Julia Cornelia Paula

Last updated
Julia Cornelia Paula
Augusta
Julia Paula, marble (3rd century A.D.) - Ephesus Museum.JPG
Marble bust of Julia Cornelia Paula
Roman empress
Tenure219–220
Spouse Elagabalus

Julia Cornelia Paula (lived 3rd century AD) was a distinguished Roman noblewoman who became Empress of Rome as the first wife of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, who divorced her.

Contents

Life

Paula was a lady, according to Herodian, of very noble descent: a relative of the gens Cornelia through her mother, her father, Julius Paulus, was an important jurist active throughout the Severan Dynasty, who subsequently served as praetorian prefect between 228 and 235.

In early 219, Julia Maesa, eldest sister of dowager empress Julia Domna, arranged for Cornelia Paula to marry her grandson, the new emperor Elagabalus. Their wedding was lavishly celebrated in Rome. Cornelia Paula, Elagabalus' first wife, was given the honorific title Augusta .

In late 220, Elagabalus divorced her to marry the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa in a union that was considered scandalous because she was still a Vestal. Apart from falling in love with Severa, Elagabalus married Severa as a part of the religious process of worshiping the Syrian Sun God El-Gabal and integrating El-Gabal into Roman religion.

After the divorce, Elagabalus removed Paula's Augusta title and reduced her to a private station. They had no children and her subsequent fate is unknown. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severus Alexander</span> Roman emperor from 222 to 235

Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, also known as Alexander Severus, was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elagabalus</span> Roman emperor from 218 to 222

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nicknames Elagabalus and Heliogabalus, was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was notorious for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macrinus</span> Roman emperor from 217 to 218

Marcus Opellius Macrinus was Roman emperor from April 217 to June 218, reigning jointly with his young son Diadumenianus. As a member of the equestrian class, he became the first emperor who did not hail from the senatorial class and also the first emperor who never visited Rome during his reign. Before becoming emperor, Macrinus served under Emperor Caracalla as a praetorian prefect and dealt with Rome's civil affairs. He later conspired against Caracalla and had him murdered in a bid to protect his own life, succeeding him as emperor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severan dynasty</span> Roman imperial dynasty (ruled 193 to 235)

The Severan dynasty, sometimes called the Septimian dynasty, was an Ancient Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus, who rose to power after the Year of the Five Emperors as the victor of the civil war of 193–197, and his wife, Julia Domna. After the short reigns and assassinations of their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who succeeded their father in the government of the empire, Julia Domna's relatives themselves assumed power by raising Elagabalus and then Severus Alexander to the imperial office.

The 220s decade ran from January 1, 220, to December 31, 229.

Sextus Varius Marcellus was a Roman aristocrat and politician from the province of Syria. He was father of the emperor Elagabalus.

Elagabalus, Aelagabalus, Heliogabalus, or simply Elagabal was an Arab-Roman sun god, initially venerated in Emesa, Syria. Although there were many variations of the name, the god was consistently referred to as Elagabalus in Roman coins and inscriptions from AD 218 on, during the reign of emperor Elagabalus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domitia Longina</span> Wife of the Roman emperor Domitian (c. AD 53/55 – c. 126/130)

Domitia Longina was a Roman empress and wife to the Roman emperor Domitian. She was the youngest daughter of the general and consul Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Domitia divorced her first husband, Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus in order to marry Domitian in AD 71. The marriage produced only one son, whose early death is believed to have been the cause of a temporary rift between Domitia and her husband in 83. She became the empress upon Domitian's accession in 81, and remained so until his assassination in 96. She is believed to have died sometime between AD 126 and 130.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Domna</span> Roman empress consort from 193 to 211

Julia Domna 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 in Roman Syria to an Arab family 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Maesa</span> 3rd century Severan dynasty Roman Imperial Augusta

Julia Maesa was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire who was the grandmother of emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, elder sister of empress Julia Domna, and mother of Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea. She wielded influence during the reigns of her grandsons as Augusta of the Empire from 218 to her death, especially on their elevation to emperors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Soaemias</span> Mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus (180–222)

Julia Soaemias Bassiana was a Syrian noblewoman and the mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus, who ruled over the Roman Empire from 218 to 222. She was one of his chief advisors, initially with the support and accompaniment of her mother Julia Maesa. She and her mother guided the young emperor until growing unrest and a family division led to her son's replacement by her nephew Severus Alexander. Julia Soaemias was killed along with her son by the Praetorian Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Avita Mamaea</span> Mother of Roman emperor Alexander Severus (died 235)

Julia Avita Mamaea or Julia Mamaea was a Christian Syrian noble woman and member 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 alongside her son.

Julia Augusta may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scribonia (wife of Octavian)</span> Roman noblewoman, second wife of Augustus and mother of Julia the Elder

Scribonia was the second wife of Octavian, later the Roman Emperor Augustus, and the mother of his only biological child, Julia the Elder. Through her youngest daughter she was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, and great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquilia Severa</span> Wife of Roman emperor Elagabalus

Julia Aquilia Severa was the second and fourth wife of Roman emperor Elagabalus. She was the daughter of Quintus Aquilius. The praenomen of "Julia" was given to her after becoming an empress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annia Faustina</span> Early 3rd century Roman noblewoman and Augusta

Annia Aurelia Faustina was an Anatolian Roman noblewoman. She was briefly married to the Roman emperor Elagabalus in 221 and thus a Roman empress. She was Elagabalus' third wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emesene dynasty</span> Roman client kingdom based in the Levant

The Emesenedynasty, also called the Sampsigeramids or the Sampsigerami or the House of Sampsigeramus, were a Roman client dynasty of Syrian priest-kings known to have ruled by 46 BC from Arethusa and later from Emesa, Syria, until between 72 and 78/79, or at the latest the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161). Iamblichus, the famous Neoplatonist philosopher of the third century, was one of their descendants, as was empress Julia Domna, matriarch of the Severan dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sallustia Orbiana</span> Roman empress and consort of Severus Alexander

Gnaea Seia Herennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, usually known as Sallustia Orbiana, was a third century Roman empress, with the title of Augusta as the wife of Severus Alexander from AD 225 to 227. The emperor married her in late 225, following the death of his grandmother. Severus was around sixteen years of age at this time. She was known for her beauty, which was captured in multiple works of art. Possibly a victim of the jealousy of Julia Mamaea, the emperor's mother, Orbiana was divorced and exiled to Libya in 227.

Julia Drusilla was a princess of the Roman client kingdom of Mauretania in North Africa. She was the daughter of Ptolemy of Mauretania and thus a great-granddaughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. She was married to the procurator Marcus Antonius Felix in the reign of Roman emperor Claudius and later the Emesene priest-king Sohaemus.

References

  1. Ramsay 1867, p. 141.

Bibliography

Sources

Royal titles
Preceded by Empress of Rome
219–220
Succeeded by