Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia, was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. As such, she was subject to a series of politically motivated marriages arranged by her father to better insure he hold over the empire. Among her husbands were: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a prominent general and close friend of Augustus, and to him Julia bore five children, and; Tiberius, Augustus's step-son, adopted heir, and eventual successor. Probably in response to her status as a bartering token, Julia engaged in a series of adulterous affairs. Her actions grew so bold that her father had her arrested, and ultimately exiled in 2 BC. She was allowed to return after five years, but upon the death of her father, Tiberius had her confined to a single room in her house and cut off from all human contact. She is generally agreed to have died of malnutrition, but whether Tiberius starved her or she starved herself is unclear.
Publius Quinctilius Varus frequently thought about Julia the Elder after Augustus made him governor of Germany. He remembered her when he first took the assignment as a reminder of what Augustus was capable if he were displeased.[1] Later, he hoped that his wife, Claudia Pulchra, who was also Augustus' grand-niece, would keep any of her extra-marital affairs quiet; if Augustus penalized his daughter, he'd think nothing of punishing his more distant relative.[2] Finally, Varus remembered Julia again when he briefly considered altering the tax reports from Germany and embezzling an amount for himself. Again, Julia's fate stayed him.[3]
