Starring: Portia!
Portia's most famous appearance is undoubtedly her fictionalized form in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. She was one of the only two substantial female roles in the play. However in the fourth act she was reported to have committed suicide by swallowing burning coals, which we have mentioned in the previous pages that it is definitely not true.
Portia is briefly mentioned in Shakespeare’s other play The Merchant of Venice, when the character Portia talked about the Roman Portia in history whom she was named after.
Portia is the heroine in Robert Garnier’s play Porcie, in which she committed suicide, also by swallowing burning coals, but this time in addition she stabbed herself with a dagger.
Portia’s suicide (which is false) was mentioned in Thomas Cooper’s poem The Purgatory of Suicides. Her death was compared to Arria’s (Pœtus' wife) death, who was also a legendary Roman woman.