Cossutia

Cossutia from Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

Cossutia was a woman from a modest Roman family who became engaged to Julius Caesar prior to his assuming the toga of manhood. Cossutia appealed to Caesar because of her wealth,^[1] although the Cossuti were not even novi homines.^[2] She was recommended to Caesar by his father and it is believed that the future dictator of Rome married Cossutia after he began wearing the toga virilis.^[3]

Scholarly disagreement

Modern sources differ, some maintaining that Caesar was never married to this woman. Among these include Ludwig Friedrich Otto Baumgarten-Crusius, Napoleon III, Merrivale, James Anthony Froude, Dodge, Warde Fowler, Ernest Gottlieb Sihler, von Mess, and John Carew Rolfe.^[3] The French author, Bouillet, lists Cossutia first, then Cornelia Cinna minor, Pompeia, and Calpurnia, as wives of Julius Caesar. Plutarch largely ignores Cossutia,^[4] but names her as one of Caesar's wives.^[5]

No children were produced from this marriage. In 84 B.C., after his father's death, Caesar divorced Cossutia and made a more pragmatic marriage to Cornelia Cinna minor.^[1]

Cossutia perhaps died in Pisa, Italy in 84 B.C.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Women of Caesar's Family, The Classical Journal, Volume 13, 1918, pp. 502-506.
2. ^ Betrothed Whom Caesar Rejected, Frederick Stanley Dunn, University of Oregon extension monitor, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1913, pp. 1-4.
3. ^ ^{a b} Discussions Caesar's First Wife, Classical Philology, Volume 12, 1917, pg. 93.
4. ^ ^{a b} American Notes and Queries, Volume 1, 1888, pg. 20.
5. ^ Caesar:Life of a Colossus, Adrian Goldsworthy, Yale University Press, 2008, pg. 49.