Aurelia Cotta

Aurelia was born around 120 BC into a family with political standing, and married Gaius Julius Caesar, a praetor who died when their son was still a teenager. She took charge of the young Julius Caesar's education herself, in an era when elite Roman boys were typically handed to tutors, and her reputation for rigor and character-building spread through the city's upper circles. Roman writers later held her up as a model mother, the standard by which others were measured. She lived long enough to see her son become consul and conquer Gaul, but died on 31 July 54 BC — five years before he crosse…