Disrespect From Second Son Increased Herodes's Grief for His Daughters

Summary: Disrespect from second son Atticus Bradua escalated Herodes Atticus's grief for his daughters, whose deaths left Atticus as sole surviving offspring.

Two semicircular levels of niched statues in Nymphaeum of Olympia included portrayals of Herodes Atticus, Regilla, older daughter Elpinice, older son Atticus Bradua and, sharing a niche, younger daughter Athenais and younger son Regillus; Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, 21:05:02, image of Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus in Olympia, with reconstruction of two-story façade of Nymphaeum (top), marble bull offered by Regilla (center left), three-dimensional reconstruction of Nymphaeum (center right) and plan of Sanctuary of Olympia (bottom left): Elżbieta, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Vici.org

Disrespect from second son Atticus Bradua intensified Herodes Atticus's grief for his daughters, whose deaths, occurring within five years of their mother's murder and their youngest brother's infanticide, left Herodes Atticus's likely least favored child as the sole surviving offspring.

Herodes Atticus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρώδης ὁ Ἀττικός; Roman name: Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes; 101-177 CE), a wealthy Athenian Greek rhetorician with Roman citizenship, and his wealthy Roman patrician wife, Appia Annia Regilla (full name: Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla; 125-160 CE), known as Regilla, 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. Their first child, a son, Claudius, was born in 141 CE, according to Pomeroy. Claudius's birthdate was 141-143 CE, according to Welsh author, graphic artist and photographer David John in "Herodes Atticus Children" on his online travel guide, My Favourite Planet.

Their next two children were daughters. Their first daughter, 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, according to Pomeroy, and ca. 143 CE, according to David John. Their second daughter, 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, according to Pomeroy, and circa 145 CE, according to David John.

Herodes Atticus and Regilla's next three children were sons. Their second son, Tiberius Claudius Marcus Appius Atilius Bradua Regillus Atticus, known as Atticus Bradua, was born ca. 145 CE, according to Pomeroy, and ca. 152 CE, according to David John. (David John's date would change the birth order, making Atticus Bradua the third, not the second, son.) The couple's third son, Tiberius Claudius Herodes Lucius Vibullius Regillus, known as Regillus, was born ca. 150 CE, according to Pomeroy, and around 146 CE, according to David John. Herodes Atticus and Regilla's sixth and last child, their fourth son, was born in 160 CE.

Herodes Atticus was charged with murder by his brother-in-law, Appius Annius Atilius Bradua, known as Bradua, who was one of the year's two Roman consuls in 160 CE. Herodes Atticus was acquitted, with his extreme grief listed as a decisive factor in his defense, according to Roman Imperial period Greek sophist Philostratus (Ancient Greek: Φιλόστρατος Philostratos; ca. 170-245/250 CE) in Βίοι σοϕιστῶν ("The Lives of the Sophists"). The Roman Imperial period Greek sophist, who was born approximately seven years before Herodus Atticus's death, wrote his two-book biography between 230 and 238 CE, approximately 70 to 78 years after Regilla's murder.

The Greek rhetorician's expressions of extraordinary grief for his wife's murder diverged from his usual cultivation of the golden mean of moderation (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation of The Lives of the Sophists, 1922; Book II.557, pages 160-161). Yet, approximately 15 to 19 years earlier, he had succumbed to a similarly overwhelming grief with the death of his and Regilla's first child, Claudius (Pomeroy, page 37).

Circa 144-145 CE, approximately 16 years before he became the fifth of the Five Good Roman Emperors, Marcus Aurelius wrote to his tutor, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, requesting that he write a consolatory letter to Herodes Atticus, who was overwhelmed with grief over the death of his first son; Sunday, Sep. 6, 2009, 17:09, image of ca. 140 CE marble portrait of young Marcus Aurelius; Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums (Italian: Musei Capitolini), Capitoline Hill (Italian: Campidoglio; Latin: Mons Capitolinus), one of Seven Hills of Rome: Marie-Lan Nguyen (Jastrow), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

"The son of Herodes, born to-day, is dead. Herodes is overwhelmed with grief at his loss. I wish you would write him quite a short letter appropriate to the occasion," adoptive imperial prince Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (April 26, 121-March 17, 180 CE) wrote in a letter to his tutor of Greek, Marcus Cornelius Fronto (ca. 95-ca. 166 CE), dated 144-145 CE (C.R. Haines, translation of The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius, 1919, page 163).

In compliance with the imperial prince's request, Fronto's consolatory letter of ca. 144-145 CE reminded Herodes Atticus of the ease of acting with composure with respect to a "lesser . . . . evil . . . even if it befall unexpectedly" for an educated person. Additionally, an unreasonable overstep of the bounds preferably references pleasure, not pain.

"But you are not even too old to rear other children," Fronto continued. "Every loss is grievous if hope be cut off with it, but easier to bear if hope of repairing it be left. And he that does not avail himself of this hope is mean-spirited and his own enemy, much more than Fortune. For Fortune takes away the present reality, but he deprives himself of hope as well" (C.R. Haines, pages 168-169).

Third son Regillus's death either occurred ca. 155 CE, according to Pomeroy, or ca. 161 CE, according to David John. The earlier date would have allowed for a second instance of the couple's shared grief over their loss of another child. The later date, which would have taken place after Regilla's murder and the death of her fourth son, would have been experienced by Herodes Atticus as the only parent.

Philostratus did not consider the deaths of the first and third sons in his biography. He segued from Herodes Atticus's grief over Regilla's death to lessened grief, softened by Athenian honors, for second daughter Athenais in 161 CE. Yet, grief returned to overwhelm Herodes Atticus four years later with the death of his first daughter, Elpinice. Disappointment in Atticus Bradua exacerbated Herodes Atticus's grief over Elpinice's death, according to Philostratus.

"He mourned his daughters with this excessive grief because he was offended with his son Atticus. He had been misrepresented to him as foolish, bad at his letters, and of a dull memory. At any rate, when he could not master his alphabet, the idea occurred to Herodes to bring up with him twenty-four boys of the same age named after the letters of the alphabet, so that he would be obliged to learn his letters at the same time as the names of the boys. He saw too that he was a drunkard and given to senseless amours . . ., and hence in his lifetime he used to utter a prophecy over his own house, adapting a famous verse as follows: One fool methinks is still left in the wide house, and when he died he handed over to him his mother's estate, but transferred his own patrimony to other heirs" (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.558, pages 164-165).

Herodes Atticus's paraphrase of the passage ". . . but still, methinks, he lives and is kept on the wide deep . . ." (Odyssey, Book IV, verse 498) epitomized the fractured father-son relationship. The disconsolate father ". . . used to utter a prophecy over his own house, adapting a famous verse as follows: One fool methinks is still left in the wide house . . ."

Inheritance decisions emphasized the irreparable divide between Herodes Atticus and his least favored, and only surviving, offspring. When Herodes Atticus died, "he handed over to him his mother's estate, but transferred his own patrimony to other heirs" (Emily Wilmer Cave France Wright translation, 1922; Book II.558, pages 164-165).

Atticus Bradua's younger brother Regillus (full name: Tiberius Claudius Herodes Lucius Vibullius Regillus) lived into childhood but not adulthood, predeceasing his older brother by approximately 48 to 54 years: Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 12:04, statue of Regillus, 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: CCarole 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:

Two semicircular levels of niched statues in Nymphaeum of Olympia included portrayals of Herodes Atticus, Regilla, older daughter Elpinice, older son Atticus Bradua and, sharing a niche, younger daughter Athenais and younger son Regillus; Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, 21:05:02, image of Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus in Olympia, with reconstruction of two-story façade of Nymphaeum (top), marble bull offered by Regilla (center left), three-dimensional reconstruction of Nymphaeum (center right) and plan of Sanctuary of Olympia (bottom left): Elżbieta, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Vici.org @ https://vici.org/image.php?id=13909

Circa 144-145 CE, approximately 16 years before he became the fifth of the Five Good Roman Emperors, Marcus Aurelius wrote to his Latin tutor, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, requesting that he write a consolatory letter to Herodes Atticus, who was overwhelmed with grief over the death of his first son; Sunday, Sep. 6, 2009, 17:09, image of ca. 140 CE marble portrait of young Marcus Aurelius; Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums (Italian: Musei Capitolini), Capitoline Hill (Italian: Campidoglio; Latin: Mons Capitolinus), one of Seven Hills of Rome: Marie-Lan Nguyen (Jastrow), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Young_Marcus_Aurelius_Musei_Capitolini_MC279.jpg

Atticus Bradua's younger brother Regillus (full name: Tiberius Claudius Herodes Lucius Vibullius Regillus) lived into childhood but not adulthood, predeceasing his older brother by approximately 48 to 54 years: Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 12:04, statue of Regillus, 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_Regillus,_younger_son_of_Herodes_Atticus,_from_the_Nymphaeum_of_Herodes_Atticus_at_Olympia,_dating_from_between_149_and_153_AD_(posthumous),_Olympia_Archaeological_Museum,_Greece_(14027034963).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.
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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.
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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.
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Haines, C.R. (Charles Reginald), trans. The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto With Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and Various Friends. Edited and for the first time translated into English by C.R. Haines. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXIX [1919].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/correspondenceof01fronuoft/

Haines, C.R. (Charles Reginald), trans. "To Herodes From Fronto. ?144-145 A.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . But in lesser evils to act with composure is not difficult. For, indeed, in any case to resent any evil, even if it befall unexpectedly, is unseemly for a man who has tasted of education. But it is in joy that I should be more ready to overstep the bounds, for if we are to act unreasonably it is preferable to do so in reference to pleasure than to pain. But you are not even too old to rear other children. Every loss is grievous if hope be cut off with it, but easier to bear if hope of repairing it be left. And he that does not avail himself of this hope is mean-spirited and his own enemy, much more than Fortune. For Fortune takes away the present reality, but he deprives himself of hope as well. . . ." Pages 168-169. The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto With Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and Various Friends. Edited and for the first time translated into English by C.R. Haines. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXIX [1919].
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Haines, C.R. (Charles Reginald), trans. "144-145 A.D. M. Aurelius Caesar to Fronto his master sends greeting. . . . The son of Herodes, born to-day, is dead. Herodes is overwhelmed with grief at his loss. I wish you would write him quite a short letter appropriate to the occasion." Pages 162-163. The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto With Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and Various Friends. Edited and for the first time translated into English by C.R. Haines. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXIX [1919].
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Wright, [Emily] Wilmer Cave [France]. ". . . . He mourned his daughters with this excessive grief because he was offended with his son Atticus. He had been misrepreented to him as foolish, bad at his letters, and of a dull memory. At any rate, when he could not master his alphabet, the idea occurred to Herodes to bring up with him twenty-four boys of the same age named after the letters of the alphabet, so that he would be obliged to learn his letters at the same time as the names of the boys. He saw too that he was a drunkard and given to senseless amours, and hence in his lifetime he used to utter a prophecy over his own house, adapting a famous verse as follows: One fool methinks is still left in the wide house, and when he died he handed over to him his mother's estate, but transferred his own patrimony to other heirs. The Athenians, however, thought this inhuman, and they did not take into consideration his foster-sons Achilles, Polydeuces, and Memnon, and that he mourned them as though they have been his own children, since they were highly honourable youths, noble-minded and fond of study, a credit to their upbringing in his house. . . ." Pages 164-167. Philostratus and Eunapius: The Lives of the Sophists, Book II.1.558, pages 164-167. 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
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