Caecilia Metella

Who was Caecilia Metella?

Caecilia Metella was daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus, Pontifex Maximus in 115 BC.

Dalmatica's first marriage was to Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, an aging politician at the peak of his power. The patrician Scaurus was princeps senatus and a traditional ally of her family. Dalmatica bore Scaurus two children: Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and Aemilia Scaura, second wife of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

Following Scaurus' death, Dalmatica married Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In 86 BC, Gaius Marius obtained his seventh consulship and outlawed his political enemies, ordering confiscation of property and several persecutions. Sulla, at the time in the East fighting king Mithridates VI of Pontus, was at the top of the list. Dalmatica was forced to abandon Rome and met Sulla in Greece. There, she gave birth to the twins Faustus Cornelius Sulla and Fausta. In 81 BC, following a brief civil war with the last of Marius' supporters, Sulla entered Rome and was appointed dictator. Again, Dalmatica followed her husband and became Rome's "First Lady."

Dalmatica died around 80 BC. Ignoring the anti-luxury laws that he drafted himself, Sulla organized a spectacular state funeral for her.