Volusia Cornelia,Marzano, Roman Villas in Central Italy: A Social and Economic History, p. 196 also known as Cornelia VolusiaBiographischer Index der Antike, p. 249 was a Roman woman of Patrician status who lived in the late 1st century. She was the daughter of the senator Quintus Volusius Saturninus, suffect consul in 92.Rudolf Hanslik, "Volusia Q.f. Cornelia 23", Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Supplement 9A, col. 1863 She was born and raised in Rome. Her cognomen Cornelia, she inherited from paternal great-grandmother Cornelia Lentula, the daughter of the consul of 3 BC, Lucius Cornelius LentulusLevick, Tiberius the Politician, p. 53 from the gens Cornelia.
Inscriptionals Volusia is known through various surviving inscriptions. The evidence reveals she was a wealthy, distinguished womanGreen, Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia, p. 280 of the Senatorial class.Green, Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia, p. 63 She owned a private luxurious villa in Nemi, the previous possession of the Roman emperor Caligula. In an area of the villa, Volusia restored a theatre. The theatre was used to entertained guests that happened to be at the villa, such as family members, friends sharing a vacation, neighboring villa-owners and notables invited to dinner.Marzano, Roman Villas in Central Italy: A Social and Economic History, pp. 196-7 After the theatre was restored, her deed was recorded in a monumental inscription. which has decorative handles.The World of Class - Images of Class: Patrons - Volusia Cornelia One branch of the Volusii family had a praedium in the area of Nemi and a fistulae bearing the name of Volusia was also found.
The inscription which is dated from the mid-1st century reads in Latin which is translated in English:
volvsia q. f. cornelia theatrvm vetvstate corrvptvm restitvit et excolivit
Volusia Cornelia, daughter of Quintus, restored and decorated the theatre damaged by age.Green, Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia, p. 263
The plaque is on display at the National Museum of Rome. She was also a donor at the Sanctuary of Diana at Nemi.
The below funeral inscription is dedicated to commemorate the hairdresser of Volusia. The Latin inscription which is found in Rome reads in English:
To the Departed Spirits. Elate, hairdresser of Cornelia Volusia lived twenty years. Hellanicus (made this) for a well-deserving wife. (, Rome)Joshel, Slavery in the Roman World, p. 143
References
Sources The World of Class - Images of Class: Patrons - Volusia Cornelia B. Levick, Tiberius the Politician, Routledge, 1999 Biographischer Index der Antike (Google eBook), Walter de Gruyter, 2001 A. Marzano, Roman Villas in Central Italy: A Social and Economic History, BRILL, 2007 C.M.C. Green, Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana of Aricia, Cambridge University Press, 2007 S.R. Joshel, Slavery in the Roman World, Cambridge University Press, 2010