Aquilia Severa

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Denarius of Iulia Aquilia Severa

Iulia Aquilia Severa was from the end of 220 the second wife of the Roman emperor Elagabal , who ruled from 218 to 222. As a vestal virgin committed to preserving her virginity, her marriage was viewed as a scandal. Elagabal was forced to divorce, but later remarried Aquilia. The marriage severely damaged the emperor's reputation and contributed to his overthrow.

Life

Origin and life before marriage

The fact that Aquilia was a vestal virgin before her marriage suggests noble origins. Otherwise nothing is known about their parentage. There is no evidence for the claim in modern literature that her father was a consul named Quintus Aquilius.

In Cassius Dio Aquilia is called archiereía , which is often translated as "Obervestalin" ( vestalis maxima ), but probably only means "Vestalin". The Obervestalin, who received this rank because of her age or seniority, had priority of honor and a special role model function. As a senior investor, Aquilia should have been much older than Elagabal, which is unlikely.

The marriage and its background

Elagabal married Aquilia at the end of 220, after shortly before he had rejected his first wife Iulia Paula because of a physical defect. As empress, Aquilia received the title of Augusta . She is also said to have carried the title "Mother of the Camp, the Senate and the Fatherland" ( mater castrorum, senatus ac patriae ). However, this is only attested by a single inscription, and there the name of the imperial woman has been deleted and therefore only partially legible. The relationship to Aquilia is therefore very questionable.

Marrying a vestal virgin meant a serious violation of Roman sacral law and religious tradition. For centuries, the Vestals have been obliged to preserve their virginity. The unchastity accused Vestals were the crimen incesti indicted and buried alive ritual event of a conviction. Even under Emperor Caracalla (211-217), vestals were convicted of alleged violations of the law of chastity. The emperor was pontifex maximus (supreme priest), so the vestals were under his supervision. That Elagabal, who was responsible for this duty of supervision, even induced a vestal virgin to commit the serious religious crime and publicly confessed to it, was a curse-worthy crime and a scandal of the worst proportions for tradition-conscious Romans. From their point of view it was a desecration of the Vestal Virgin. Therefore, the marriage to Aquilia contributed significantly to the fact that Elagabal made himself hated in Rome, which finally led to his overthrow and murder in March 222.

The branch of the ruling dynasty of the Severi , the Elagabal belonged, came from Syria . Even before he was promoted to emperor, the young Elagabal had held the hereditary office of high priest of the Syrian deity Elagabal , whose name he was later given. He continued to exercise this office as emperor in Rome. Throughout his life he was shaped by the social, cultural and religious norms of his eastern homeland; in Rome he was a stranger and was perceived as such. The religious ideas and standards of his homeland were sometimes extremely offensive to the Romans. When he married Aquilia in 220 he was only sixteen years old and under the reign of his grandmother Julia Maesa , but he was largely resistant to advice on personal and religious matters and acted at his own discretion. In doing so, he paid little attention to Roman customs, the Roman state religion and public opinion. He made the decision to marry Aquilia against the will of his grandmother Julia Maesa, who was keen on a good relationship between the ruling Syrian dynasty and the Roman ruling class.

As can be seen from the reports of the contemporary historians Cassius Dio and Herodian , the indignation at the religious outrage was so great that the emperor felt compelled to justify his marriage to the Vestal Virgin to the Senate . As a justification, he cited that the marriage of a priest with a priestess is something very appropriate and sacred. He had taken this step so that from him, the chief priest, and you, the chief priestess, "godlike" or " godlike " (theoprepeís) children emerged. According to Herodian, he should also have apologized by saying that he had succumbed to a human passion because he was overwhelmed by love. According to Herodian's account, this love was only hypocritical.

In fact, the emperor's motif was religious. According to the prevailing research opinion, his official justification indicates his real, incomprehensible concern for the Romans. He saw himself primarily as a priest and therefore considered it his duty to marry a priestess.

Divorce and new marriage

The regent Julia Maesa, who was concerned about the continuation of the dynasty, wanted to defuse her grandson's conflict with public opinion. At her insistence, Elagabal broke off his offensive association with Aquilia in July or August 221 and was her third marriage to Annia Faustina , who was descended from the very popular Emperor Marcus Aurelius . This politically motivated marriage should mark a change of course and be perceived as a positive signal in the Senate. Elagabal, however, soon destroyed any success that might have been achieved with it, because towards the end of 221 he separated from his third wife, returned to Aquilia and married her a second time. This marriage apparently lasted until his untimely death on March 11, 222.

iconography

Aquilia's appearance can only be inferred from her coin portraits. There is no known round sculpture that could be safely assigned to her. The hypothesis that a bronze statue from Sparta in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens represents Aquilia is controversial .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ For speculations about possible family relationships, see Nina Mekacher: The vestal virgins in the Roman Empire , Wiesbaden 2006, p. 112 and note 961.
  2. ↑ Cassius Dio 80 (79), 9.3.
  3. ↑ Nina Mekacher: The Vestal Virgins in the Roman Empire , Wiesbaden 2006, p 191 Note 1587;. see. P. 39f. and note 281.
  4. ↑ For the chronology see Martin Frey: Investigations on Religion and Religious Policy of the Emperor Elagabal , Stuttgart 1989, pp. 88–93, 102; Martijn Icks: The Crimes of Elagabalus , London 2011, p. 32.
  5. ↑ Martin Frey: Studies on Religion and Religious Policy of Emperor Elagabal , Stuttgart 1989, p. 87f. Note 3.
  6. ↑ Ruth Stepper: Augustus et sacerdos , Stuttgart 2003, pp. 181-183, 234.
  7. ↑ Martin Frey: Studies on Religion and Religious Policy of the Emperor Elagabal , Stuttgart 1989, pp. 102-104.
  8. ↑ Cassius Dio 80 (79), 9.3; Herodian 5,6,2.
  9. ↑ Martin Frey: Studies on Religion and Religious Policy of the Emperor Elagabal , Stuttgart 1989, pp. 87–92; Ruth Stepper: Augustus et sacerdos , Stuttgart 2003, pp. 181-183; Martijn Icks: The Crimes of Elagabalus , London 2011, pp. 32-34; Nina Mekacher: The vestal virgins in the Roman Empire , Wiesbaden 2006, pp. 190–192.
  10. ↑ See also Martin Frey: Investigations on Religion and Religious Policy of Emperor Elagabal , Stuttgart 1989, pp. 96f., 103f .; Martijn Icks: The Crimes of Elagabalus , London 2011, p. 38.
  11. ↑ For the chronology of the separation from Aquilia and the second marriage to her, see Martin Frey: Investigations on Religion and Religious Policy of the Emperor Elagabal , Stuttgart 1989, pp. 96–98.
  12. ↑ Max Wegner : Iulia Cornelia Paula, Iulia Aquilia Severa, Annia Faustina . In: Heinz Bernhard Wiggers , Max Wegner: Caracalla, Geta, Plautilla. Macrinus to Balbinus (= Max Wegner (Ed.): Das Roman Herrscherbild , Division 3 Volume 1), Berlin 1971, pp. 167–176, here: 168–170, 173f.
  13. ↑ Lee Ann Riccardi advocates the hypothesis: The Mutilation of the Bronze Portrait of a Severan Empress from Sparta: 'Damnatio Memoriae' or Christian Iconoclasm? In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department 113, 1998, pp. 259–269, here: 268f. and Eleni Kourinou Pikoula: The Bronze Portrait Statue NM 23321 from Sparta . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens 96, 2001, pp. 425-429.
personal data
SURNAME Aquilia Severa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Julia Aquilia Severa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION second and fourth wife of the Roman emperor Elagabal
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century or 3rd century
DATE OF DEATH after 221