Talk:Clodia (wife of Metellus)

Untitled
The identification of Catullus' Lesbia with Clodia is not universally accepted. In particular, there are several major chronology issues, a few inconsistencies with Catullus' poetry, and several other candidates (for instance any of her 3 sisters?). When there were a million people in Rome at the time, and it can not be conclusively shown that Lesbia is indeed from the upper class, some people think the probability is too low. Kenneth Charles 00:00, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)

In fact Suzanne Dixon, Reading Roman Women (London: Duckworth, 2001), pp. 133-156 has fairly convincingly demolished the Lesbia / Clodia identification; has there been a defense of the identification since? Frippo 17:28, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article on Mark Anthony states that he gave his step-daughter, Clodia, in marriage to cement his alliance with Octavian. The article on Octavian does not mention this marriage, though it is confirmed in Suetonius' life of Augustus. The article on Clodia does not report her marriage to Octavian - which while not of long duration, is certainly worth mentioning given the parties involved.

I am wondering whether the Clodia in the eponymous article and the Clodia referred to from mark Anthony's article are one in the same?

Aristotelle 13 October, 2005

It seems like it is like this: in the Mark Antony article, Clodia is refererred to as "Antony's step-daughter". At the time of the marriage between Clodia and Octavius (43BC), Mark Antony was married to Fulvia, why had indeed been married to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Clodia's father (according to the Fulvia article), until he died in 53BC. The confusion seems to come from the fact that Publius's sister was also called Clodia; this is the Clodia that the Clodia article refers to, and the Clodia that Catullus wrote about in his poems. I'll try to clearify this in the Clodia article. Baszoetekouw 16:38, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Tercia or Tertia? &mdash;Tamfang 01:54, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Second marriage?
Actually, I believe Lucullus was married to Clodia's youngest sister Clodia, not the Clodia of Caelius and probably Catullus. It's an easy mistake to make, since they were both Clodias.

Thomas Fleming says "Clodius... was accused of having affairs with his sisters Clodia, both with the wife of Lucullus and with the more notorious Clodia, former wife of Metellus" (http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/cgi-bin/booklog.cgi/Thomas_Fleming.Cicero_I.html?seemore=y)

My Latin professor had a book that talked about it too, but I don't own a copy of it. I think it was Catullus and His World, by T.P. Wiseman, which is a fairly authoritative source.

Plutarch is pretty vague about which Clodia it actually was that Lucullus divorced. He calls her dissolute and wicked, but that doesn't necessarily mean the most famous Clodia.


 * I disagree. Plutarch explicitly says that Lucullus' wife was the youngest of the sisters, see. Cicero's Life 29.4. 212.87.13.78 (talk) 13:26, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Again, it's an easy mistake to make. I just wanted to point this out. I got tripped up on my Latin final exam by this, so I figured I should let someone know it's incorrect.

Name change
Weren't Clodia and her brother born into the Claudius family but chose to change their name to distance themselves from the social snobbery of old families? I heard this from a Latin teacher but can think of no references to printed work. Storeye 11:11, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Affair with Cicero?
Where in the world did the part about Cicero having an affair with Clodia come from, or that this lay behind the divorce with Terentia? This isn't sourced, and reeks of pure and amateurish speculation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.163.254.212 (talk) 03:28, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps two pages: Clodia Metelli and Clodia Luculli?
Also one for the wife of Marcius Rex? 41.241.48.74 (talk) 14:11, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Claudia Pulchra article
This is copied from the discussion page there, concerning the Relatives of Publius Clodius section:

I'm pretty sure this isn't correct. The sisters of Clodius are given as between three and five. He was the youngest of the family except the sister who married Lucullus, I think. And only Clodia Luculli and Clodia Metelli (the second and elder of whom is generally given as Catullus's Lesbia, although others have argued that Lesbia was Clodia Luculli or someone else entirely) were his full sisters, the other siblings coming from another marriage of the father's. One of the other sisters married Quintus Marcius Rex. At least both his full-sisters changed their names (again, I think. If I were sure I'd change it). And weren't they all called Pulchra? I've seen Clodia Metelli's childhood name given as Claudia Pulchra Tercia; Claudia Pulchra Tertia; and Claudia Pulchra Tertulla. 41.241.3.105 (talk) 20:39, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Skinner's book
Marilyn Skinner has just published Clodia Metelli: The Tribune's Sister (Oxford University Press, 2011). Cynwolfe (talk) 11:29, 27 September 2011 (UTC) Two books in which Clodia is the central character were written by Canadian author William G. Hardy during the 1950's, basically pivoting around Clodia's relationships with Catiline and Catullus but also piecing most of the characters and political manoevering of the times into a very enjoyable read. They were titled 'The City of Libertines' and 'Turn Back The River.' Hardy wrote several other books covering characters of that period.-Nabi — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.122.174.10 (talk) 01:41, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Latin and grammar
When writing in Latin, there is no punctuation. A sentence is typically shown to have ended by placing the verb at the end. Since the quotes that are in Latin are followed by the English translation, there is no need for punctuation marks in the Latin. I assume this was done in error, or as a nicety for neophytes of Latin. However, this is not necessary since there is a translation. Please change this.


 * I disagree, punctuation is common when writing in Latin. Just inspect any edition of any of the ancient authors. 212.87.13.78 (talk) 12:32, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Quadrantaria
There is no explanation of the meaning of Clodia's nickname, Quadrantaria, nor why or how she acquired it. If anybody happens to know, could they please add some explanatory words? I'm happy to do so myself, but I'd have to do some research and I'm very busy with work right now. Thanks. Mpaniello (talk) 21:56, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

Pro Caelio quote length?
In the Controversy section, there appears a lengthy quotation from the Pro Caelio. It doesn't seem to add anything to the article, since many of the major points are addressed elsewhere in the section. This quotation seems out of place in the article as a whole. Thoughts? Justanincrediblypreciousflower (talk) 18:57, 15 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The quote doesn’t seem too long to me. It is useful in that it gives a flavour of the kind of thing which was said about her in the trial. Sweet6970 (talk) 13:15, 17 March 2024 (UTC)