Iullus Antonius
Iullus Antonius (
Rome,
45 BC-
2 BC) (Also known as
Jullus or
Julius Antony) was the second son of
Mark Antony and his third wife
Fulvia. He is best known for being the most famous lover of
Julia the Elder. He was the full brother of
Marcus Antonius Antyllus, half-brother to
Clodia Pulchra (First wife of
Augustus) through his mother's first marriage,
Antonia Major and
Antonia Minor through his father's marriage to
Octavia Minor and
Alexander Helios,
Cleopatra Selene and
Ptolemy Philadelphus through his father's marriage to
Cleopatra. He was stepbrother to
Marcellus,
Claudia Marcella Major (Later his wife) and
Claudia Marcella Minor, and stepson to
Octavia Minor (Sister of Augustus) and
Cleopatra. Iullus Antonius can be seen on the Ara Pacis at http://harpy.uccs.edu/roman/html/augustus.html
Iullus and his elder brother had a disruptive childhood. His mother
Fulvia gained many enemies including
Octavian (nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar). His half-sister,
Clodia Pulchra had been Octavian's first wife, however in
41 BC he divorced Clodia without ever having consummated the marriage and married
Scribonia (who would later mother
Julia, Octavian's only child). Fulvia saw this as an insult on her family and, together with
Lucius Antonius (Iullus' uncle) they raised eight legions in Italy to fight for Antonius' rights against Octavian. The army occupied Rome for a short time, but eventually retreated to
Perusia (modern Perugia). Octavian besieged Fulvia and Lucius Antonius in the winter of
41 -
40 BC, starving them into surrender. Fulvia was exiled to
Sicyon, where she died of a sudden illness.
In the same year of Fulvia's death, his father
Mark Antony re-married the elder sister of Octavian,
Octavia. The marriage had to be approved by the Senate as Octavia was pregnant with her first husband's child (
Claudia Marcella Minor) at the time. The marriage was for political purposes to cement an alliance between Octavian and Mark Antony. Octavia appears to have been a loyal and faithful wife who was good and treated her husband's children with the same kindness as her own. Between 40 BCâ€"36 BC, Octavia lived with him in his
Athenian mansion. She raised both of Mark Antony's sons and her children by her first husband together for the years of her marriage to their father. They all travelled with him to various provinces. During the marriage Octavia produced two daughters both named
Antonia.
In 36 BC, Mark Antony abandoned Octavia and their children for his former lover
Cleopatra VII (they had already met in 41 BC and had twins). Mark Antony divorced her circa
32 BC, after she had supplied him with men and troops in
35 BC (to be used in his eastern campaigns). Iullus and his brother remained with their father while their half-sisters returned to Rome with their mother. Iullus and his brother were both raised by Cleopatra beside their father's children by her and their stepbrother
Caesarion.
After his father's defeat in the naval
Battle of Actium in which, Antony and Cleopatra's navy was destroyed, and they were forced to escape to Egypt. In August
30 BC, assisted by
Agrippa, he invaded Egypt. With no other refuge to escape to, Iullus' father, Mark Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so. A few days later, Cleopatra herself committed suicide.
Octavian and his army seized control of Egypt and claimed it as part of the Roman Empire. While Iullus' elder brother
Antyllus, his stepbrother
Caesarion and allegedly his two half-brothers
Alexander Helios and
Ptolemy Philadelphus were murdered by Octavian, he showed Iullus and his sister
Cleopatra Selene some mercy. Octavian gave both Iullus and Selene (Possibly by her request) to Iullus' first stepmother
Octavia Minor to be raised as Roman citizens.
In
27 BC they returned to Rome, and Octavian was given then title of
Augustus.
In
21 BC he married Octavia's daughter from her first
marriage,
Claudia Marcella Major. Marcella had been previously married to Marcus Agrippa, but he had divorced her to marry Augustus' daughter Julia. Their only child was
Lucius Antonius. He was
praetor in
13 BC,
consul in
10 BC and
Asian proconsul in
7 BC (
Velleius [2.100].) Twelve volumes of his
poetry have survived.
Though when it began is unsure, Iullus Antonius became the lover of
Julia Augusti who was
Caesar Augustus' daughter. Julia's marriage to her third husband
Tiberius had become a disaster and she was desperate to divorce him if not satisfy her desires, and Iullus was open to do so. It was said that Iullus Antonius had designs upon the monarchy (LV.10.12-16), and wanted to marry Julia before her children
Gaius and
Lucius had come of age possibly to form some sort of regency (
Dio 55. 10.15). It is unlikely, however, that Julia would have put her father or her sons at risk.
The
scandal finally broke in
2 BC, Augustus took action on his daughter Julia's copious promiscuity, Antonius was exposed as her prominent lover. The other men accussed of adultery with Julia were exiled but Iullus was not so lucky. He was charged with
treason and sentenced to death; subsequently, he committed suicide.
Iullus Antonius was connected to many members of the imperial family through blood and marriage. As the result of his parents' marriages and his own, he was connected to various families in Rome.
*His biological parents were:
**
Fulvia, his mother
**
Mark Antony, his father
*His full brother was
Marcus Antonius Antyllus*His stepmothers were:
**
Octavia Minor (Sister of Augustus)
**
Cleopatra VII of Egypt*His half siblings were
** From his mother's first marriage:
***
Clodia Pulchra (First wife of Augustus)
** From his father's marriage to Octavia:
***
Antonia Major (Grandmother of Valeria Messalina)
***
Antonia Minor (Mother of Emperor
Claudius)
** From his father's marriage to Cleopatra:
***
Alexander Helios***
Cleopatra Selene (Wife of
Juba II of Numidia)
***
Ptolemy Philadelphus*His step-siblings were
** From his father's marriage to Octavia:
***
Marcellus (First husband of
Julia the Elder)
***
Claudia Marcella Major (His future wife)
***
Claudia Marcella Minor
** From his father's marriage to Cleopatra:
***
Caesarion (Son of
Julius Caesar)
*His son through Claudia Marcella Major was
Lucius Antonius*His stepdaughter was
Vipsania MarcellaThrough all of these family ties, he is also the step-nephew of Augustus and step-cousin of
Julia the Elder, Augustus' daughter, therefore he was also step-cousin to Julia's children also. Through his sister Antonia Minor, he was uncle to
Germanicus,
Livilla and Emperor
Claudius and great-uncle to Emperor
Caligula and Empress
Agrippina the Younger (Julia's granddaughter and Claudius' wife) as well as other children fathered by Germanicus and his wife
Agrippina the Elder (Daughter of Julia and
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa), thus being the great-great-uncle to Emperor
Nero. Through Antonia Major and Claudia Marcella Minor, he is also related to
Valeria Messalina.
In many modern literature and television adaptations, Iullus is widely portrayed as either an ambitious and cruel man or a love-struck man who has his eyes on Caesar's daughter and has designs of marriage with her. Several examples of both portrayals of Iullus are:
Literature
*In
I, Claudius, a novel by
Robert Graves**Briefly mentioned as being Julia's current lover at the time of her exile. He is the only one forced to commit suicide because Augustus couldn't stand the thought of his daughter and Mark Antony's son together.
*In
Augustus and
Tiberius novels by
Allan Massie **In Augustus, Iullus is described as cruel, spiteful and full of hate without a trace of goodness. He is plotting to murder both Augustus and Tiberius, to marry Julia. In Tiberius, he wishes to marry Julia to increase his power and is jealous of Tiberius.
*In
Caesar's Daughter a novel by
Edward Burton **Iullus is ambitious but loyal to the Julian family, and secretly wishes to marry Julia. He pursues Julia sexually and tries to convince her help him murder Tiberius. Subsequently, Iullus and his political friends are all accused of conspiring against Tiberius and Augustus as well as adultery with Julia.
*In
Augustus: A Novel by
John Williams**Iullus is honourable, he admires Augustus at first and hates his father Mark Antony. However, after falling in love with Julia, he plots to have Tiberius murdered in order to free her from her marriage to him when Augustus does not grant a divorce.
Television
*In the
British/
Italian mini series,
Imperium: Augustus **Iullus was portrayed by
Juan Diego Botto as the handsome, ambitious son of Mark Antony, who will do anything to marry Augustus' daughter Julia and sit on the throne. He is executed by Tiberius by (
Lex Iulia) his right of the law. He plays a major role in the film, being the driving force behind a plot to assassinate Augustus.
In the
BBC Television mini series adaptation of
I, Claudius, Iullus Antonius is oddly absent from the tale. When Julia is accused of having her affairs, Iullus Antonius' name is not mentioned. Historically, Iullus was Julia's most famous and noted lover. The discovery of their affair both shocked and humiliated Julia's father, Augustus. (It should also be noted that Julia's other alleged lovers were also missing from the list of her lovers.)
*
Julia Caesaris*
Octavia Minor*
Scandal
