Julia Domna

Regnal name
	Julia Domna Augusta; Julia Augusta; Julia Pia Felix Augusta;

Julia Domna
Julia Domna
Augusta
	Bust, Vatican Museums
Roman empress
Tenure	193–211
Born	c. 160 AD; Emesa, Roman Syria
Died	217; Antioch
Burial	Mausoleum of Hadrian, Italy
Spouse	Septimius Severus; (m. 187; died 211)
Issue	Caracalla; Geta
Regnal name
Regnal name
	Julia Domna Augusta; Julia Augusta; Julia Pia Felix Augusta;
Dynasty	Emesan (by birth); Severan (by marriage);
Father	Julius Bassianus

Julia Domna (Latin: [ˈjuːli.a ˈdomna]; c. 160 – 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 Arab family^[2] of priests of the deity Elagabalus. In 187, she married Severus, who at the time was governor of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. They had two sons, Caracalla and Geta. A civil war over the Roman throne broke out in 193, and shortly afterwards Severus declared himself emperor. The war ended in 197 with the defeat of the last of Severus's opponents.

As empress, Domna was famous for her political, social, and philosophical influence. She received titles such as "Mother of the Invincible Camps".^[a] 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.^[4] Following the death of Severus in 211, Domna became the first empress dowager to receive the title combination "Pia Felix Augusta", which may have implied greater powers being vested in her than what was usual for a Roman empress mother.^[5] 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.

^ ^a ^b ^c Société française de numismatique et d'archéologie 1873, p. 151.
^ Rodinson 1981, p. 55: "Roman Syria was in part populated by Arabs. The emperor Septimius Severus married an Arab from Emessa, Julia Domna, whose sons and great-nephews ruled Rome."
^ Definition of μήτηρ Archived 2019-12-08 at the Wayback Machine. www.perseus.tufts.edu.
^ Lendering, Jona. "Plautilla". Livius.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
^ Langford 2013, Introduction, note 88; Bédoyère 2018, p. 282.

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[SFNA-1] Société française de numismatique et d'archéologie 1873, p. 151.

[2] Rodinson 1981, p. 55: "Roman Syria was in part populated by Arabs. The emperor Septimius Severus married an Arab from Emessa, Julia Domna, whose sons and great-nephews ruled Rome."

[3] Definition of μήτηρ Archived 2019-12-08 at the Wayback Machine. www.perseus.tufts.edu.

[5] Lendering, Jona. "Plautilla". Livius.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-11-26.

[6] Langford 2013, Introduction, note 88; Bédoyère 2018, p. 282.

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