Julia Domna
160 – 217 · Generation XI · Severan
Julia (AD 160 – AD 217). Married Septimius around AD 187. 2 of their children are recorded in this archive. Daughter of the sun-priest of Emesa; philosopher-empress whose Syrian family kept the dynasty alive. The youngest daughter of Julius Bassianus and sister of Julia Maesa, she inherited the estate of a great-uncle, the former senior centurion Julius Agrippa, before her marriage. The Historia Augusta tells that the widowed Septimius Severus sought her out after hearing of a prophecy that a Syrian woman would marry a king; they wed at Lugdunum in 187, and she bore Caracalla there and Geta a year later in Rome. Unusually for an empress, she travelled with her husband’s armies and gathered titles such as “Mother of the Invincible Camps.” After Severus died at York in 211 she tried to mediate between her quarrelling sons, but Caracalla had Geta killed within the year. She later handled his correspondence at Antioch, and on learning of his murder in 217 took her own life. She encouraged Philostratus to write his Life of Apollonius of Tyana.
One of 9 people of Severan (145–235) in this archive. Septimius Severus’s line, held together by the Syrian priestly family of his empress Julia Domna.
Partners
- Married Septimius Severus (145 – 211) in 187 — 2 children together
Children
- Caracalla Antoninus (188 – 217)
- Geta Antoninus (189 – 211)
Life
- 160 — Born
- 187 — Married Septimius
- 217 — Died