Hortensia Q. f.

Hortensia Q. Hortensii Hortali filia fuit, qui consul anno LXIX fuerat et ante Ciceronem princeps patronorum Romae, memoria, numeris, luxu insignis. De vita eius praeter unum diem anni XLII a.C.n. nihil certi scimus, quo apud triumviros Octavianum, Antonium, Lepidum in foro dixit. Pater, anno L mortuus, in eloquentia filiae revixisse dicebatur.

Hortensia was the daughter of Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, consul in 69 B.C. and the leading advocate of Rome before Cicero, famous for his memory, his rhythmical style and his luxury. Nothing certain is known of her own life apart from one day in 42 B.C., when she spoke in the Forum before the triumvirs Octavian, Antony and Lepidus. Her father, who had died in 50 B.C., was said to have lived again in her eloquence.

Eo anno triumviri, pecuniae ad bellum contra Brutum et Cassium indigentes, MCCCC ditissimas matronas bona sua aestimare et tributum pendere iusserunt. Matronae propinquas triumvirorum adierunt et, a Fulvia repulsae, in forum venerunt. Cum nemo virorum causam earum agere auderet, Hortensia egit. Ut Appianus narrat, quaesivit cur feminae tributa penderent, quae nec honorum nec imperiorum nec rei publicae, de quibus viri inter se certarent, participes essent.

That year the triumvirs, short of money for the war against Brutus and Cassius, ordered the 1,400 richest women of Rome to have their property valued and to pay a levy. The women sought help from the triumvirs' kinswomen and, when Fulvia rebuffed them, went to the Forum. No man would plead their case, so Hortensia did. In the version given by Appian, she asked why women should pay taxes when they had no share in the honours, the commands and the statecraft for which the men were fighting one another.

Triumviri mulieres submoveri iusserunt, sed populo fremente postridie numerum ad CCCC redegerunt et magnam oneris partem in viros locupletes transtulerunt; Valerius Maximus maiorem pecuniae partem remissam esse tradit. Oratio eius Quintiliani aetate legebatur 'non tantum in sexus honorem'. Hodie sola Appiani versio Graeca superest.

The triumvirs had the women driven away, but the crowd took their side, and the next day the list was cut to 400 women and much of the burden was laid on men of property; Valerius Maximus says that most of the sum was remitted. Her speech was still read in Quintilian's time, 'and not merely as a compliment to her sex'. Today only Appian's Greek version of it survives.

1. 69 a.C.n.69 B.C.Pater eius, Q. Hortensius, consul.Her father, Quintus Hortensius, is consul.
2. 50 a.C.n.50 B.C.Q. Hortensius moritur.Hortensius dies.
3. 43 a.C.n.43 B.C.Proscriptiones triumvirorum.The triumvirs' proscriptions.
4. 42 a.C.n.42 B.C.Apud triumviros in foro dicit; tributum magna ex parte remittitur.Speaks before the triumvirs in the Forum; most of the levy is remitted.
5. c. 95 p.C.n.c. A.D. 95Quintilianus orationem eius adhuc legi testatur.Quintilian records that her speech is still read.