Antonia

Antonia (ca 50s BC – ?) was a Roman noblewoman who married the Greek nobleman Pythodoros of Tralles. She has been identified as the daughter of the general Mark Antony, presumably by his second wife Antonia Hybrida Minor. Theodor Mommsen was the first historian to identify Pythodoros' wife as the same woman as the daughter of Antony who was engaged to a son of the triumvir Lepidus. Mommsen's view has found wide acceptance but is not without its detractors. Biography Early life Her parents were paternal first cousins. Antonia was the eldest known recorded child of Antony and some modern historians consider her to be the first child born to Antony. She was born and raised in Rome. By 47 BC, Antonia's parents had divorced because Antony believed Hybrida had slept with his friend, the tribune Publius Cornelius Dolabella. Within a year her father had married again to Fulvia, and had two sons named Antyllus and Iullus by her. First engagement Antonia's father had arranged for her to be betrothed in 44 BC, to a son of his fellow triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, whom Antony had secured the position as Pontifex maximus for that same year. Her fiancé is often assumed to have been Lepidus oldest son Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor, but a younger son is also possible. It is unknown if Antonia would have been in the custody of her stepmother Fulvia or if she would have accompanied her father in his travels to the east during this period. In 40 BC Fulvia died after a conflict with Octavian and her father remarried once again, this time to Octavian's sister Octavia Minor. Antonia may have been with Octavia and her younger siblings after this. When Lepidus the triumvir was in Africa (around 37 BC) her father sent a freedman named Callias to tell Lepidus to prepare for Antonia's wedding to take place some time before Antony left for his Parthian campaign. It is likely that the engagement was broken off in 36 BC when Lepidus was disgraced.