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STEPMOTHERS in ROMAN LIFE A. Existence Ef Stepmothers in Rome

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STEPMOTHERS in ROMAN LIFE A. Existence Ef Stepmothers in Rome CHAPTER F1VE STEPMOTHERS IN ROMAN LIFE A. Existence ef Stepmothers in Rome The Roman obsession with wicked stepmothers, attested especially in the literature of the late republic and early empire, suggests some basis in real life. Certainly, stepmothers charged with the upbringing of stepchildren must have been common among the Roman upper classes, whether as a result of the death of the first wife, or of di­ vorce, given that in th1:: latter case, custody of the children seems to have been normally with the male parent. 1 Abundant evident exists for the remarriage of fathers, in other words, the circumstances nec­ essary for the creation of a stepmother. In the consular list for the years 80-50BC, Bradley2 finds 8 definite and 12 probable cases of men who married at least twice, i.e. 39% of the 51 consuls for whom personal information is available: 12 of these had children from a previous marriage, giving a total of l 7 stepmothers. 3 Simi­ larly Humbert, in his thorough examination of the subject of remar­ riage, discusses 16 leading men and their families from Sulla to Nero who were married a total of 46 times between them (these include Sulla, Pompey and Mark Antony, all of whom had 5 wives, as well as Caligula and Claudius who had 4 wives each). 4 Although cases of multiple marriage may have been exceptional, it is likely that a significant percentage of upper class Romans of both sexes married more than once. Bradley goes so far as to suggest that "many, 1 Cf. for instance Gardner (1986) 146-7, Bradley (1991b) 89-90, Treggiari (1991b) 39-40. 2 (1991a) 158ff. 3 Due to frequent remarriage, some gave their children more than one stepmother (four in the case of Sulla and two each in the cases of Pompey and Julius Caesar). The other nine are Ap. Claudius Pulcher, D. Junius Brutus, L. Licinius Lucullus, L. Gellius Poplicola, Q Hortensius, M. Tullius Cicero, Valerius Messala Niger, M. Calpurnius Bibulus and L. Marcius Philippus. Of the I 7 stepmothers only 4 are in Bradley's 'probable' category. Cf. Humbert (1972) 85, who finds 15 men among the consuls for 8(}--30BC definitely known to have remarried. 4 (1972) 80ff.: the list could easily be extended, as Humbert admits, e.g. he does not include Julius Caesar or Agrippa, both married three times. 136 CHAPTER FIVE perhaps most, men and women would anticipate at least two mar­ riages in the course of their adulthood, the birth of children in each marriage, and step-parental association with other children".5 More­ over, the evidence from inscriptions and literary sources (though more limited) indicates that frequent remarriage was not confined to the upper echelons of society.6 Given the likelihood that custodial stepmothers were a common phenomenon in Rome, we can explore the connection, if any, be­ tween the stock literary and rhetorical figure of the saeva noverca and everyday reality. This connection might be direct, i.e. the literary portrait is based on actual examples of stepmotherly malevolence, or else stepfamily conflicts, real or potential, may have been influential in a less direct way in the creation of the stereotype. B. Tu ~morous Stepmother' I begin with the 'amorous stepmother'. The type of situation envis­ aged in the Roman declamation7 and in poetic texts (e.g. Catullus 64.401-2)8 involves an elderly husband whose son is coeval with the 5 ( 1991 a) 162. On the frequency of divorce and remarriage among the elite, see also Saller (1991) 37. Treggiari (1991b) 44--6, (also (1991a) 473-82), thinks that divorce was not as frequent in general as the number of cases among the leading politicians might suggest. Even so, the number of stepmothers created through death (e.g. in childbirth) as well as divorce would not have been inconsiderable. Also, the Au­ gustan marriage laws encouraging remarriage could not have been entirely without effect. 6 See Humbert (1972) 87ff. 7 E.g. Calp., Deel. 22 (spoken by the father) "ego primus in domo mea, fateor, erravi, qui uxorem duxi senex, cum iam esset in domo filius et quidem iuvenis" ("it was I who first went wrong, I admit, in taking a wife in my old age, when I already had in my house a son and a young adult at that"); Sen., Con. fr. I is about a father who caught his wife and her stepson in adultery and killed them: he refers to his 'senilem manum' (aged hand'); Sen., Con. 6.7. is based on the Antiochus and Stratonice story, but since the father gives the wife to his son, again the wife and son may be assumed to be close in age. 8 This passage has been variously interpreted. Catullus says that the father desires his son's death in order to enjoy unencumbered a young wife, described as noverca ("optavit genitor primaevi funera nati,/ liber ut innuptae [uti nuptae?) poteretur flore novercae "the father longed for the death of his young son,/ so that he could be free to possess the bloom of an unwed (wed?) stepmother"). Although reference has been seen to the situation described in Cic., Clu. 27 and Sall., Cat. 15 (on which see ch. I, n. 43), the sexual force of 'poteretur flore'('possess the bloom'), together with the reference to the son's youth (prirruuvus = in the prime of youth) suggest an 'amorous stepmother' situation where the stepson is close in age to the stepmother: see Watson (1984), 114----6. .
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