Ancestry and Family
Herodes Atticus was a Greek of Athenian descent. His ancestry can be traceable to the Athenian noble woman Elpinice (a half sister of statesman Cimon and daughter of politician Miltiades the Younger). He claimed his lineage from the Athenian King Theseus; the Athenian Monarch named Cecrops; King Aeacus and the God Zeus. He had an ancestor four generations removed from him called Polycharmus. Polycharmus from 9/8 BC-22/23, could have served as an Archon of Athens. His family bore the Roman family name, Claudius. There is a possibility that a paternal ancestor of his, received Roman citizenship, from an unknown member of the Claudian gens.
Herodes Atticus was born to a distinguished and very rich family of consular rank. He was born to a Roman Senator, Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes and the wealthy heiress Vibullia Alcia Agrippina. Herodes Atticus had a brother named Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodianus and a sister named Claudia Tisamenis. His maternal grandparents were Claudia Alcia and Lucius Vibullius Rufus, while his paternal grandfather was Hipparchus and his unnamed wife.
His parents were related as uncle and niece. His maternal grandmother with his father were sister and brother His maternal uncle Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus was an Archon of Athens in the years 99-100 and his maternal cousin, Publius Aelius Vibullius Rufus was an Archon of Athens between 143-144.
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