Mucia Tertia

Mucia Tertia ( 79–31 BC) was a Roman matrona who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the pontifex maximus and consul in 95 BC. Around 79 BC, Mucia married Pompey, a leading and soon-to-be dominant figure in Roman politics. She was the mother of all three of Pompey's known children. Pompey divorced her in 61 BC, either for adultery or for political reasons. She subsequently married Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and remained active in Roman politics, leading peace talks between her son Sextus Pompey and Octavian in 39 BC and maintaining a relationship of mutual respect with Octavian in the years that followed. Early life Mucia was the daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, while Mucia's mother was closely related to Cato the Younger but is otherwise uncertain, she may have been Licinia who divorced her father to marry Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, in a scandal mentioned by several sources. Her name, Mucia Tertia, would suggest that she was a third daughter, according to the Roman naming convention for women, though it is believed that the choice of name was to differentiate her from her two aunts. If her mother was Licinia then Mucia had also two younger half-brothers from her mother's second marriage, Quintus Metellus Celer, consul in 60 BC, and Quintus Metellus Nepos, consul in 57. During her father's time as governor of the province of Asia in 95–94 BC, a statue in his honour was erected at Olympia. There is some evidence that a further statue was erected to his wife or daughter which, if it were indeed dedicated to Mucia, would make her the first woman to receive this honour, which later became usual for members of the imperial household.