Quintus Lutatius Catulus - Marriage and Descendants

Marriage and Descendants

Three wives are attested for Catulus;

1. Domitia of the Ahenobarbi, who was mother of his homonymous son Quintus Lutatius Catulus (consul 78, censor 65 BC).
2. Servilia of the Caepiones, who was mother of his daughter Lutatia Q. Hortensi, the wife of the great orator Q. Hortensius Hortalus (consul 69).
3. Claudia, of uncertain family but probably of the Marian aligned branch of Claudi Marcelli. This was probably Catulus' longest marriage (c.103-87 BC) if, as seems likely, he wed her to secure Marian support for his election as a consul, which he only belatedly achieved at the comitia in 103 for 102 BC. However, she is only attested as his wife at the time of his death at the end of 87 BC. There is no record of any children by this match.

An approximate chronology of the marital affairs of Catulus is as follows;
c.126 married Domitia
125/4 birth of Catulus Capitolinus
c.111 death or divorce of Domitia
c.109 praetor this year, married Servilia
She was probably eldest daughter (b.c.124) of his coeval, and colleague as praetor, Q. Servilius Caepio (cos. 106). The latter's apparently promiscuous daughters (plural) were harshly abused as whores by Timagenes of Alexandreia.
c.108 birth of Lutatia (mother of Hortensia oratrix and Q. Hortensius the poet and Caesarian)
105 Arausio disaster and disgrace and imprisonment of Q. Caepio
104 Caepio escaped into exile and Catulus discarded his daughter Servilia
103 Catulus married Claudia (probably of the Marcelli, daughter of Marius' friend and legate M. Marcellus pr.c.105) and finally elected cos. for 102 after three previous defeats. About the same year the discarded Servilia was married by M. Livius Drusus (tr.pl. 91; c.127-91 BC) and Caepio filius (q.urb. 100; c.127-90 BC) wed Livia the sister of his close friend Drusus.