The Life and Reign of Roman Empress Julia Domna

Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about the Roman Empress Julia Domna. Don't forget the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week, so make sure to check it out via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Julia Domna was a Roman Empress born in Emesa, Syria, who lived between 160 to 217 CE. She was the wife of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and mother to Emperors Gaeta and Caracalla. Whilst her husband and then her son was Emperor, Julia Domna exercised some power. The extent of it is still being disputed but there is evidence for her receiving petitions, handling official correspondence and managing the empire. She was well read and astute in political matters and surrounded herself with artists, scholars and thinkers and gained the title Mother of Camps from 195 CE due to her accompanying Severus on campaign and eventually her title was extended to Mother of the Augustus, of the Camps, of the Senate and of the Country. In 160 CE, Julia was born at Emesa, Syria and her cognomen Domna means black which has to do with the sun god Elgabal, Elagabalus, whose cult stone was black. A cognomen is something like an extra name given to a Roman citizen. It was something personal which functioned a bit like a nickname but was typically passed from father to son. Her family was a wealthy and politically well-connected one and the site of Emesa was both an important religious center and trading site. Her father was a high priest of the sun god Elgabal and her older sister Julia Mesa also ended up being a two future Roman emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander. After the death of her father's uncle Julius Agrippa, who was a senior centurion of a Roman legion and a very wealthy man, Julia Domna was left his entire estate. According to the Historia Augusta, which is considered mostly legendary, in around 180 CE Septimius Severus, who was a Libyan general in the Roman army and who had lost his wife, traveled to Syria based on an omen that he would find his second wife there. Severus met Julia's father Gaius Julius Bassianus who in turn introduced Severus to his young unmarried daughter. Funnily enough, Julia's horoscope had predicted she would one day marry a king and in 187 Severus's omen came true and the two of them wed. Severus wasn't yet a king though but in 193 CE an opportunity presented itself that would perhaps fulfill Julia Domna's horoscope. The Roman emperor Pertinax was assassinated by the Praetorian guard and then the throne to the empire was auctioned off to the highest bidder and that bidder was the senator named Julianus. The Roman people were unimpressed and denounced the regime and with that came three generals who challenged Julianus for the throne, Severus included. Severus marched on Rome whilst also possessing greater diplomacy skills and he was recognized by the senate as the new emperor to Rome which put an end to the period now known as the year of five emperors. Now that Severus was emperor, Julia Domna became empress and solidified the imperial power of her family. She wasn't the only one vying for influence with Severus as was his Praetorian prefect Plautinus and at one point Julia Domna was even charged with adultery, a power struggle which she must have won since Plautinus was executed for plotting to overthrow Severus's family in 205 CE. Julia accompanied her husband on imperial travels and military campaigns especially when he made trips to the east. Julia Domna used her position to surround herself with philosophers and artists and she promoted their ideas, most famously Philostratus who tells a story in his famous Life of Apollonius of Tyana of empress Julia Domna and her demands he made particular enhancements to the text to elevate the philosopher Apollonius's stature. In 211 CE Julia Domna was with her husband when he died of illness and according to his will their two sons Gaeta and Caracalla became joint emperors of Rome. This didn't play out quite like Severus hoped since there was so much animosity between the two brothers that they lived at different ends of the city. There is evidence that shows that both boys plotted against the other with Julia attempting to mediate between them. Caracalla expressed an interest in reconciling with his brother so Julia granted a meeting for the two boys in her private apartments but unsurprisingly this was all a ruse. Gaeta was rushed by Caracalla's centurions and he was stabbed to death and died in his mother's arms who according to Cassius Dio was so entirely covered in his blood that she didn't even realize she had a wounded hand. Caracalla became the sole ruler of Rome and immediately called for a damnatio memoriae which literally means the condemnation of memory and meant that Gaeta's name would not appear on any official Roman documents and often meant the destruction of images. Brutal stuff. Because of the damnatio memoriae it would have been unsafe for Julia Domna to show any sorrow over the death of her son even in private for fear that Caracalla would have her assassinated too. Under the reign of Caracalla Julia was placed in charge of the empire's administration and she mostly carried out her duties from the Syrian city of Antioch near her hometown essentially running the empire in her son's name because he found administrative tasks boring. For the six final years of Caracalla's campaign he never once returned to the city and it was in 217 in Syria when his soldiers turned against him and murdered him. Julia Domna no longer had any connection to the new Roman emperor Macrinus the mastermind behind her son's death. At the news of the murder of her son Julia Domna attempted to starve herself perhaps not only because of the news but also the realization she would have to go back to living life as a private citizen and relinquish her power and Macrinus initially sent Julia his good wishes and kept her courtiers and guards with her but according to Cassius Dio Julia started to see herself as the sole ruler of Rome and planned to take the imperial power from Macrinus. This plot never came to fruition though with Macrinus learning of Julia's plot and ordering her to leave Antioch. Julia was now faced with a future as a and she was probably pretty uncertain with her level of security and so she chose to commit suicide by means of starvation although her death remains in a cloud of uncertainty since according to Cassius Dio Julia Domna had been battling breast cancer for some time. At the age of 57 Julia Domna was dead and although she was initially interred in the mausoleum of Augustus her sister Julia Mesa had her moved along with her sons to the mausoleum of Hadrian where her husband's ashes already resided. Julia Domna was deified by her great-nephew and Macrinus's successor Elagabalus and she may have even been worshipped across the empire. Do you know of similar stories of women in power throughout history? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on our new videos every Tuesday and Friday. This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia. For more great articles and interactive content head to our website via the link below. If you like my shirt you can find this design and a bunch more on our shop at worldhistory.store or you can find a link for it under the merch tab down below. 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