Caecilia Metella Balearica (priestess)

Caecilia Metella, (fl. 1st century BC), elder daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus, was a Vestal Virgin and a Priestess of the Goddess Juno Sospita.
During Sulla's lifetime, Metella was the protectress of one Sextus Roscius, defended by Cicero and her nephews Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior in the celebrated defense Pro Roscius. This case made Cicero's reputation, and enabled him to climb to the consulate.
Her date of death is not known, but she appears to have outlived Sulla, who died in 78 BC. Among her sister's six children were the notably iconoclastic Clodia and the patrician-turned-demagogue Publius Clodius.
 
< Prev   Next >