Julia Domna (; – 217 AD) was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was the first empress of the Severan dynasty. Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arabs family
As empress, Domna was famous for her political, social, and philosophical influence. She received titles such as "Mother of the Invincible Camps". After the elder of her sons, Caracalla, started ruling with his father, she was briefly co-empress with Caracalla's wife, Fulvia Plautilla, until the latter fell into disgrace.[; .] Her sons jointly inherited the throne, and she acted as mediator in the conflicts that arose between them. Caracalla had Geta killed later that year.
Domna remained active in Caracalla's court, accompanying her son on the military campaigns which occupied most of his reign. During his war against Parthia she lived at Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey). There she killed herself in 217, upon hearing of Caracalla's assassination and the Severan dynasty's loss of power. Her older sister Julia Maesa restored the family's imperial status in 218.
Family background
Julia Domna was born in
Emesa (modern day
Homs) in
Roman Syria around 160 AD
to an
Arab family that was part of the
Emesene dynasty.
[; ; ; ; ; .] Her name, Domna, is an archaic Arabic word meaning "black",
[.][Definition of دِمنة (in Arabic). www.almaany.com.] referencing the nature of the sun god Elagabalus which took the form of a black stone. She was the youngest daughter of the high priest of
Baal,
Julius Bassianus, and sister to
Julia Maesa. Through Maesa and her husband Julius Avitus, Domna had two nieces:
Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea, the respective mothers of future Roman emperors
Elagabalus () and Severus Alexander ().
[.]
Domna's ancestors were Emesene dynasty of the temple of Elagabalus. The family had enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy. Before her marriage, Domna inherited the estate of her paternal great-uncle Julius Agrippa, a former leading centurion.[
]
Marriage
The
Historia Augusta, a generally unreliable source, relates that, after losing his first wife around 186,
[.] politician Septimius Severus heard a foretelling of a woman in Syria who would marry a king. So Severus sought her as his wife.
[.] This woman was Domna. Bassianus accepted Severus' marriage proposal in early 187, and in the summer the couple married in
Lugdunum (modern-day
Lyon, France), of which Severus was the governor.
[; .] The marriage proved happy, and Severus cherished Domna and her political opinions. Domna built "the most splendid reputation" by applying herself to letters and philosophy.
[.] She gave birth to their two sons,
Caracalla in 188 in Lugdunum, and Publius Septimius Geta the following year in
Rome.
[.]
Civil war
After the Roman emperor
Commodus was murdered without an heir in 192, many contenders rushed for the throne, including Domna's husband Severus. An elder senator,
Pertinax, was appointed by the
Praetorian Guard as the new emperor of Rome. But when Pertinax would not meet the Guard's demands, he too was murdered.
[.] Another politician,
Didius Julianus, was called to Rome and appointed emperor. Severus, coming from the north into Rome, overthrew Julianus and had him executed.
[.]
Severus claimed the title of emperor in 193. By offering Clodius Albinus, a powerful governor of Roman Britain, the rank of Caesar (successor), Severus could focus on his other rival to the throne, Pescennius Niger, whom he defeated at the Battle of Issus in 194.[ When afterwards Severus openly declared his son Caracalla as his successor, Clodius Albinus was hailed emperor by his troops. At the Battle of Lugdunum in 197, Severus defeated and killed Albinus, establishing himself as Emperor. Thus, Domna became Empress-consort.][.]
Power and influence
Unlike most imperial wives, Domna remarkably accompanied her husband on his military campaigns and stayed in camp with the army.
As worded by Barbara Levick, Domna "was to exceed all other empresses in the number and variety of her official titles."
[.] Honorary titles were granted to Domna similar to those given to Faustina the Younger, including "Mother of the Invincible Camps",
[; .] and
Mater Augustus (Mother of Augustus).
[.] She was respected and viewed positively for most of her tenure, as indicated by coins minted with her portrait that mention her titles or simply refer to her as "Julia Augusta". The title
Pia Felix Augusta () which she received after Severus' death was "perhaps a way of implying that Domna had absorbed and was continuing her husband's attributes" after his death.
[.]
Several medallions for Domna were issued by Severus as early as 207, on the reverses of which is "Vesta Mater" (Mother Vesta), which, according to Molly M. Lindner, "could refer to an invocation to Vesta during prayers and supplications that the Vestal Virgin made whenever they prayed publicly".[.] According to Lindner,
Transition of power
When Severus died in 211 in
Eboracum (
York), Domna became the mediator between their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who were supposed to rule as joint emperors, according to their father's wishes expressed in his will. However, the two young men had a discordant relationship,
[.] and Geta was murdered by Caracalla's soldiers in December of the same year.
[; .] Geta's name was then removed from inscriptions and his image erased as the result of a
damnatio memoriae.
[; ; .] As explained by Caillan Davenport:
Death
In 217, Caracalla began a new war with Parthia. Domna went with Caracalla as far as
Antioch.
[.] There she stayed, helping to deal with his correspondence, while he went on to the frontier.
[.] During the campaign, Caracalla was assassinated by a Roman soldier.
[.] Domna chose to commit suicide after hearing about the rebellion,
[.] perhaps a decision hastened by the fact that she was suffering from breast cancer, as well as a reluctance to return to private life.[.] Her sister, Julia Maesa, restored the Severan dynasty in 218.[.][.] Domna's 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 Maesa to the Mausoleum of Hadrian.[Cassius Dio, Roman History, Epitome of Book LXXIX .]
Legacy
Domna encouraged Philostratus to write the Life of Apollonius of Tyana,[.] but is thought to have died before he finished the eight-volume work.[.] She also influenced Roman fashion: the hairstyle that she used would later be worn by Roman empress Cornelia Salonina and Palmyrene Empire queen Zenobia.[.] Domna seems to have made the wearing of wigs, a custom of , popular among Romans.[. For a comparison between the facial structures of Domna and Faustina the Younger, see Baharal, Plates I and II.]
The scholar C.T. Mallan remarks upon the analysis of Domna's career given by Cassius Dio, a contemporary observer who "held the former Augusta in high esteem":[Mallan 2013, pg. 757.] "Dio concludes that Julia's life was ultimately an unhappy one, a life without pleasure or enduring good fortune... it is noteworthy, and perhaps significant that the only other individual to attract a similar eulogy in Dio's Roman History was Marcus Aurelius". According to Mallan, Dio may have seen a parallel between Domna and Aurelius, both virtuous philosophers whose later lives were troubled by the bad character of their sons.[Mallan 2013, pgs. 756-7.]
Severan dynasty family tree
Notes
Sources
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Mallan, C. T. “Cassius Dio on Julia Domna: A Study of the Political and Ethical Functions of Biographical Representation in Dio’s ‘Roman History.’” Mnemosyne, vol. 66, no. 4/5, 2013, pp. 734–60. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24521884. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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Further reading
