The Divorce of Aemilius Paullus

Abstract The paper provides a discussion of the divorce of L. Aemilius Paullus (cos. 182, 168 BC) and the role it played in the unfolding of his career. It also sketches a broader treatment of his political trajectory before and after his second marriage and surveys the choices of Aemilius’ sons within the wider context of mid-second century BC politics, as well as the predicament of his first wife and the possible identity of the second one. Some points of wider import are drawn from the specific choices of a prominent individual about the significance of marriage choices to the understanding of Roman Republican politics, and notably on the role that marriages and divorces could have in forging or undoing valuable political connections across the nobility.