Julia Domna - Roman Empress Wife of Emperor Septimius Severus
193-211 A.D. -
Bronze 15mm (3.0 grams) Struck in the Roman Provincial city of
Nicopolis ad Istrum in Moesia Inferior 193-209 A.D.
IOVΛIA ΔOMNA CE, draped bust right.
NIKOΠOLITΩN ΠPO CICTP, Apollo standing naked left, holding patera & scepter.
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In
Greek and
Roman mythology, Apollo,
is one of the most important and diverse of the
Olympian deities. The ideal of the
kouros (a
beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the
sun; truth and prophecy;
archery;
medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son
of Zeus and
Leto, and has a
twin sister, the chaste huntress
Artemis.
Apollo is known in Greek-influenced
Etruscan mythology as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both
ancient Greek and
Roman religion, as well as in the modern
Greco-Roman
Neopaganism.
As the patron of
Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an
oracular god — the prophetic deity of the
Delphic Oracle.
Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god
himself or mediated through his son
Asclepius,
yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly
plague as well as one who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god's
custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over
colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of
the Muses (Apollon
Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god
of music and poetry.
Hermes created
the lyre for him,
and the instrument became a common
attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called
paeans.
In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo
Helios he became identified among Greeks with
Helios,
god of
the sun, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with
Selene,
goddess
of the moon.[1]
In Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to
find any conflation of Apollo with
Sol among the
Augustan poets of the first century, not even in the conjurations of
Aeneas and
Latinus in
Aeneid XII
(161–215).[2]
Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological
texts until the third century CE.
Julia
Domna (unknown date[1]–217)
was a member of the
Severan dynasty of the
Roman
Empire. Empress and wife of
Roman
Emperor Lucius
Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors
Geta and
Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power
behind the throne in the Roman Empire.
Family
background
Julia was of Syrian origin from the ancient city of
Emesa. Her
ancestors were Kings Priest of the famous temple of
Baal. The family
lost its kingdom to Rome but continued domination of the temple of Baal. The
family had an enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy.
She was the youngest daughter of high-priest Gaius
Julius Bassianus and her eldest sister was
Julia
Maesa.
Reign
In the late 180s, Julia married future Emperor
Septimius Severus who himself was in part of
Punic background. The marriage proved to be a happy one and Severus
cherished his wife and her political opinions, since she was very well read and
keen on philosophy. Together, they had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla)
in 186 and
Publius Septimius Geta in 189.
Civil
War
When Severus became emperor in 193 he had a civil war waiting
for him, against rivals such as
Pescennius Niger and
Clodius Albinus. Julia accompanied him in his campaigns in the East, an
uncommon event in a time when women were expected to wait in Rome for their
husbands. Nevertheless, she remained with the emperor and among the several
proofs of affection and favour are the minting of coins with her portrait and
the title mater castrorum (mother of the camp).
Julia now had complete power and ruled behind the Roman
Empire. Many early Romans disliked the fact of her ruling over the throne when
Septimius Severus was at war.
Controversy
and transition of power
As empress, Julia was often involved in intrigues and had
plenty of political enemies who accused her of treason and adultery. None of
these accusations were proven, Severus continued to favour his wife and insisted
on her company in the campaign against the
Britons that started in 208. When Severus died, in 211 in
York, Julia became
the mediator between their two sons.
Caracalla
and
Geta who were to rule as joint emperors, according to their father's wishes
expressed on his will. But the two young men were never fond of each other and
quarrelled frequently. Geta was murdered by Caracalla's soldiers in the same
year.
Caracalla was now sole emperor, but his relations with his
mother were difficult, as attested by several sources, probably due to his
involvement in Geta's murder. Nevertheless, Julia accompanied Caracalla in his
campaign against the
Parthian empire in 217. During this trip, Caracalla was assassinated and
succeeded (briefly) by
Macrinus.
On hearing about the rebellion, Julia chose to commit suicide. Her body was
brought to Rome and placed in the Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris (perhaps a
separate chamber in the
Mausoleum of Augustus). Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta
were transferred by her sister
Julia
Maesa to the
Mausoleum of Hadrian.[2]
She was later deified.
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