Publius, who was the son of Publius Clodius Pulcher and Fulvia, had one full sister Claudia, and three half-brothers, Gaius Scribonius Curio, Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius from his mothers later marriages to Gaius Scribonius Curio (married in 52 BC) and Mark Antony (married in 49 BC).
His father Clodius might have been married to a woman named Pinaria Natta before Fulvia, but there are no children known from this possible match.
Valerius Maximus regarded Publius as a lethargic nonentity who only rose to the Praetorship after 31 BC under the Second Triumvirs and died young amid scandals of luxurious excess and an obsessive attachment to a common prostitute.
[16] It is possible that he survived the Battle of Actium and went over to Octavian's side after the defeat of his step-father Mark Antony, later making a further career under the emperor.
[24] Goold argues that an engagement between Publius and Marcella would have fit the political climate around 43 BC when Octavian himself was marrying Pulcher's sister Claudia.
He conjectures that the future emperor might have reasoned that betrothing his niece to a son of a plebeian hero would have its advantages after his experience with the Pseudo-Marius.