Apicata

Apicata was a woman of the 1st century AD in ancient Rome. She was married to Sejanus, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Biography Early life Apicata may have been the daughter of Marcus Gavius Apicius, a gourmet who knew Sejanus when the latter was a young man. The reason for this assumption is mainly her unusual name "Apicata", which was likely a nickname derived from a cognomen instead of a common name for a woman of a Roman family. The name of Sejanus wife can be found removed from an inscription but it appears to be a short name similar in length to Livia, Gavia would fit that. Jane Bellemore has disputed that the woman named on the inscription was Apicata, and that the name could have belonged to a later wife of Sejanus (possibly Livilla). Marriage Apicata had borne Sejanus three children. He divorced her in the year 23 AD, when it seemed he might be able to marry his lover and co-conspirator Livilla, the wife of Drusus Julius Caesar (son of Tiberius). Drusus was a challenger to Sejanus's quest for power, but died in 23. Sejanus was reportedly seeking the imperial seat for himself and marriage to a member of the imperial family would have made his claim more plausible.