Julia Avita Mamaea

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This article is about the Emesene aristocrat who was the mother of the Roman emperor Alexander Severus. For the Emesene princess who married Polemon II of Pontus, see Julia Mamaea (wife of Polemon II of Pontus).
Julia Mamaea
Augusta
Julia Avita Mamaea Louvre Ma3552.jpg
Bust of Julia Mamaea, Louvre
Augusta of the Roman Empire
Reign13 March 222 – 19 March 235
PredecessorJulia Soaemias and Julia Maesa
SuccessorCaecilia Paulina
Co-Augustae
BornAfter 180 AD
Emesa, Syria
Died235 AD
Germania Superior
Spouse
IssueAlexander Severus
Theoclia
Names
Julia Avita Mamaea
Regnal name
Julia Avita Mamaea Augusta
DynastySeveran
FatherGaius Julius Avitus Alexianus
MotherJulia Maesa
Roman imperial dynasties
Alexander Severus Musei Capitolini MC471.jpg
Bust of Alexander Severus
Severan dynasty
Chronology
193–211
198–217
209–211
Interlude: Macrinus
217–218
—with Diadumenian
218
218–222
222–235
Dynasty
Severan dynasty family tree
All biographies
Succession

Julia Avita Mamaea or Julia Mamaea(14 or 29 August after 180–235) was a Syrian noble woman and a Roman empress of the Severan dynasty. She was the mother of Roman emperor Alexander Severus and remained one of his chief advisors throughout his reign. She was killed in 235 by rebel soldiers along with her son.

Family[]

Antoninianus of Julia Maesa
Antoninianus of Julia Mamaea

Julia Avita Mamaea was the second daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus. She was a niece of empress Julia Domna, emperor Lucius Septimius Severus, and sister of Julia Soaemias Bassiana. She was born and raised in Emesa (modern Homs, Syria), where her family was very powerful.

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 from Arca Caesarea (Arqa in Lebanon).[1] Julia bore two children during her marriage to Gessius Marcianus, a daughter Theoclia and a son, Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus, later emperor Alexander Severus, whom she gave birth in October 1, 208 in Arca Caesarea. Perhaps she may have had an elder son called Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus.

When her cousin, emperor Caracalla, was killed near Carrhae, Macrinus proclaimed himself emperor. Mamaea's mother Maesa and sister Soaemias organized a revolt against Macrinus to declare Soaemias' son, Varius Avitus Bassianus (Elagabalus), as emperor. As a response, Macrinus's camp killed a number of individuals with connections to Elagabalus, including Mamaea's daughter, husband, and son-in-law, around 218.[2][3] Julia provided education of her sole surviving offspring, Alexander, before his becoming emperor of Rome. Alexander thought much of his mother's advice and followed what she told him to do.[4]

Reign of Elagabalus (218-222)[]

Bust of Julia Mamaea, Pushkin Museum

As a member of the imperial Roman family, under the authority of her aunt Julia Domna, she watched closely the death of her cousin Caracalla and the ascension of her nephew Elagabalus, the oldest grandson of Julia Maesa and initially, her favorite. When Elagabalus successfully overthrew Macrinus and reigned as emperor, Mamaea and her son are described as being present at the imperial court, where her mother Julia Maesa and sister Julia Soaemias, the mother of Elagabalus, also lived. Due to his unorthodox behavior, Elagabalus and Julia Soaemias alienated the Praetorian Guard and their favor fell on Alexander, Mamaea's son. Mamaea distributed gold to the Praetorians to usher up support for her son, and guarded him against plots devised by increasingly desperate Elagabalus.[5] Elagabalus' continued machinations against Alexander spurred Praetorians to murder Elagabalus, and Alexander became emperor in 222.[6]

The Reign of Alexander[]

Julia and her mother played an instrumental role in the imperial accession of Alexander, then 13 years old, by securing the Praetorians' loyalty to him. They remained influential figures during his reign. Julia Mamaea attained the title augusta immediately following his acquisition of the throne.[7]

The two women collaborated in choosing 16 distinguished senators to form an advisory board and relied heavily on the lawyer Ulpian, who was also from Syria. This created a court environment in which the advisory board ran the Roman Empire with Alexander as the mere figurehead. The new regime garnered the approval of surviving historical sources for overturning Elagabalus' measures and reinstating a more traditional form of government.[8][9] Maesa died around 224. Ulpian, who held influence during Alexander's early reign, was made head of the Praetorian Guard. However, he was unable to control the Praetorians, who eventually rebelled. Despite the swift flight to the palace under the protection of Julia Mamaea and Severus Alexander, Ulpian was murdered[10] around 223 or 228.

Upon reaching adulthood, Alexander confirmed his esteem for his mother and listened to her advice. She accompanied her son in his campaigns, and like her aunt Julia Domna, she too held many titles in addition to augusta: mater augusti nostri et castrorum et senatus et patriae ("mother of the emperor, the camp, the senate and the country") and mater universi generis humani ("mother of the all humanity"). The historian Herodian and text Historia Augusta characterize Alexander as a mama's boy who never managed to escape her maternal domination but that he resented her love of money.[11] Mamaea's influence over him led some sources to call him Alexander Mamaeae.[12] Though she was credited with her son's principled upbringing and the stability during his early reign,[13] Alexander's military shortcomings were attributed to Mamaea by the army and ancient historians. By preventing his exposure to battles as a protective measure, Mamaea may have contributed to her son's deteriorating relationship with the army.[14]

According to Herodian, Julia had become jealous of her daughter-in-law, Sallustia Orbiana, whom Alexander married in 225, and whose father Seius Sallustius had been possibly made caesar, because she disapproved that there was another augusta. Julia Mamaea had Barbia expelled from the palace and had her father executed, against the will of Alexander Severus, because his mother had too much influence over him and he obeyed all her orders. However, the same historian conflictingly credits Julia for selecting Sallustia Orbiana as an augusta.[15] The downfall of Orbiana's father, a result of his hostile relation with Mamaea, and the murder of Ulpian are two episodes which demonstrate the prevalence of political intrigues in Alexander's early reign.[16]

Julia called on Origen, the Alexandrian Christian leader, to provide her with instructions in Christian doctrine.[17]

Death[]

After an inconclusive expedition to repel a Persian invasion in 232, mother and son went north to deal with a German attack. Alexander so alienated the Rhine legions by his lack of military prowess and his inflexibility towards pay demands that the troops proclaimed Maximinus Thrax as emperor in 235. The army also blamed Mamaea for Alexander's passiveness.[18] On March 21, troops sent to kill Alexander found him clinging to his mother in a tent. Mother and son were butchered together, ending the Severan dynasty.[19] The following regime placed them under damnatio memoriae.

Severan dynasty family tree[]

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Severan family tree
Septimius Macer
Gaius Claudius Septimius AperFulvius PiusLucius Septimius Severus
Publius Septimius AperGaius Septimius AperFulvia PiaPublius Septimius GetaSeptimia PollaJulius Bassianus
SeptimiusPublius Septimius GetaSeptimia OctavillaPaccia Marciana (1)Septimius Severus
(r. 193–211)[i]		Julia Domna (2)Julia MaesaGaius Julius Avitus Alexianus
Gaius Septimius Severus AperFulvia PlautillaCaracalla
(r. 197–217)[ii]		Geta
(r. 209–211)[iii]		Julia SoaemiasSextus Varius MarcellusJulia Avita MamaeaMarcus Julius Gessius Marcianus[iv] (2)
Julia Cornelia Paula (1)Aquilia Severa (2 and 4)Elagabalus
(r. 218–222)[v]		Annia Faustina (3)Sallustia OrbianaSeverus Alexander
(r. 222–235)[vi]
  • (1) = 1st spouse
  • (2) = 2nd spouse
  • (3) = 3rd spouse
  • (4) = 4th spouse
  • Dark green indicates an emperor of the Severan dynasty

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.
  1. ^ Birley, Anthony R. (1999). Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. London: Routledge. p. i.
  2. ^ Burrell, Barbara (2004). Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors. p. 216.
  3. ^ Burrell, Barbara (2004). Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors. p. 247.
  4. ^ Birley, Anthony R. (1999). Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. London: Routledge. p. 217.
  5. ^ Gibbon, Edward; Smith, William (1889). The Student's Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. p. 45.
  6. ^ Gibbon, Edward; Smith, William (1889). The Student's Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. p. 47.

Bibliography:

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Birley, Anthony Richard (1999). Septimius Severus: the African emperor. Routledge. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-415-16591-4. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  2. ^ Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.217&222
  3. ^ Cassius Dio 78, 31.4
  4. ^ A Cyclopedia of Female Biography, Julia Mamea, Henry Gardiner Adams, editor, Kessinger Publishing, 2007, Pg. 426.
  5. ^ Herodian 5.8.2-3
  6. ^ Cassius Dio 80.20
  7. ^ Cassius Dio Epitome of Book LXXX Fragment
  8. ^ Herodian 6.1.1-4
  9. ^ Cassius Dio Epitome of Book LXXX Fragment
  10. ^ Cassius Dio 80.4.2
  11. ^ Herodian 6.1.8
  12. ^ Kosmetatou, Elizabeth, The Public Image of Julia Mamaea. An Epigraphic and Numismatic Inquiry, in Latomus 61, 2002, pp. 398-399
  13. ^ Herodian 6.1.5
  14. ^ Herodian 6.5.8
  15. ^ Herodian 6.1.9
  16. ^ Davenport, Caillan (2011). "Iterated Consulships and the Government of Severus Alexander". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 177: 287. JSTOR 41291183.
  17. ^ The Emergence of Christianity, Cynthia White, Greenwood Press, 2007, Pg. 14.
  18. ^ Herodian, 6:8
  19. ^ Herodian, 6:9

External links[]

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