Annia Aurelia Fadilla, most commonly known as Fadilla (159 – after 211)[1] was one of the daughters born to Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina the Younger. She was a sister to Lucilla and Commodus. Fadilla was named in honor of her late maternal aunt Aurelia Fadilla. The cognomen Fadilla, was the cognomen of the mother and a half-sister of Antoninus Pius. Her maternal grandparents were Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder and her paternal grandparents were Domitia Lucilla and praetor Marcus Annius Verus.

Fadilla
Bornc. 159
Rome, Italy
Diedafter 211
SpouseMarcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus
DynastyNerva–Antonine
FatherMarcus Aurelius
MotherFaustina the Younger

Life

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Fadilla was born and raised in Rome. During the reign of her father, she married Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus,[2] a Roman senator who later served twice as consul and as Augur, and who was a nephew of Roman emperor Lucius Verus (who had co-ruled with her father from 161–169 and through adoption was her uncle).[3] The mother of Plautius Quintillus was Ceionia Fabia, sister of Lucius Verus. Fadilla bore Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus two children: a son, (Plautius) Quintillus, and a daughter, Plautia Servilla.

When her father died in 180, her remaining brother Commodus succeeded him as Roman emperor. During Commodus' reign, Fadilla and her family lived in a private palace on Capitoline Hill in Rome which was later bestowed by the later Roman emperor Elagabalus (218–222) as one of his mother's favorite residences. Her husband became one of Commodus' main advisers.

According to Herodian (History of the Roman Empire 1.13.1), Fadilla warned Commodus about Marcus Aurelius Cleander, a Praetorian prefect, who was becoming too powerful. With the help from one of her sisters, she uncovered and revealed a palace conspiracy aimed at the removal of Commodus in 189.[4][5]

Nerva–Antonine family tree

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References

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  1. ^ Jona Lendering. "Fadilla". Livius.org. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  2. ^ Ackeren, Marcel van (2012-04-02). A Companion to Marcus Aurelius. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-21984-3.
  3. ^ Jarvis, Paul (January 2022). "Pertinax and Plots in the Historia Augusta: A Dismissal in 170 and Two Conspiracies in 193 CE". Antichthon. 56: 180–202. doi:10.1017/ann.2022.6. ISSN 0066-4774.
  4. ^ Scott, Andrew G. (2018-04-24). "Conspiracy as Plot Type in Herodian's Roman History". Mnemosyne. 71 (3): 434–459. doi:10.1163/1568525X-12342325. ISSN 0026-7074.
  5. ^ Motta, Daniela (2021-11-25), "The demos in Herodian", Herodian's World, Brill, pp. 173–201, ISBN 978-90-04-50045-7, retrieved 2024-02-02

Sources

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