Julia Domna - Roman Empress Wife of Emperor Septimius Severus
193-211 A.D. -
Bronze 25mm (9.5 grams) from the city of Marcianopolis 193-209 A.D.
IOVΛIA ΔOMNA CЄB, draped bust right.
MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN, The Three Graces,
Aglaea, Euphrosyne and Thalia, standing side-by-side facing, nude, arms around
each other's shoulders.
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In
Greek mythology, a Charis (Χάρις) is one of several Charites (Χάριτες;
Greek:
"Graces"), goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and
fertility. They ordinarily numbered three, from youngest to oldest:
Aglaea
("Beauty"),
Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and
Thalia ("Good
Cheer"). In
Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces".
The Charites were usually considered the daughters of
Zeus and
Eurynome,
though they were also said to be daughters of
Dionysus
and Aphrodite
or of Helios
and the naiad
Aegle.
Homer wrote that
they were part of the
retinue of
Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the
underworld and
the
Eleusinian Mysteries.
The river
Cephissus near
Delphi was sacred to them.
Marcianopolis, or Marcianople was an ancient Roman city in
Thracia. It was located at the site of modern day
Devnya,
Bulgaria.
The city was so renamed by Emperor
Trajan after
his sister
Ulpia Marciana, and was previously known as Parthenopolis. Romans repulsed a
Gothic attack to
this town in 267 (or
268), during the
reign of
Gallienus.
Diocletian
made it the capital of the
Moesia Secunda province.
Valens made
it his winter quarters in 368 and succeeding years, Emperor
Justinian
I restored and fortified it. In 587, it was sacked by the king of the
Avars but at once retaken by the Romans. The Roman army quartered there in
596 before crossing the Danube to assault the Avars.
Between 893 and 972 it was one of the most important medieval cities in
south-eastern Europe.
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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