave him control of a substantial part of Lucanian territory.[4][5][6] The actual ceremony was modest but was commemorated on coinage, and largesse was distributed to the people.[7] An epithalamium for the occasion was composed by the sophist Julius Pollux.[8] Upon her marriage, Crispina received the title of Augusta,[9] and thus became empress of the Roman Empire, as her husband was co-emperor with her father-in-law at the time. The previous empress and her mother-in-law, Faustina the Younger had died three years prior to her arrival. Like most marriages of young members of the nobiles, it was arranged by patres—in Crispina's case by her father and her new father-in-law, the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Crispina is described as being a graceful person with a susceptible heart.[10] As Augusta, Crispina was extensively honoured with public images during the last two years of her father-in-law's reign and the initial years of her husband's reign.[9] She did not seem to have any significant political influence over her husband during his bizarre reign. However, she was not exempted from court politics either, as her sister-in-law Lucilla, herself a former empress, was reportedly ambitious and jealous of the empress Crispina due to her position and power.[11] Crispina's marriage failed to produce an heir,[12] which led to a dynastic succession crisis. In fact, both Lucius Antistius Burrus (with whom Commodus had shared his first consulate as sole ruler) and Gaius Arrius Antoninus, who were probably related to the imperial family, were allegedly put to death 'on the suspicion of pretending to the throne'.[13] After ten years of marriage, Crispina was falsely charged with adultery by her husband and was banished to the island of Capri in 188, where she was later executed.[14] After her banishment, Commodus did not marry again but took on a mistress, a woman named Marcia, who was later said to have conspired in his murder.[15] Death[edit] Empress Bruttia Crispina, draped bust On the basis of a misreading of HA Commodus 5.9 and Dio 73.4.6, her fall is sometimes wrongly associated with Lucilla's conspiracy to assassinate Commodus in 181 or 182. Her name continues to appear in inscriptions until as late as 191 (CIL VIII, 02366). Her eventual exile and death may instead have been a result of the fall of Marcus Aurelius Cleander, or of Commodus's inability to produce offspring with her to ensure the dynastic succession.[16] References[edit] ^ Boatwright, Mary T. (2003). Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780691094939. ^ Venning, Timothy, ed. (2010). A chronology of the Roman Empire. Introduction by John F. Drinkwater. Continuum. p. 551. ISBN 9781441154781. ^ Chidester Egbert, James (1896). Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions. American Book Co. p. 107. ^ Small, Alastair M.; Buck, Robert J. (1994). The excavations of San Giovanni di Ruoti. University of Toronto Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780802059482. ^ Adams, Geoff W (2012). Marcus Aurelius in Historia Augusta and Beyond. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 123. ISBN 0739176382. ^ Mennen, Inge (2011). Power and status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284. Leiden: Brill. p. 90. ISBN 9789004203594. ^ Bury, J.B., ed. (1970). The Cambridge ancient history (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780521263351. ^ Swain, Simon (1996). Hellenism and Empire: Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek world, AD 50-250. Clarendon Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780198147725. ^ a b Varner, Eric R. (2004). Monumenta Graeca et Romana. damnatio memoriae and Roman imperial portraiture. Brill. p. 152. ISBN 9789004135772. ^ Morgan, Sydney (2010). Woman and Her Master, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 244. ISBN 9781108019347. ^ Potter, David S. (2004). The Roman Empire at bay: AD 180-395 (Reprinted. ed.). 600: Routledge. ISBN 9780415100571.CS1 maint: location (link) ^ Ward, Allen M.; Heichelheim, Fritz M.; Yeo, Cedric A. (2003). A History of the Roman people (4th ed.). Prentice Hall. p. 379. ISBN 9780130384805. ^ van Ackeren, Marcel, ed. (2012). A Companion to Marcus Aurelius. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 237. ISBN 9781405192859. ^ Kean, Roger Michael; Frey, Oliver (2005). The Complete Chronicle of the Emperors of Rome. Thalamus. p. 100. ^ Freisenbruch, Annelise (2011). The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars. Random House. p. 6. ISBN 1446499065. ^ Hekster, O. (2002). Commodus: An Emperor at the Crossroads. Gieben. pp. 71–72. External sources[edit] Bruttia Crispina, livius.org, 2007. Accessed 2012-5-29. Bruttia Crispina (164-183AD) coin. Accessed 2012-5-29. Crispina coins, forumancientcoins.com. Accessed 2012-5-29. Royal titles Preceded by Annia Galeria Faustina Minor Empress of Rome 178–188 Succeeded by Flavia Titiana Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruttia_Crispina&oldid=1019699101" Categories: Nerva–Antonine dynasty Roman empresses 164 births 191 deaths 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century Roman women Executed Roman empresses Murdered Roman empresses 2nd-century executions People executed by the Roman Empire Augustae Commodus Bruttii Hidden categories: CS1 maint: location Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Asturianu تۆرکجه Български Brezhoneg Català Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Magyar Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Polski Português Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Türkçe Українська اردو Edit links This page was last edited on 24 April 2021, at 22:17 (UTC). 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