Julia Antonia

Who was Julia Antonia?

Julia Caesaris or Julia Antonia was a daughter to Lucius Julius Caesar, the consul of 90 BC, and mother to the future triumvir and deputy of Caesar, Mark Antony. She was a sister to the Lucius Julius Caesar who was consul in 64 BC. Her mother is unknown. She was born and raised in Rome. Julia was a cousin to Julius Caesar.

Julia married Marcus Antonius Creticus, a man of a senatorial family. Their sons were the Triumvir Mark Antony, Gaius Antonius and Lucius Antonius. Because of their kinship through her, Gaius Julius Caesar was obliged to promote the political careers of her sons, despite his distaste for their father and his generally low opinion of their abilities. After Julia’s first husband died in 74 BC, she married Publius Cornelius Lentulus, a politician, who in 63 BC, was involved in the Catiline conspiracy and was executed on the orders of Cicero.

Julia had raised her sons through her marriages. Plutarch describes her as one of ‘most nobly born and admirable women of her time,’ though most other sources are considerably less flattering. The following clause from Plutarch - Antony, Clause 1 describes her relationship with her first husband: