Cornelia

Who was Cornelia?

Cornelia was the daughter of Scribonia and a consular Publius Cornelius Scipio. She married the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus, with whom she had three children. Their first son Lucius Aemilius Paullus, born c. 37 BC married his cousin Julia the Younger and their second son Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, born c. 30 BC, was consul in 6. She also had a daughter.

Cornelia was the sister of Cornelius Scipio, and was the elder half-sister of Julia the Elder. Cornelia died in the same year of her brother's consulship; if this brother is identified as P. Cornelius Scipio, the date was 16 BC Emperor Augustus, her stepfather, grieved her death as he found her a worthy elder sister to his daughter, Julia. The poet Propertius wrote an elegy of Cornelia for her funeral, praising her virtue and family, including Scipio and Scribonia.