Julia Avita Mamaea
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| Roman imperial dynasties | |||
| Severan dynasty | |||
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| Chronology | |||
| Septimius Severus | 193 – 198 | ||
| -with Caracalla | 198 – 209 | ||
| -with Caracalla and Geta | 209 – 211 | ||
| Caracalla and Geta | 211 – 211 | ||
| Caracalla | 211 – 217 | ||
| Interlude: Macrinus | 217 – 218 | ||
| Elagabalus | 218 – 222 | ||
| Alexander Severus | 222 – 235 | ||
| Dynasty | |||
| Severan dynasty family tree Category:Severan dynasty |
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| Succession | |||
| Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors |
Followed by Crisis of the Third Century |
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Julia Avita Mamaea (14 or 29 August after 180–235) was the second daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin and Syrian noble Julius Avitus. She was a niece of empress Julia Domna and emperor Septimius Severus and sister of Julia Soaemias. She was born and raised in Emesa (modern Homs, Syria).
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[edit] Marriages and children
Julia's first husband was a former consul (whose name is unknown) who died. Julia married as her second husband Syrian Promagistrate Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus.[2]
Julia bore Marcianus two children, a daughter called Theoclia (little is known of her) and a son, Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus, later emperor Severus Alexander. Unlike her sister, Julia Mamaea was reported to be a virtuous woman, never involved in scandals.
Julia was attentive to the education of her son, Alexander, who she prepared adequately for becoming emperor of Rome. Severus thought much of his mother's advice and followed what she told him to do.[3]
[edit] Regency of Alexander
As a member of the Imperial Roman family, she watched closely the death of her cousin Caracalla and the ascent to power of her nephew Elagabalus, the oldest grandson of Julia Maesa and her choice to the throne. Eventually Elagabalus and his mother Julia Soaemias proved incompetent rulers and favour fell on Alexander, Julia's son. He became emperor in 222, following Elagabalus' murder by the Praetorian Guard. Julia and her mother became regents in the name of Alexander, then 14 years old. He never managed to escape her maternal domination, but at first Julia ruled very effectively. She reversed all Elagabulus' scandalous policies, chose 16 distinguished senators as advisers and relied heavily on the famous Lawyer Ulpian, who was also from Syria. Ulpian was made head of the Praetorian Guard. However, he was unable to control the Praetorians and was murdered by them in AD 228. Upon adulthood, Alexander confirmed his esteem for his mother and named her consors imperii (imperial consort). It was in this condition that she accompanied her son in his campaigns: a custom started with Julia Domna.
Meanwhile, Julia had become madly jealous of her son's wife, Barbia Orbiana, whom Alexander married in AD 225, and whose father had been made Caesar or co-ruler. Julia had Barbia thrown out of the palace and had her father executed.
Julia called on Origen, the Alexandrian Christian leader, to provide her with instruction in Christian doctrine.[4]
[edit] Betrayal and death
After an inconclusive expedition to repel a Persian invasion in AD 232, mother and son were sent north to deal with a German attack. Alexander so alienated the Rhine legions by his lack of military prowess and his inflexibility towards pay that the troops proclaimed the giant Maximinus Thrax as emperor in AD 235. Troops sent to kill Alexander found him clinging to his mother in a tent. Mother and son were butchered together, so ending the Severan dynasty
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome - Nigel Rogers
- ^ Birley, Anthony Richard (1999). Septimius Severus: the African emperor. Routledge. p. 222. ISBN 9780415165914. http://books.google.ca/books?id=d7DhHGX6wZkC&pg=PA194. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
- ^ A Cyclopedia of Female Biography, Julia Mamea, H.G. Adams, editor, Kessinger Publishing, 2007, Pg. 426.
- ^ The Emergence of Christianity, Cynthia White, Greenwood Press, 2007, Pg. 14.
[edit] External links
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