Claudia Pulchra Major
Claudia Pulchra Major was the elder daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, praetor of 57 BC, elder brother of Publius Clodius Pulcher. Her sister was Claudia Pulchra Minor. Claudia Pulchra Major was the first wife of Marcus Junius Brutus, who was praetor of 44 BC and the most famous of Julius Caesar's assassins. This marriage was very useful to Claudia's father as Brutus was very wealthy and it allied him with the leader of the Optimates, Cato the Younger, who was Brutus' uncle. When Claudia's father was accused of bribery by Publius Cornelius Dolabella in 50 BC, Brutus was part of the faction that helped have him acquitted. In 45 BC Brutus divorced Claudia, without stating his reasons, so that he could marry Porcia Catonis, who was the daughter of Cato and his first cousin.
