ABSTRACT
We have met Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, several times before in this study, invariably as the model of Roman womanhood: the devoted wife and mother, who lived soberly despite her wealth and who put her excellent education at the service of her sons. Here we have a somewhat different account of her, no less laudatory, but showing that she lived in an almost regal style in her villa at the bay of Naples (a favourite place for the villas of wealthy Romans) and that she used her wide learning for other purposes than the upbringing of her children alone. In contrast with her much-praised sobriety her way of life at Misenum as described by Plutarch resembles that of a Hellenistic queen, living in a grand style, patronizing Greek scholars and dealing with Hellenistic kings on an equal footing.2 This unexpected side of her personality concerns us here. It seems that Cornelia had moved to her villa at the promontory of Misenum after the death of her son Tiberius, or perhaps even earlier, at a time when the first luxurious Roman villas appeared along the coast of Campania. In the course of time these great Campanian villas became famous for the civilized leisure and intellectual activities of their owners, and for their patronage of Greek scholars. Cornelia may have provided one of the first examples of this villa-based patronage in Campania and she herself is, as far as we know, the earliest example of a Roman woman who acted as a patroness of literature and learning.3
