Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus - Family Life and Descendants

Family Life and Descendants

His father Lucius Aemilius Paullus died in battle in 216 BC in the Battle of Cannae, when Aemilius Paullus was still a boy. The Aemilii Paulli were connected by marriage and political interests to the Scipios, but their role in his subsequent upbringing is not clear.

He had been married first to Papiria Masonis (or Papiria Masonia), daughter of the consul Gaius Papirius Maso (consul in 231 BC), whom he divorced, according to Plutarch, for no particular reason. From this marriage, four children were born: two sons and two daughters, the elder Aemilia Paulla Prima apparently married to the son of Marcus Porcius Cato, and the younger Aemilia Paulla Secunda to Aelius Tubero, a rich man of a plebeian family. He divorced his wife while his younger son was still a baby, according to Roman historians; thus the divorce probably took place around 183 BC-182 BC. Nevertheless, he was elected consul in 182 BC.

Paullus Macedonicus then married a second time (this wife's name is unknown) and had two more sons, the elder born around 181 BC and the younger born around 176 BC. He also apparently had another daughter (Aemilia Tertia), who was a small girl when her father was chosen consul for the second time.

Since four boys were too many for a father to support through the cursus honorum, Paullus decided to give the oldest two boys up for adoption, probably between 175 BC and 170 BC. The elder was taken by a Quintus Fabius Maximus and became Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, thus joining his fortunes to the house of a national hero. The younger, possibly named Lucius, was adopted by his own cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio, elder son and heir of Scipio Africanus, and became Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, thus falling heir to the legacy of Rome's most influential political dynasty.

With the eldest sons safely adopted by two of the most powerful patrician houses, Paullus Macedonicus counted on the two younger ones to continue his own name. This was not to happen. Both of them died young, one shortly after the other, at the same time that Paullus celebrated his triumph. The elder of the two remaining sons was 14 and the younger 9, according to Polybius. Their names are unknown to us. The successes of his political and military career were thus not accompanied by a happy family life.

At his death, his sons Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus and Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus received his property by his will, even though they were legally no longer Aemilii Paulli; Scipio gave his share to his older brother who was less wealthy. Paullus's second wife (whose name is unknown to us) received her dowry back from the sale of some of her late husband's property. (Livy and Polybius both claim that Paullus died relatively poor, and that he had kept little for himself from the successful Macedonian campaign). His married daughters had presumably received dowries from their father; Aemilia Paulla Prima is known to have married in or around 164 BC.

With the death of Macedonicus, the Aemilii Paulli became extinct, even though he had two living sons. His elder surviving son Fabius Aemilianus eventually became consul and fathered at least one son, who in turn became consul as Fabius Allobrigicus in 121 BC. This man, in turn, may have been the ancestor of later Fabii who tied their fortunes to Julius Caesar and Augustus. The younger surviving son was more famous as Scipio Aemilianus but died leaving no known issue. Of the daughters, the elder was ancestor of at least two consuls of no particular distinction. The younger was mother of a consul Quintus Aelius Tubero.

His first and former wife Papiria Masonia survived her ex-husband and lived to enjoy her former sister-in-law's property presented to her by her younger son (per Polybius). At her death, her property was divided between her sons, but Scipio gave it to his sisters.