Claudia Marcella Major

Claudia Marcella Major (PIR2 C 1102; born some time before 40 BC) was the senior niece of Roman emperor Augustus, being the eldest daughter of his sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. She became the second wife of Augustus' foremost general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and after that the wife of Iullus Antonius, the son of Mark Antony. Biography Early life Marcella belonged to the generation whose childhood was marred by the violence of the civil wars of the Roman Republic. She was likely the first child of her parents, being followed by her brother Marcus Claudius Marcellus and sister Claudia Marcella Minor. From her mother's second marriage to Mark Antony she would also gain two half sisters, Antonia the Elder and Antonia the Younger. Marriages Marcella's first known marriage was to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 28 BC. She was his second wife. Augustus held Agrippa in the highest place of honor. Agrippa was a military man loyal to Octavian throughout the civil war. The marriage of Marcella and Agrippa probably occurred because of the strong bond between the two men. Marcella brought Agrippa a tie to an elite republican family and to Augustus himself, for she was Augustus's niece. Although Agrippa was older than Marcella but austere, he appeared to be a good husband to Marcella.