Within Five Years of His Wife's Murder, Herodes Grieved His Daughters

Summary: Within five years of his wife's murder in 160 CE, Herodes Atticus grieved their daughters, Athenais, who died ca. 161, and Elpinice, deceased in 165.

Athenian honors of burial in the city and a decreed removal of the day of her death from the year for Athenais mitigated wealthy Athenian Greek rhetorician Herodes Atticus's grief over the death of his and Regilla's second daughter, Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria (Greek: Μαρκία Κλαυδία Άλκία Άθηναΐς Γαβιδία Λατιαρία; ca. 143/144-ca. 161 CE), known as Athenais (Greek: Αθηναΐς), as "quenched" grief over spousal loss segued into daughterly loss; Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 12:04, image of statue of Athenaides, sculpted posthumously ca. 149-153 CE, Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus at Olympia; Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας), Elis or Ilia (Greek: Ηλεία, Ileia) region, western Peloponnese peninsula (Greek: Πελοπόννησος), southern Greece: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Within five years of the murder of his wife, Regilla, in 160 CE, Herodes Atticus grieved his and Regilla's daughters, Athenais and Elpinice, whose deaths occurred in ca. 161 and 165, respectively.

Wealthy Roman patrician Appia Annia Regilla (full name: Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla; 125-160 CE), known as Regilla, married Herodes Atticus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρώδης ὁ Ἀττικός; Roman name: Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes; 101-177 CE) probably in 139 or 140 CE. The marital event was dated to 139 CE by American classicist Barbara F. McManus (Oct. 5, 1942-June 19, 2015) in "Plancia Magna, Aurelia Paulina, and Regilla: Civic Donors" on VRoma, the "Virtual Community for Teaching and Learning Classics" that she co-directed. The next year, 140 CE, was provided by La Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali (Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage) website's post, "Annia Regilla -- Sant'Urbano." Accordingly, Regilla's wedded age would have been 14 or 15. Her spouse, an older, wealthy Athenian Greek with Roman citizenship, would have been aged 38 or 39.

The couple had six children, according to the Genealogical Chart included by American classicist and social historian Sarah B. Pomeroy (born March 13, 1938) in The Murder of Regilla: A Case of Domestic Violence in Antiquity, published in 2007. Claudius was born in 141 CE as their first son and first child. Appia Annia Claudia Atilia Regilla Elpinice Agrippina Atria Polla (Greek: Αππία Αννία Κλαυδία Ατιλία Ρήγιλλα Ελπινίκη Αγριππίνα Ατρία Πώλλα), known as Elpinice (Greek: Ελπινίκη), was born ca. 142 CE as the couple's second child and first daughter. The couple's second daughter and third child, Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria (Greek: Μαρκία Κλαυδία Άλκία Άθηναΐς Γαβιδία Λατιαρία), known as Athenais (Greek: Αθηναΐς), was born ca. 143/144 CE. Tiberius Claudius Marcus Appius Atilius Bradua Regillus Atticus, known as Atticus Bradua, was born ca. 145 CE as the couple's second son and fourth child. Herodes and Regilla's third son and fifth child, Tiberius Claudius Herodes Lucius Vibullius Regillus, known as Regillus, was born ca. 150 CE.

Tragedy occurred with the couple's fourth son and sixth child in 160 CE. Eight months pregnant Regilla died from a murderous kick to her abdomen by one of her husband's freedmen, Alcimedon. The unnamed son either died as an eight-month-old fetus or survived his mother by three months.

Before Regilla's murder and the infanticide or causally related death of the couple's fourth son, Herodes Atticus and Regilla had experienced the grief of the death of their first son. Their first child, Claudius, had died in the same year of his birth, 141 CE.

Charged with but then acquitted of his wife's murder, Herodes Atticus was presented as displaying deep mourning by his biographer, Roman Imperial period Greek sophist Philostratus (Ancient Greek: Φιλόστρατος Philostratos; ca. 170-245/250 CE), in Βίοι σοϕιστῶν ("The Lives of the Sophists"), published ca. 230 to 238 CE. Indeed, Philostratus noted Herodes Atticus's "extraordinary grief at his wife's death" as one of the significant factors in his defense (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.556, pages 158-161).

Lucius, a wise witty friend of the bereaved who had studied philosophy expressed concern over grief that deviated excessively from self-control and the golden mean of moderation. Herodes Atticus's displays of grief included beglooming his house with black decor. Strategies of reasoning with Herodes Atticus failed.

Wisely, Lucius determined to dissipate his friend's grief via ridicule. White radishes inspired a successful ridicule.

"And he saw some slaves at a well that was in the house, washing radishes, and asked them for whose dinner they were intended. They replied that they were preparing them for Herodes. At this Lucius remarked: 'Herodes insults Regilla by eating white radishes in a black house.' This speech was reported indoors to Herodes, and when he heard it he removed the signs of mourning from his house, for fear he should become the laughingstock of wise men. . . . Thus, then, his grief for Regilla was quenched . . ." (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.557, pages 162-163).

The death of his second daughter, Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria (Greek: Μαρκία Κλαυδία Άλκία Άθηναΐς Γαβιδία Λατιαρία; ca. 143/144-ca. 161 CE), known as Athenais (Greek: Αθηναΐς), happened after the radish ridicule "quenched" his mourning for his wife. Fortunately, "his grief for his daughter Panathenais was mitigated by the Athenians, who buried her in the city, and decreed that the day on which she died should be taken out of the year" (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.557-558, pages 162-165).

Death immoderately aggrieved Herodes Atticus four years later. His first daughter, Appia Annia Claudia Atilia Regilla Elpinice Agrippina Atria Polla (Greek: Αππία Αννία Κλαυδία Ατιλία Ρήγιλλα Ελπινίκη Αγριππίνα Ατρία Πώλλα; ca. 142-165 CE), known as Elpinice (Greek: Ελπινίκη), passed away.

"But when his other daughter, whom he called Elpinice, died also, he lay on the floor, beating the earth and crying aloud: 'O my daughter, what offerings shall I consecrate to thee? What shall I bury with thee?'" wailed grief-addled Herodes Atticus in the presence of Sextus the philosopher.

Sextus of Chaeronea (Greek: Σέξτος ὁ Χαιρωνεύς Sextos ho Chaironeus; ca. 95-ca. 185 CE) taught Marcus Aurelius as an older disciple toward the end of his emperorship (March 7, 161-March 17, 180 CE). Sextus was related, as nephew or grandson, to Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, biographer and historian Plutarch (Greek: Πλούταρχος, Ploútarchos; 46 BCE-122 CE).

"Then Sextus the philosopher who chanced to be present said: 'No small gift will you give your daughter if you control your grief for her'" (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.558, pages 164-165).

Wealthy Athenian Greek rhetorician Herodes Atticus reverted to uncontrollable grief with the death of his and Regilla's first daughter, Appia Annia Claudia Atilia Regilla Elpinice Agrippina Atria Polla (Greek: Αππία Αννία Κλαυδία Ατιλία Ρήγιλλα Ελπινίκη Αγριππίνα Ατρία Πώλλα; ca. 142-165 CE), known as Elpinice (Greek: Ελπινίκη), but the grieving father was soothed by Sextus the Philosopher's advice to give Elpinice the "no small gift" of controlled grief; Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 12:08, image of statue of Elpinice, ca. 149-153 CE, Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus at Olympia; Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας), Elis or Ilia (Greek: Ηλεία, Ileia) region, western Peloponnese peninsula (Greek: Πελοπόννησος), southern Greece: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Athenian honors of burial in the city and a decreed removal of the day of her death from the year for Athenais mitigated wealthy Athenian Greek rhetorician Herodes Atticus's grief over the death of his and Regilla's second daughter, Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria (Greek: Μαρκία Κλαυδία Άλκία Άθηναΐς Γαβιδία Λατιαρία; ca. 143/144-ca. 161 CE), known as Athenais (Greek: Αθηναΐς), as "quenched" grief over spousal loss segued into daughterly loss; Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 12:04, image of statue of Athenaides, sculpted posthumously ca. 149-153 CE, Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus at Olympia; Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας), Elis or Ilia (Greek: Ηλεία, Ileia) region, western Peloponnese peninsula (Greek: Πελοπόννησος), southern Greecee: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_probably_of_Athenaides,_daughter_of_Herodes_Atticus,_from_the_Nymphaeum_of_Herodes_Atticus_at_Olympia,_dating_from_between_149_and_153_AD_(posthumous),_Olympia_Archaeological_Museum,_Greece_(14007470134).jpg

Wealthy Athenian Greek rhetorician Herodes Atticus reverted to uncontrollable grief with the death of his and Regilla's first daughter, Appia Annia Claudia Atilia Regilla Elpinice Agrippina Atria Polla (Greek: Αππία Αννία Κλαυδία Ατιλία Ρήγιλλα Ελπινίκη Αγριππίνα Ατρία Πώλλα; ca. 142-165 CE), known as Elpinice (Greek: Ελπινίκη), but the grieving father was soothed by Sextus the Philosopher's advice to give Elpinice the "no small gift" of controlled grief; Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 12:08, image of statue of Elpinice, ca. 149-153 CE, Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus at Olympia; Archaeological Museum of Olympia (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ολυμπίας), Elis or Ilia (Greek: Ηλεία, Ileia) region, western Peloponnese peninsula (Greek: Πελοπόννησος), southern Greece: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Elpinike,_daughter_of_Herodes_Atticus,_from_the_Nymphaeum_of_Herodes_Atticus_at_Olympia,_dating_from_between_149_and_153_AD_(posthumous),_Olympia_Archaeological_Museum,_Greece_(14007448514).jpg

For further information:

Borg, Barbara E. "Herodes Atticus in Rome: The Triopion Reconsidered." Pages 317-330. In: Catherine M. Draycott, Rubina Raja, Katherine Welch and William T. Wootton, eds., Visual Histories of the Classical World: Essays in Honour of R.R.R. Smith. Studies in Classical Archaeology, vol. 4. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2018.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340655030_Herodes_Atticus_in_Rome_The_Triopion_reconsidered_in_C_M_Draycott_R_Raja_K_Welch_and_W_T_Wootton_eds_Visual_Histories_of_the_Classical_World_Essays_in_Honour_of_RRR_Smith_Turnhout_Brepols_2019_317-30

Brun, Louis (zardoz). "Appius Annius Atilius Bradua (Annii)." Geneanet > Louis Brun's Family Tree.
Available via Geneanet @ https://gw.geneanet.org/zardoz?lang=en&n=annii&oc=0&p=appius+annius+atilius+bradua

Gleason, Maud W. "Making Space for Bicultural Identity: Herodes Atticus Commemorates Regilla." In: Walter Scheidel and Brent Shaw, eds., Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Paper No. 070801. July 1, 2008.
Available via SSRN (Social Science Research Network) @ https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1427349

Gleason, Maud W. "Making Space for Bicultural Identity: Herodes Atticus Commemorates Regilla." Pages 125-162. In: Tim Whitmarsh, ed., Local Knowledge and Microidentities in the Imperial Greek World. (Cambridge University Press, 2010) 125-162.
Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/8957440/_Making_Space_for_Bicultural_Identity_Herodes_Atticus_Commemorates_Regilla_in_T_Whitmarsh_ed_Local_Knowledge_and_Microidentities_in_the_Imperial_Greek_World_Cambridge_University_Press_2010_125_162

Marriner, Derdriu. "Did Herodes Atticus Genuinely or Fakely Grieve for His Murdered Wife?" Earth and Space News. May 18, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/did-herodes-atticus-genuinely-or-fakely.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Did Herodes Atticus Have Eight Months Pregnant Wife, Regilla, Killed?" Earth and Space News. May 11, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/did-herodes-atticus-have-eight-months.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Herodes Atticus's Wife's Ancestral Estate Was Near Quintilii's Villa." Earth and Space News. Thursday, May 4, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/herodes-atticuss-wifes-ancestral-estate.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Marcus Aurelius Liking Trojan Quintilii Brothers Upset Herodes Atticus." Earth and Space News. Thursday, April 27, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/04/marcus-aurelius-liking-trojan-quintilii.html

Pomeroy, Sarah B. The Murder of Regilla: A Case of Domestic Violence in Antiquity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Murder_of_Regilla/UsUJS9g6qHgC

Wright, [Emily] Wilmer Cave [France]. "Thus, then, his grief for Regilla was quenched, while his his grief for his daughter Panathenais was mitigated by the Athenians, who buried her in the city, and decreed that the day on which she died should be taken out of the year. But when his other daughter, whom he called Elpinice, died also, he lay on the floor, beating the earth and crying aloud: 'O my daughter, what offerings shall I consecrate to thee? What shall I bury with thee?' Then Sextus the philosopher who chanced to be present said: 'No small gift will you give your daughter if you control your grief for her.'" Pages 158-163. Philostratus and Eunapius: The Lives of the Sophists, Book II.1.557-558, pages 162-165. The Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXXII [1922].
Available via Google Books Read Free of Charge @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Philostratus_and_Eunapius/NeYNAQAAIAAJ
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/philostratuseuna00phil/page/158/mode/1up