Antonia

Antonia, younger daughter of Mark Anrony and Octavia, sister of Augustus, was born 31st January 36 BC. At the age of twenty she was married to Nero Claudius Drusus, younger brother of Tiberius, by whom she had two sons, Germanicus and the future emperor Claudius, and a daughter, Livilla. Tragically widowed in 9 BC Antonia refused to marry again and devoted the remainder of her long life to the interests of her family. Her wealth and important connections made her influential during the reign of her brother-in-law, Tiberius, and it was she who brought about the downfall of Sejanus by revealing to the emperor the true nature of the praetorian prefect's treacherous activities. On the accession of her grandson Caligula in 37 A.D., Antonia initially received many honours, but the unstable young emperor soon tired of her criticisms. She died later the same year at the age of seventy-three, reputedly by her own hand, though there is no firm evidence to support the tradition that Caligula was responsible for her death. However, she did not receive posthumous honours until after the accession of her son Claudius in 41 A.D. As in the case of her husband, who had died forty-six years before, all of the coinage in Antonia 's name was issued early in the reign of Claudius.