Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi: The Development of an Exemplum

The paper aims to identify the mechanisms through which, over time, the role of Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, became a model of female behavior according to the mos maiorum. It also examines how data related to her biography were progressively refined to attribute to the matron the generic virtues associated with the traditional female model of behaviour, thereby making her, in the Augustan period, a symbol of the synthesis between popularis and optimates’ traditions.

Keywords: Cornelia, Mother of Gracchi, Statue, Mos maiorum, Model of behaviour, Augustus.