As we have seen, the staging of Caesar’s funeral has to be attributed to Fulvia, then the wife of Antonius. Antonius held the eulogy, and Fulvia had Caesar’s bloodstained garments, and even his bloody, defiled corpse on display for the people, using an effigy fastened to a cross-shaped tropaeum raised above the bier. This incited the people to revolt and thus, we thank Fulvia for the original performance of Easter, as it is reflected in Christian Easter, i. e. the most important, and for a long time, only Christian celebration.
This is hardly surprising. Certainly, sources do not name her by name, but comments by Plutarch, stating that Caesar’s funeral turned into a reproduction of Publius Clodius’ funeral are telling. Fulvia had been the wife of Clodius, who turned from adversary to friend of Caesar, and was murdered in a street fight. Fulvia displayed his dagger-pierced, blood drenched corpse to the people, thus provoking a rebellion. By the time of Caesar’s funeral she had become the wife of Antonius, who held the eulogy. Since Caesar’s dagger-pierced, bloody corpse was shown to the people, even though in effigy, and likewise provoked a rebellion, one can assume that Fulvia was again involved. The difference between Clodius, whose wounded body Fulvia exhibited and the wax effigy of Caesar with reproductions of his wounds instead of his actual body, is explained by the fact that Fulvia’s second husband, Curio also died, while in service to Caesar in the African War. For Curio she could only arrange a funus imaginarium in Rome, at which, according to custom, a life-sized imago, a wax effigy was displayed in place of the missing body. At Caesar’s funus both rituals were combined, that of Clodius and that of Curio, being both present, the corpse and the imago: Cae-sar’s corpse laid unseen, because it had been placed flat on a bier on the ro-trum, within a shrine modeled after the temple of Venus Genetrix. Someone lifted a complete, true to life replica of Caesar above the shrine for the crowd, already agitated, to see. Then with the help of a rotating device, the wax figure was turned in all directions, displaying twenty-three horrendous wounds over the entire body and face. This lamentable sight was heart-breaking and the people were furious and pursued the murderers and devas-tated the curia where Caesar had been killed. Caesar’s body was cremated on the Forum itself, on an improvised pyre, made up of wood found lying around, and people ran wildly while carrying burning torches towards the houses of the conspirators in order to burn them down. Only the pleas of frightened neighbors, fearing for their own homes deterred the crowd from setting the fires—apparently the memory of Clodius’ funeral, where the cu-ria burned along with his body was still fresh in their minds.
In any event, the modus operandi bears the distinctive mark of Fulvia. The only difference is that at the earlier funeral, that of Clodius, the people were shown the real body, and at Caesar’s they were shown an effigy, which was absolutely true to life, as expressed in the original word, ἀνδρείκελον, indicating a flesh-colored «image of a man». It was a wax figure, on which the bloody wounds were painted deceptively realistically; the figure was moveable, so that it could be raised and fastened to something, which had a mêchanê, a rotary device, that could have been mounted on the foot of an idol of Dionysus or else of the tropaeum, on which Caesar’s blood-stained garments hung. Since all the wounds had to be shown, including the deadly one on his side, a figure with moveable joints would have been used, something already known to the Romans and often used in funerals. It was likely fastened to the tropaeum with outstretched arms, so that the wounds on the side could be seen, and not hidden as they would have been if the arms hung downwards.
Fulvia is not mentioned by name. It is noteworthy, however, that in reading the documents, names are generally not used: τις, «someone» raised the wax figure over the bier, duo quidam, «two unknowns» lit Caesar’s bier. Here, it might have actually been unknown or unnamed people from the crowd, but names are missing also where they are expected to be found, such as Nicolaus Damascenus, who in his report on the deliberations of the Caesarians after Caesar’s murder, says, only vaguely, that οἱ, «some» prepared Caesar’s funeral. Surprising, because shortly thereafter he reports on the funeral and states that Atia, Octavian’s mother, who had been en-trusted by will to prepare the funeral, could not, prevented by the people who violently forced the funeral: ὁ ὄχλος, «the crowd, the people», they are the ones—and Nicolaus thus avoids again mentioning names. It was also the people that acted at the funeral of Publius Clodius: «the people […] took the body of P. Clodius into the Curia and cremated it»; but on that occasion it was also mentioned why the people acted as they did: «The indignation about the deed grew, as Clodius’ wife, Fulvia, displayed his wounds, while wailing passionately». In Caesar’s case, however no wailing woman was named; only that Atia was not present. Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife, is not men-tioned as attending the funeral, although it was her father, Calpurnius Piso, who in the Senate had ensured the funeral of the Pontifex Maximus and then had the body of his son-in-law carried to the Forum. One only hears of Calpurnia’s lament on the day of the murder, when her husband’s body was brought home. On the day of the funeral—on which, as Quintilian reported, the grieving people were not simply shown that Caesar had been murdered, but his blood soaked garments suggested he was being murdered there, on that spot, at that moment — there is no mention of Calpurnia. Apparently it was not her day.
It was the day of Antonius. He is mentioned, as eulogist. He had been chosen for that task not only as the consul, but also because he was related to Caesar. In the absence of other women of Caesar’s family, Fulvia, as the wife of Antonius, the consul and eulogist —who furthermore was the designated flamen Divi Iulii, therefore high priest of the god to whom Caesar was to be posthumously elevated, and which made Fulvia the designated flaminica —could well habe been in charge of the funeral and all the more act as praefica, as mourner, for which the precedent of Clodius and her position predestined her. Antonius held the eulogy so that Caesar’s funeral became similar to that of Clodius. Fulvia had been Clodius’ wife, and was now the wife of Antonius. Decisive moments were staged by unknown persons: «a few», «someone», «some». Were they not known, or purposedly undefined? Did one, first and foremost, want to conceal the name of their patroness?
In retrospect, there was indeed a reason to conceal Fulvia, especially for Nicolaus, Augustus’ court historian, because she had waged war on Octavianus in the bellum Perusinum. But there was also a reason for the Antonian sources, since Antonius, who abandoned her, later also blamed her for the war against Octavianus, so that after her death, public memory of her was either negative or completely erased and her great moments readily forgotten. If knowledge of her earlier deeds is preserved, it is indirectly and almost as if by mistake.
