Triaria Explained

thumb| In On Famous WomenTriaria (1st-century) was a Roman woman, the second wife of Lucius Vitellius the Younger (the brother of emperor Aulus Vitellius).

She is mentioned on the funeral monument of her favourite slavewoman, Tyrannis, in Tibur:^[1]

According to Tacitus, when former praetor Marcus Plancius Varus implied treasonable behaviour by Dolabella, she terrified the City Prefect, Titus Flavius Sabinus, warning him not to seek a reputation for clemency by endangering the Emperor.^{[2] [3]}

She was accused of wearing a soldier's sword and behaving with insolent cruelty after the capture of the town of Tarracina.^[4]

In On Famous Women, Boccaccio praised Triaria for her bravery. ^{[5] [6] [7]} An early French manuscript of this work^[8] contains a plate f. 63v (captioned "Miniature showing a bloody slaughter inside a walled city, with Triaria prominent among the wounded warriors.") which may refer to the sack of Tarracina.Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies (early 15th century) discusses Triaria as well.

See also

• Triaria gens

Notes

1. CIL XIV, 3661.
2. Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome, Richard A Bauman, Routledge, 2005,, p86
3. The Histories, Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Oxford University Press, 2001,, p94.
4. ibid p164.
5. De claris mulieribus, Giovanni Boccaccio, trans. as Famous Women by Virginia Brown, Harvard University Press, 2001,, Ch 94.
6. De las mujeres illustres en romance, Johan Boccaccio, Zaragoza, Paulo Hurus, Alemán de Constancia, 1494.
7. [Talk:Triaria|Original Boccaccio text (in Latin)]
8. Web site: (text) Miniature showing a bloody slaughter inside a walled city, with Triaria prominent among the wounded warriors., (1450). Digital Collections, The New York Public Library . March 11, 2024 . The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.

External links

• De memorailibus et claris mulieribus: aliquot diversorum scriptorum opera, Ravisius, Johannes (Ed.)
• Boccaccio on Triaria (in Spanish)

Primary sources

• Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Historiae ii.63, iii.76-77
• Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale, 2000