Calpurnia Pisonis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Calpurnia Pisonis (1st century BC), daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, was a Roman woman, third and last wife of Julius Caesar. She was sister of Lucius Calpurnius Piso "the Pontifex". They married in 59 BC with no children resulting from the union. According to sources^[1] Calpurnia had a premonition of her husband's murder and tried to warn him in vain. In Shakespeare's play, Calpurnia has a dream that a statue of Caesar was flowing with blood as many Romans wash their hands in the blood. She also saw in her dream that Julius Caesar would die in her arms. She also encouraged Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus to send word to the senate that Caesar was sick on the day of his death, but Caesar refused to lie. Following Caesar's death on the Ides of March (March 15) of 44 BC, Calpurnia delivered all Caesar's personal papers, including will and notes, and most precious possessions to Mark Antony, one of the new leaders of Rome. She never re-married after the death of Caesar.

According to the play, Calpurnia wasn't able to bear children to Caesar. Due to this, Caesar has her perform in the Rite of Lupercal to remove her sterility.

A version of Calpurnia was portrayed by Haydn Gwynne in HBO's series Rome. She was also been portrayed by British actress Joan Sims in Carry on Cleo

[edit] References

1. ^ Vita Caesaris, chapters 19–24, recounts Caesar's assassination; extracts are quoted in The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC. EyeWitness to History. Retrieved on 9 November 2005.. For an assessment of Nicolaus and his sources see Sihler, E.G. Annals of Caesar: A Critical Biography with a Survey of the Sources (New York : G. E. Stechert, 1911), pp. 293–4