How frequently were girls adopted in Ancient Rome?

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Accepted answer

Normally, there was no sense in adopting girls. There are only two known examples, and both took place under very specific circumstances.

  1. Livia Drusilla was formally adopted by Augustus' testament, so she got the name of Augusta in AD 14.

On the first day of the Senate he allowed nothing to be discussed but the funeral of Augustus, whose will, which was brought in by the Vestal Virgins, named as his heirs Tiberius and Livia. The latter was to be admitted into the Julian family with the name of Augusta.

Tacitus, Annals I, 8

  1. Claudia Octavia was formally adopted in unknown family before her marriage to Nero, so Nero was not considered as her step-brother anymore (Cassius Dio, Roman History, LX, 33)

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