infant—a son, according to some writers, a daughter, according to others,—did not survive and died along with Julia. Caesar was in Britain, according to Seneca, when he received the news of Julia's death. Pompey wished her ashes to repose in his favourite Alban villa, but the Roman people, who loved Julia, determined they should rest in the field of Mars (Campus Martius). For permission a special decree of the senate was necessary, and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, one of the consuls of 54 BC, impelled by his hatred for Pompey and Caesar, procured an interdict from the tribunes. But the popular will prevailed, and, after listening to a funeral oration in the forum, the people placed her urn in the field of Mars. Ten years later the official pyre for Caesar's cremation would be erected near the tomb of his daughter, but the people intervened after the funeral oration by Mark Antony and cremated Caesar's body in the Forum. After Julia's death, Pompey and Caesar's alliance began to fade, which resulted in Caesar's civil war. It was allegedly remarked, as a singular omen, that on the day Augustus entered Rome as Caesar's adoptive son (in May 44 BC), the monument of Julia was struck by lightning. Caesar himself vowed a ceremony to her manes, which he exhibited in 46 BC as extensive funeral games including gladiatorial combats. The date of the ceremony was chosen to coincide with the ludi Veneris Genetricis on September 26, the festival in honor of Venus Genetrix, the divine ancestress of the Julians. Chronology 76 BC — Julia's birth 69 BC–68 BC — Her mother Cornelia dies. Cornelia is often stated to have died in childbirth, but this is not confirmed. 59 BC — Marriage to Pompey 55 BC — Julia has a miscarriage. 54 BC — Julia dies while giving birth, her child only survives a few days. Cultural depictions Literature In the Pharsalia by the Roman poet Lucan, the ghost of Julia appears to Pompey, blaming his re-marriage to Cornelia Metella for the outbreak of civil war. In the novel Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough, Julia is one of the three main female characters, along with her grandmother Aurelia Cotta and her father's mistress Servilia. In Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy (14th century), Julia was encountered by Dante in the first circle of Hell, the Limbo (where souls rest who are not in