Mark Antony - Marriages and Issue

Marriages and Issue

Antony had been married in succession to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia, Octavia and Cleopatra, and left behind him a number of children. Through his daughters by Octavia, he would be ancestor to the Roman Emperors Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

1. Marriage to Fadia, a daughter of a freedman. According to Cicero, Fadia bore Antony several children. Nothing is known about Fadia or their children. Cicero is the only Roman source that mentions Antony’s first wife.
2. Marriage to first paternal cousin Antonia Hybrida Minor. According to Plutarch, Antony threw her out of his house in Rome, because she slept with his friend, the tribune Publius Cornelius Dolabella. This occurred by 47 BC and Antony divorced her. By Antonia, he had a daughter:
   • Antonia, granddaughter of Gaius Antonius Hybrida, married the wealthy Greek Pythodoros of Tralles.
3. Marriage to Fulvia, by whom he had two sons:
   • Marcus Antonius Antyllus, murdered by Octavian in 30 BC.
   • Iullus Antonius, married Claudia Marcella Major, daughter of Octavia.
4. Marriage to Octavia the Younger, sister of Octavian, later Augustus; they had two daughters:
   • Antonia Major, married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC); maternal grandmother of the Empress Valeria Messalina and paternal grandmother of the Emperor Nero.
   • Antonia Minor, married Nero Claudius Drusus, the younger son of the Empress Livia Drusilla and brother of the Emperor Tiberius; mother of the Emperor Claudius, grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, and maternal great-grandmother of the emperor Nero.
5. Children with the Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the former lover of Julius Caesar:
   • The twins Alexander Helios & Cleopatra Selene II. Selene married King Juba II of Numidia and later Mauretania; the queen of Syria, Zenobia of Palmyra, is reportedly descended from Selene and Juba II.
   • Ptolemy Philadelphus.