After Fulvia’s Death

Abstract Two of Fulvia’s sons, Curio and Antyllus, died at Alexandria alongside Antonius and Cleopatra in 30 bce. Her other two sons flourished in reign of Augustus, as Octavian was then known. Claudius, almost an adult when his mother died, reached the praetorship. Iullus was just a toddler when Fulvia died. He became a close confidant of Augustus and was honored with a consulship in 10 bce. He committed suicide eight years later, after being accused of adultery with Augustus’s daughter. Fulvia’s nachleben in popular media (art, literature, and drama) is in keeping with her treatment by ancient sources: they focus on tales of her cruelty and greed, and they often allow her to be overshadowed by the more sexualized characters of her sister-in-law, Clodia, and her romantic successor, Cleopatra. Fulvia’s historical legacy is best seen in the precedents she set for the brazen women of Rome’s imperial house.