PLINY THE YOUNGER AND HISPULLA CALPURNIA
ELISABETH NOGUEROL
Calpurnia's aunt and Calpurnia was married with Pliny), was the wife of
Corellius Rufus. If it is not, is there really a link with Hispulla, whom
Anne-Marie Guillemin '(Trad. Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 1992, cf Index of
Personns) considered like the wife of Corellius ? Was Hispulla Calpurnia
married ? Who knows something about her ? I thank everybody and I hope to
receive answers. Amitiés. Elisabeth Noguerol.
decimus...@my-deja.com
Just returning from 2 weeks overseas so sorry for the late response.
Congratulations on raising a really interesting question for anyone
interested in silver latin and Pliny the younger. The short answer is
that none of the great classical scholars were sure and tended to shy
away from committing themselves directly. I suspect that Anne-Marie
Guillemin has simply reflected this controversy.
After some investigation of the texts, I think we are able to piece
together the following.
1. Pliny was married either once or twice before marrying Calpurnia.
This is based on Mommsen's conclusion that "Pompeia Celerina" (who
Pliny refers to as his "socrus" in Bk.I.4) could not have been the
mother of Calpurnia.... so must be the mother of another former wife.
2. Calpurnia Hispulla was the daughter of Calpurnius Fabatus and the
aunt of Calpurnia (Pliny's last wife). We know that Calpurnia (Pliny's
wife) had actually been brought up by her aunt (Calpurnia Hispulla) and
not by her biological parents. From social practises, it is probably
that Calpurnia's parents were already dead.
3. We know from Pliny's letters that on his deathbed Corellius
commended both his sister (Corellia) and daughter to Pliny as someone
they could rely on for assistance after his death.
4. Bk.1.12 covers an account of Corellius' suicide from self-imposed
abstinence from food. Within this letter there is found the
following....
Iam dies alter tertius quartus : abstinebat cibo. Misit ad me uxor
eius Hispulla communem amicum C. Geminium cum tristissimo nuntio,
destinasse Corellium mori nec aut suis aut filiae precibus flecti,
solum superesse me, a quo revocari posset ad vitam. Cucurri :
perveneram in proximum, cum mihi ab eadem Hispulla Iulius Atticus
nuntiat nihil iam ne me quidem inpetraturum, tam obstinate magis ac
magis induruisse.
From this it is quite clear that Corellius Rufus' wife was called
"Hispulla."
5. The controversy rests on whether the "Hispulla" who was Corellius'
wife was the same "Calpurnia Hispulla" above or simply another lady who
had the name "Hispulla." Nobody seems to have found sufficient
evidence to make a definite judgment.
For example....the "Pritchard & Bernard" edition of 1921 (which draws
heavily on Mommsen) has the following note against the above:
"Hispulla".... possibly Calpurnia Hispulla, aunt of Pliny's wife
Calpurnia.... in which case there would have been a (family) connection
as well as a close friendship between Pliny and the house of Corellius.
Summarizing.... classical scholarship was just as confused as you as to
whether she was his wife or not!
Hope this helps - and thanks again for raising an interesting point.
Best regards, DJ
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