Galeria Fundana

Galeria Fundana from Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

Galeria Fundana (c. 40 – aft. 69) was a Roman empress of the 1st century CE, the second wife of Roman emperor Vitellius.

Life

Suetonius tells us that Galeria was the daughter of an ex-praetor, and bore two children during her marriage, a son and a daughter.[1][2] Gwyn Morgan adds that she was related to Publius Galerius Trachalus, "Otho's alleged speechwriter".[3]

Tacitus, who writes unfavourably about Vitellius, claims that Galeria was a woman of "exemplary virtue" who "took no part in [Vitellius's] horrors."[4]

Her son Vitellius, renamed Germanicus by his father in 69, was killed after supporters of Vespasian took control of Rome, together with Vitellius himself. Galeria's life was spared and she was allowed to bury her husband. Her daughter, Vitellia was helped by a generous Vespasian to make a good marriage.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Life of Vitellius chapter 6
  2. ↑ Vitellius, livius.org.
  3. ↑ Morgan, 69 A.D., the Year of Four Emperors (Oxford: University Press, 2006), p. 77
  4. ↑ Tacitus, Histories, II.64
  5. ↑ John Xiphilinus, Epitome Historiarum Dionis Cassii, 201-202
Royal titles
Preceded by
Statilia Messalina		 Empress of Rome
69		 Succeeded by
Domitia Longina
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.