Pompeii (wife of Julius Caesar)

Effigy of Pompeii. Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, 1553.

Pompeii (1st century BC), second or third wife of Julius Caesar, was the daughter of Quintus Pompeius Rufus, a former consul, and of Cornelia, daughter of the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sila. She was a beautiful and charming woman, but perhaps not very intelligent. Marriage with Caesar

Caesar married her in 68 BC. After having served as quaestor in Hispania, and after the death of his first wife, Cornelia, the year before.Cesar was the nephew of Cayo Mario while Cornelia was the daughter of Lucio Cornelio Cinna. Mario and Cinna, chiefs of the popular, had been defeated during the civil war between Mario and Sila (88-87 BC) and the civil war between Cinna and Sila (82-81 BC). The marriage of Caesar with a granddaughter of Sila, who had nevertheless proscribed him in his youth, perhaps marks his will to accept the new Roman political situation. The Bona Dea scandal

In 63 a. C., was chosen maximum pontiff (that is to say, supreme pontiff of the Roman religion), which gave him right to reside in the domus publica, official residence in Via Sacra. In this house, Pompey hosted the festivities of the Bona Dea (in Spanish, the Good Goddess), an ancient Roman goddess, whose annual party was forbidden any male presence. However, a young patrician, Publius Clodius Pulcro, managed to enter the house, disguised as a woman, apparently for the purpose of seducing Pompeii. He was unmasked and persecuted by desecration. Cesar did not bring any evidence against Clodius during the trial, and he was acquitted. However, Caesar divorced Pompey, saying, "My wife must be above all suspicion." This quote from Caesar has become famous in the following way: "The wife of Caesar must not only be honest, .

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