Antonia Major

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Template:Julio-Claudian dynasty Julia Antonia Cretica Major or Antonia Major (Latin for “the elder”) (b. August/September 39BC). Antonia Major was a daughter to Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and niece to her mother’s youngest brother Rome’s first Emperor Caesar Augustus.

She was born in Athens, Greece and after 36BC her mother, along with her siblings and herself were brought to Rome. She was raised by her mother, her uncle and her aunt Livia Drusilla.

Little is known of her, yet she was held in high regard, just like her sister Antonia Minor (mother of the Roman Emperor Claudius) who was celebrated for her beauty and virtue.

Around 26/25BC, Antonia married the consul Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Their children were:

Domitia Lepida Major - She married the senator Decimus Haterius Agrippa and later Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus.
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus - The consul married his second cousin Agrippina the Younger and becoming parents to Roman Emperor Nero.
Domitia Lepida - She married her cousin Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus. Their daughter Valeria Messalina would become an Empress.

On the Ara Pacis (an altar from the Augustan Era), displays Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and his elder sister Domitia Lepida Major. The woman behind Domitia and Domitius is their mother Antonia Major and the man next to Antonia Major is her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. This can be seen at .