Arria the Elder

Roman noblewoman

• Born: c. 1 c.e.
• Birthplace: Unknown
• Died: 42 c.e.
• Place of death: Unknown

Arria the Elder exemplified wifely devotion in her support of her husband, who was executed for his participation in a plot to overthrow Emperor Claudius.

Early Life

Nothing is known about Arria (AHR-ree-uh) the Elder’s parents or childhood. At some point, either because of the way she was raised or because of her marriage to Aulus Caecina Paetus, she adopted a way of life consistent with Stoic philosophy, a life of restraint and respect for the political institutions of Rome, especially the senate. What is known of her comes from the writings of the statesman Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (better known as Pliny the Younger), the historian Cornelius Tacitus, and the most famous piece, an epigram by the poet Marcus Valerius Martialis (better known as Martial). Pliny the Younger states that the information he has about Arria the Elder came from her granddaughter Fannia, who presumably learned it from Arria the Younger, her mother and the daughter of Arria the Elder.

Life’s Work

Arria the Elder’s husband was a man who held office and achieved consular rank. Although little is known about his political career, more is known about Arria’s personal devotion to her husband and her children. Pliny the Younger recounts a story that reveals her ability to maintain control in Stoic fashion and her determination to look to the best interests of others: When her husband and son fell ill, she nursed them both. When her son died, she concealed his death from her ill husband, afraid that grief would carry him away as well. To Paetus’s questions about his son’s health, she offered responses that left him comforted and then left his presence to express her pain and give voice to her own grief. She managed to arrange and conduct her son’s funeral without arousing her husband’s suspicion. By keeping her son’s death a secret, she made sure her husband would recover. Pliny the Younger praises these actions: “Without the expectation of future recognition, without expectation of fame, what a greater act it was to hide her tears, to cover her grief and to act like a mother after her son had died.” Pliny’s comments reveal a clear admiration for the self-control and the selfless devotion displayed by Arria.

More famous were her actions as a participant in an attempted military uprising against the new Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 c.e.). Because the Roman senate appeared to have less and less authority, a number of men began to conspire to overthrow the emperor. Arria and her husband, therefore, traveled to Illyria (modern Albania) to support a revolt led by Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus. The two legions in Illyria under Scribonianus’s command refused to march on Rome, however, and turned on the leaders of the conspiracy, killing Scribonianus and capturing Paetus. When the soldiers loaded the prisoners on a ship to take them to Rome for trial, Arria begged to be allowed to go, if only as a slave, to take care of her husband. The soldiers refused, so Arria followed the ship in a small boat that she hired to carry her to Rome. Once there, she went to the Imperial palace to be with her husband. In the palace, she met Vibia, the wife of Scribonianus, who had just offered testimony against the conspirators. When Vibia tried to approach her, Arria turned her back, declaring, “Shall I listen to you who are still alive after Scribonianus died in your embrace?” Although Arria was also reputed to be a friend of Valeria Messallina, the wife of the Emperor Claudius, there is no hint that she sought Messallina’s help in her husband’s defense or that this friendship interfered in her determination to support her husband in his fight against the emperor.

When it became clear that Paetus would be convicted and executed, Arria let it be known to her family that she would die with her husband. Her daughter’s husband, Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus, urged her to change her mind, asking if she would want her daughter to kill herself if he should likewise be convicted of a crime. Arria responded, “If she will have lived as long and as happily with you as I have with Paetus, I do wish it.” In response, her family began watching her, hoping to prevent her from doing herself harm. Once she realized what they were doing, she declared that there was no way they could stop her; they could only make things worse. To prove her point, she began beating her head against the wall until she knocked herself unconscious. When she awoke, she told her family, “I had told you that I would find some harsh path to death if you would deny me the easy way.” Soon afterward, Arria stood by her husband’s side when the time came for them to die. When he seemed to hesitate, Arria seized the sword, plunged it into her own breast, drew the blade out and handed it to her husband. The poet Martial records the scene: “When chaste Arria handed to Paetus the sword she had drawn from her own breast, she said, ‘If you believe me, the wound I made does not hurt, but the one you are going to make, that one, Paetus, hurts me.’”

Significance

In the time of the Roman Empire, many men and women were condemned for real or imagined plots against the emperors. Among these, the stories of Arria the Elder and her daughter, Arria the Younger, gained the attention of historians, politicians, and poets for their devotion to their husbands and to the principles of Stoicism that shaped their political beliefs and actions. The stories of this mother and daughter demonstrate the roles that women played in establishing political and philosophical networks among aristocratic families during the early Roman Empire.

Bibliography

Lefkowitz, Mary R., and Maureen B. Fant. Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation. 2d ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. This work offers some of the documentary evidence, namely the letters of Pliny the Younger. Includes bibliography and index.

Lightman, Marjorie, and Benjamin Lightman. Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Greek and Roman Women. New York: Checkmark Books, 2000. This work gives details on the lives of a vast number of Greek and Roman women, including Arria the Elder, Arria the Younger, and Fannia. Includes bibliography and index.

Suetonius. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Translated by Robert Graves. New York: Welcome Rain, 2001. Suetonius’s accounts of the lives of Vespasian and Domitian include information about the times in which Arria the Elder and Arria the Younger lived.

Tacitus, Cornelius. Complete Works of Tacitus. Edited by Moses Hadas and translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb. New York: Random House, 1942. Tacitus’s historical works cover the periods during which Arria the Elder and Arria the Younger lived.

Treggiari, Susan. Roman Marriage: Iusti Coniuges from the Time of Cicero to the Time of Ulpian. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Treggiari explores the nature of marriage and the partnership between men and women like Arria the Elder and Thrasea. Includes bibliography and index.