Antonia (daughter of Mark Antony)

Not to be confused with Antonia Major and Antonia Minor, Antony's daughters by his marriage to Octavia the Younger.

Antonia (50 BC-?) was a Roman noblewoman. She was the daughter and only child of Antonia Hybrida Minor and triumvir Mark Antony. Her parents were paternal first cousins. Her maternal grandparents were an unnamed Roman woman and politician Gaius Antonius Hybrida, while paternal grandparents were Julia Antonia (third cousin of dictator Julius Caesar) and praetor Marcus Antonius Creticus).

Antonia was the eldest known recorded child of Antony's. Some modern historians consider her to be the first child born to Antony. She was born and raised in Rome. By 47 BC, Antonia’s parents had divorced because her mother had slept with her father’s friend, the tribune Publius Cornelius Dolabella.

Antonia’s father had arranged for her to be betrothed in 44 BC, to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger, the son of triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. However, for an unknown reason the betrothal was later broken off. In later years, she appeared to have travelled with her father. In 36 BC, Antonia married Pythodoros of Tralles, who was an Anatolian Greek, who originated from Tralles (modern Aydın, Turkey). He was extremely wealthy and was a friend to the late triumvir Pompey. Pythodoros was about 20 years older than Antonia.

The reason why Antony married his daughter off to Pythodoros was to hopefully gain some of Pythodoros’ wealth for his war chest in his campaign to invade Parthia. This was a testament to Antony’s Eastern perspective, as at that time Antony was married to Ptolemaic Greek Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and was living with her at her palace in Alexandria, Egypt.

Antonia’s marriage to Pythodoros and her father’s motive for the marriage to occur horrified the Roman Senate, particularly Octavian. This was among one of the reasons that Octavian in 31 BC, declared war on her father and stepmother. In the following year, her father and stepmother committed suicide when Octavian defeated them and conquered Egypt.

Antonia and Pythodoros settled in Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey). Either in 30 BC or 29 BC, Antonia bore Pythodoros, a daughter and only child Pythodorida, who through her marriages became Queen of Pontus and Cappadocia. Pythodorida was born and raised in Smyrna. After that moment, nothing more is known about Antonia.

Ancestry

References

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• Dio 44.5.3, 46.38.52; App. BC 5.10.93.