Clodia (Metelli)

Reading notes

• Ad Atticum 2.1 §5 But my sister, who has so much consular space, gives me only one foot of room.

  Clodius's "sister" is Clodia, wife of the consular Metellus Celer; the joke turns on rumors of incest between them. Cicero's reply ("you are permitted to lift the other one too") is a coarse retort he admits is beneath a consular.

• Ad Atticum 2.1 §5 I detest that woman, the wretched consular's wife

  The "consular's wife" is Clodia, married to Q. Metellus Celer (cos. 60); Cicero's enmity with her and her brother Clodius runs through the correspondence. She is the probable "Lesbia" of Catullus and the defendant's accuser in the Pro Caelio.

• Ad Atticum 2.9 §1 the ox-eyed lady

  Clodia Metelli, sister of P. Clodius and wife of Metellus Celer. Cicero's recurring nickname for her, boopis ("ox-eyed"), is Homer's standing epithet for Hera --- imputing both Hera's regal beauty and her notorious incest with her brother (here, Clodius).

• Ad Atticum 2.12 §2 of the cymbals of the ox-eyed lady \textit{[Greek: bo\=opidos]}

  Boopis ("ox-eyed," Homer's epithet of Hera) is Cicero's nickname for Clodia Metelli, Clodius's sister. "Cymbals" evokes the orgiastic clatter of the Magna Mater cult, casting Clodia as the noisy ringleader of her brother's faction.

• Ad Atticum 2.14 §1 the ox-eyed lady

  Greek boopis ("ox-eyed"), Homer's standing epithet for Hera, here applied mockingly to Clodia, sister of P. Clodius and wife of Metellus Celer. The nickname plays on her reputed incest with her brother, as Hera was both sister and wife of Zeus.

• Ad Atticum 2.22 §5 through Ox-Eyed Hera

  A code-name (boopis, Homer's epithet for the goddess Hera) for Clodia, the notorious sister of Clodius and wife of Metellus Celer. Cicero suggests Atticus could learn the conspirators' real intentions through her.

• Ad Atticum 12.41 §2 then Clodia's

  The horti Clodiani belonged to Clodia, the notorious sister of P. Clodius Pulcher (the "Lesbia" of Catullus and Cicero's target in the Pro Caelio). By 45 BC she is simply a wealthy garden-owner whose riverside property Cicero would consider for the shrine.

• Ad Atticum 12.42 §1 Still you wrote something or other about Clodia

  Clodia owned one of the riverside gardens Cicero was weighing as the site for Tullia's shrine. He presses Atticus for news of her whereabouts because the sale could only proceed once she was available to deal.

• Ad Atticum 12.42 §2 But I do not think this one will sell (she is taken with the place, and well off)

  Cicero doubts Clodia will part with her gardens, since she enjoys them and has no need of money; the "other business" he calls hard is the rival deal involving Otho and the Scapula gardens. The remark shows the shrine-hunt stalling on every front.

• Ad Atticum 12.43 §2 The next best is, I should like Clodia's

  "Clodia's" means the horti Clodiani, the suburban pleasure-gardens of Clodia, sister of P. Clodius Pulcher (the "Lesbia" of Catullus and target of Cicero's Pro Caelio). It was one of several Tiber-side properties Cicero weighed as the site for Tullia's shrine.

• Ad Atticum 12.52 §2 you seem to be in some hesitation about Clodia

  Clodia, the notorious sister of P. Clodius Pulcher and the 'Lesbia' of Catullus, owned riverside gardens Cicero coveted. The doubt was whether she was willing to sell and when she would be in town to negotiate.

• Ad Atticum 13.26 §1 Clodia's the next

  Clodia, owner of gardens that were Cicero's fallback choice if the Vergilius share fell through. The fanum project drove this anxious comparison of properties.

• For Marcus Caelius §1 courtesan

  The unnamed Clodia, sister of P. Clodius and widow of Q. Metellus Celer; the prime mover behind the prosecution. Cicero never names her in this opening, only the surrounding men, building to the great prosopopoeia of her ancestor Appius Claudius Caecus at section 33.