Marcia (
c. 29 – before 100) was a Roman noblewoman and the mother of the
Roman emperorTrajan.
Family
Marcia came from a
noble and politically influential gens, the
plebeiangensMarcia,[1] which claimed to be descended from the Roman king
Ancus Marcius. Trajan owned some lands called Figlinae Marcianae in
Ameria, believed to be the place where Marcia's family was from. Marcia was a daughter of the
Roman senatorQuintus Marcius Barea Sura and his wife Antonia Furnilla.[2] Quintus Marcius Barea Sura was a friend to emperor
Vespasian. Her younger sister
Marcia Furnilla was the second wife of emperor
Titus.[3] Marcia was a maternal aunt to Furnilla's and Titus' daughter Flavia.
Marcia's paternal uncle was the senator
Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, while her paternal cousin was the noblewoman
Marcia Servilia Sorana. Marcia's paternal grandfather was
Quintus Marcius Barea, who was suffect
consul in 34 and
Proconsul of the
Africa Province in 41–43, while her maternal grandfather could have been Aulus Antonius Rufus, a suffect consul in 45.[4] The gens of Marcia was connected to the opponents of emperor
Nero. In 65 after the failure of the
Pisonian conspiracy, her family was disfavored by Nero.
Life
During the reign of emperor
Claudius (
r. 41–54), Marcia married the Roman general and senator
Marcus Ulpius Traianus. Traianus originally came from
Italica (near modern
Seville,
Spain) in the Roman province of
Hispania Baetica. After Marcia married Traianus, for a time they lived in Italica.
Marcia bore Traianus two children:
A daughter -
Ulpia Marciana (48–112/114), who inherited her second name from her mother's paternal ancestry. Marciana married
Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus, who was a wealthy senator and became
praetor. Marciana bore Patruinus a daughter named
Salonia Matidia, who was born in 68.
A son - Marcus Ulpius Traianus, better known as
Trajan (53–117). Trajan became and served as emperor from 98 until his death in 117. He married a woman named
Pompeia Plotina.
Marcia owned clay-bearing estates called the Figlinae Marcianae, which was located in North
Italy. When Marcia died, Trajan inherited these estates from his mother. It is unknown if Marcia lived long enough to see Trajan become emperor.
Legacy
Around 100, her son Trajan founded a colony in
North Africa which was called Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi (modern
Timgad,
Algeria). Her son named this town in honor of her, her late husband and her daughter. The colony's name is also a tribute in honoring her family.
^The epitomator of Cassius Dio (
72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA"Marcus Aurelius" 24.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta.
ISBN0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking.
ISBN0-670-15708-2.