Clodia

Clodia (born Claudia, c. 95 or 94 BC), nicknamed Quadrantaria ("Quarter", from quadrantarius, the price of a visit to the public baths), Nola ("The Unwilling", from the verb nolo, in sarcastic reference to her alleged wantonness), Medea Palatina ("Medea of the Palatine") by Cicero (see below), and occasionally referred to in scholarship as Clodia Metelli ("Metellus's Clodia"), was one of three known daughters of the ancient Roman patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher. Like many other women of the Roman elite, Clodia was very well educated in Greek and Philosophy, with a special talent for writing poetry. Her life, which was characterized by perpetual scandal, is immortalized in the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero and, it is generally believed, in the poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus. Biography Early life Clodia Metelli was born into the ancient Roman family of Claudii. This was an established, aristocratic family whose history stretched back into the legends of Ancient Rome and who were active in the political construct of the City serving as consuls and senators onwards from the third century BCE. She was born circa 97 BC, a daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, but her mother is unknown. Many historians believe she was a Caecilia Metella, possibly Caecilia Metella Balearica, or her cousin, Caecilia Metella daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Diadematus. Another theory is that she was a Servilia Caepione. Clodia had three brothers: Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul in 54 BC), Gaius Claudius Pulcher (praetor in 56 BC), and Publius Clodius Pulcher (tribune of the plebs in 58 BC); and four sisters, the younger two of whom were married to Quintus Marcius Rex and Lucullus respectively. It is not certain whether Clodia was the eldest or a middle daughter, it is only known that she was not the youngest sister. Along with her brother Clodius, she changed her patrician name from Claudia to Clodia, with a plebeian connotation.