Julia Domna

Bust of Julia Domna in the Museo Chiaramonti . As usual, the empress wears a wig.

Julia Domna († spring 217 in Antiocheia ) was the second wife of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) and the mother of the emperors Caracalla (211-217) and Geta (co-ruler 211).

Julia Domna was from Syria . After the death of her husband, she could not prevent the power struggle between her two sons. Caracalla used her willingness to mediate to lure his brother into a trap; in an alleged reconciliation talk, he had Geta murdered in Julia's presence. Under the subsequent sole rule of Caracalla, she was still highly honored, and was worshiped like a goddess during her lifetime. After Caracalla was assassinated on April 8, 217, she chose to voluntarily starve to death. The fictitious legend of Juliet's sexual relationship with Caracalla occupied the imagination of posterity.

Life

Origin, marriage and motherhood

Julia Domna came from a very rich and respected family in the Syrian city of Emesa (now Homs ). Her father Julius Bassianus exercised the office of high priest of the sun god Elagabal , which was hereditary in the family. The Elagabal cult played a central role in the religious life of the city.

The name Domna is of Semitic origin. Its correspondence with the Latin word dom (i) na (mistress) is accidental; it is not, as was previously assumed, a Latinization of the Aramaic name Martha ("mistress").

Bust of Septimius Severus
Glyptothek , Munich

When Juliet's marriage to the future emperor Septimius Severus was decided, his rise was not yet in sight. Severus, who came from Leptis Magna in North Africa, served in the early 1980s as a legate of a legion stationed in Syria , the Legio IIII Scythica . It was probably during this stay in Syria that he came into contact with the family of his future wife. He is said to have chosen Julia as his wife because her horoscope promised her a ruler as a husband. This tradition can have a historical core, because Severus placed great value on omens and divination throughout his life. But it can also be a subsequent invention, the author of which was then Severus himself.

For Severus it was the second marriage. From 186 he was governor of the province of Gallia Lugdunensis . So Julia had to move from her Syrian homeland to Gaul . The wedding took place in Lugdunum - today's Lyon - in 187 . Lugdunum was the administrative seat of the Gallia Lugdunensis.

On April 4, 188 Julia's first son Caracalla was born in Lugdunum. After the governorship in Gaul ended, the family moved to Rome. The younger son Geta was born there on March 7, 189. In addition, Severus is said to have had two daughters from his first marriage. When he became governor of the province of Upper Pannonia in 191 , he had to leave his children behind in Rome. It is unknown whether Julia also stayed in Rome or lived with her husband in Upper Pannonia.

In the course of the turmoil of the " second year of the Four Emperors " in 193, Severus reached for the dignity of emperor, since the emperor Didius Julianus , who was installed by the Praetorians in Rome , had little authority. On April 9, 193, Severus was proclaimed emperor by his troops in Carnuntum . He then moved to Italy, where he quickly established himself. He entered Rome on June 9th. Julia now received the title Augusta .

Role as empress

Julia Domna with her husband and their still childish sons on a contemporary tondo , Antikensammlung Berlin . Geta's face was obliterated after he was murdered.

An aureus Julias, on the back her two sons

As empress, Julia accompanied her husband on several trips and campaigns. In the civil war with the counter-emperor Pescennius Niger (193–194), the imperial family went to Asia Minor , where the military decision was made. The imperial family's second stay in the Orient, connected with Severus' first Parthian War, lasted from 195 to 196 . Since April 14, 195 or 196, the empress had the honorary title of mater castrorum ("mother of the camp") based on the model of Faustina , the wife of the emperor Mark Aurel , whose adopted son Severus claimed to be. As early as 197 Severus went with his family again to the east to carry out another campaign against the Parthians. This time the stay in the Orient lasted several years. In 199 the imperial family traveled to Egypt, where they stayed until 200. She did not return to Rome until 202. 202-203 the family stayed in Severus' North African homeland. He also took his wife and two sons with him during the emperor's last military venture, the campaign in Britain , which lasted from 208 to 211 .

In the public self-portrayal of Severus, the dynastic idea and thus the imperial family played a central role, as coins and arches of honor show. The public was given the image of a harmonious, exemplary ruling family that guaranteed continuity and stability. The "eternity of (imperial) rule" (aeternitas imperii) - a newly introduced expression related to the dynasty - was proclaimed on coins and the "eternal harmony" (concordia aeterna) emphasized. In this context, the empress assumed the role of a symbol of happiness (felicitas) and harmony (concordia) .

The temple of Vesta , which was rebuilt after a fire under Severus, was only depicted on Juliet's coins, not on those of the emperor . Whether it can be concluded from this that the reconstruction was under their leadership is controversial. The very large number of honorary inscriptions for Julia from both the reign of Severus and Caracallas is striking; no other empress has received more honors.

A dangerous opponent of Juliet was the Praetorian prefect Plautian , a compatriot of the emperor from his Libyan hometown Leptis Magna , who achieved an extraordinary position of power. His influence was so great that in April 202 Severus married the heir to the throne Caracalla against his will to Plautian's daughter Fulvia Plautilla . Plautian could even afford to be disrespectful to the empress. He collected alleged incriminating material with which he wanted to prove that she was indecent, and intrigued against her with the emperor. As a result, she was put on the defensive and was temporarily forced to a withdrawn way of life. The tide did not turn until 205 when Caracalla succeeded in intriguing to overthrow the Praetorian prefect and have him killed. After Plautian was eliminated, Julia was able to expand her influence. The following years were overshadowed by the conflict between her two sons. Caracalla and Geta were to rule together, according to their father's will, but they hated and fought one another. All attempts to reconcile the two were unsuccessful.

The crisis year 211

After Septimius Severus died on February 4, 211 during the British campaign in Eboracum (now York ), Caracalla and Geta took over the rule. They broke off the campaign and returned to Rome with Julia. Because of the brethren's mortal enmity, the empire was heading for civil war. The historian Herodian reports that a division of the empire had even been considered, with Geta receiving the eastern half of the empire; allegedly Julia opposed this plan and brought it to failure. But it is unlikely that such a plan existed; if he existed, he had no chance from the start, for Caracalla was determined to achieve sole rule.

In December 211, Caracalla finally managed to lure the brother into an ambush. He feigned willingness to negotiate and persuaded Julia to invite Geta to a reconciliation talk. Recklessly, Geta thought he was safe from his brother in the presence of his mother and appeared without his bodyguard. Caracalla immediately had him killed in the arms of the unsuspecting Julia, injuring her too. Then the damnatio memoriae was imposed on Geta . Those who mourned him had to pay with their lives. Julia was also not allowed to show any sadness.

Role under Caracalla

Caracalla bust in the
Pushkin Museum

After Geta's murder, the relationship between Julia and Caracalla was probably irreversibly broken. Outwardly, however, she was still highly honored; she had her own court and a bodyguard made up of Praetorians . Their honors exceeded the extent previously granted to the empresses. On inscriptions and on coins, Julia was called not only the mother of the camp, but also the mother of the Senate and the fatherland; she was the first member of an imperial family to receive this extended honorary title. She was the first woman to be honored with the title Pia Felix , which had previously only appeared in the male form Pius Felix in the imperial title. Their task was to examine the petitions and deal with the Latin and Greek correspondence of the emperor. To what extent she was able to influence the administration of the Reich is not known. Caracalla was primarily interested in military affairs, but it is unlikely that he left administration largely to his mother's discretion; rather, he reserved all essential decisions. Cassius Dio claims that Julia disapproved of the heavy burden on the state budget caused by Caracalla's generosity towards the soldiers and reproached him for this, but achieved nothing. In other respects, too, she had repeatedly given him wise advice, which he did not heed.

Cultural activity

Julia was very open to the spiritual life. Even during her husband's lifetime, a group of writers and philosophers formed around her. Among them was the writer Flavius ​​Philostratos , who wrote a biography of the New Pythagorean philosopher Apollonios of Tyana , which, according to him, happened at Julia's request. However, he only completed the novel-like work after her death. Philostratus referred to the empress as a philosopher and mentioned that she valued and encouraged rhetorical activity and placed particular emphasis on a cultivated literary style. In a letter to Julia, whose authenticity, which was previously doubted, is now considered certain, he compared her with the famous Athenian Aspasia . The letter gives an impression of the interests of the literary group: Philostratus defended the sophists , especially the famous orator Gorgias von Leontinoi , and their lavish, artistic style against criticism by Plutarch . Apparently Julia preferred a simpler style. The letter assumes that the empress had sufficient education to understand and appreciate Philostratus' literary references. However, there is a possibility that he did not send the letter.

The intellectuals used to accompany the Empress on trips. In addition to Philostratus, the group included the sophist Philiskos of Thessaly, for whom Julia made the rhetoric chair in Athens, and probably the later emperor Gordian I ; no other names are known.

Last stay in the Orient and death

Coin portrait of Juliet

In 214, Caracalla went with his mother to the east, where he wanted to start a new war against the Parthians. While he undertook an unproductive campaign in 216 and spent the following winter in Edessa , Julia stayed in the city of Antiochia. There she received the news of the death of her son; On April 8, 217, Caracalla fell victim to an assassination attempt organized by the Praetorian prefect Macrinus . Macrinus was proclaimed emperor by the army.

With Caracalla's death, Severus and Julia's male offspring died out. The arrival of the new emperor Macrinus meant a change of dynasty, the Severan family was disempowered. Julia inflicted a chest injury to herself out of pain about these processes. Macrinus treated her generously at first. He sent her a friendly letter and left her with her court and bodyguard. Thereupon she is said to have drawn hope of a turning point. Macrinus had little support in the army, but Caracalla had enjoyed great popularity with the soldiers. Therefore, Julia assessed the new emperor as weak and did not answer his letter. She planned to get rid of him and then return to a role at the center of power. When Macrinus saw that she was acting against him, he ordered her to leave Antiocheia. Thereupon she took no more food until she died - apparently in the spring of 217. Allegedly she chose death because of the permanent loss of her closeness to power; An exacerbation of her breast cancer is also said to have played a role.

iconography

Septimius Severus and Julia Domna on the Argentarian Arch

Iconographically, the extent of the reverence of the empress can be recognized by the fact that her representation was already adapted to that of a deity during her lifetime. “Theomorphic” (god-shaped) portraits show Julia as Ceres or Juno , Victoria , Tyche or as the moon goddess Luna . This means that those who commissioned such representations identified them with the goddess or understood them as their visualization. Theomorphic portraits are no evidence of official deification during lifetime. An equation of Juliet with the sky goddess (Dea Caelestis) is only clearly attested on a private dedicatory inscription .

The beginnings of deification and cultic veneration of the living emperor go back to the early imperial era, the involvement of the imperial family is attested as early as the 1st century. So it is not a novelty of the Severers . For the time of Severus a widespread assimilation of gods can be observed, which extended to the entirety of the imperial family, the domus divina . However, it was mostly just a vague assignment to a divine area. Only in a minority of cases was a living person directly deified by being specifically and specifically identified with a deity. The inscribed evidence of cultic veneration comes only from the provinces, not from Rome or Italy. For the empress the assimilation of gods was more common than for the emperor. The portrayal of Julia Domna as a deity during her lifetime was mostly on local initiative. A planned control of local activities on the part of the imperial family is not discernible.

reception

Third century

Julia Domna's plan to overthrow Macrinus had failed in the early stages. Her energetic and power-conscious sister Julia Maesa , the grandmother of the future emperors Elagabal and Severus Alexander, was more successful . She did not accept the new circumstances, but agitated against Macrinus. Elagabal was passed off as the illegitimate son of Caracalla. As early as the spring of 218, troops devoted to the Severer dynasty were able to rebel, overthrow Macrinus and make Elagabal, who was only fourteen years old, the new emperor. Julia Maesa thus played a key political role.

The body of Julia Domna was brought to Rome and buried there in the Augustus mausoleum , but later, at the instigation of Julia Maesa, transferred to Hadrian's mausoleum , where Septimius Severus was buried. She was elevated to a deity as part of the imperial cult ; this perhaps already happened under Macrinus, at the latest under Elagabal.

The contemporary historians Cassius Dio and Herodian paint a generally positive picture of Julia. Cassius Dio, who was well informed as a senator, portrays her as a shrewd advisor devoted to philosophy; with Herodian she stands up boldly for the unity of the empire and prevents its division.

Even during Caracalla's lifetime, rumors apparently circulated that he had a sexual relationship with his mother after his father's death. The residents of the city of Alexandria , Egypt, known to be ridiculous, compared Julia Domna to Iokaste , mother of the mythical king Oedipus , who killed his father and then married his mother. It was a slander spread by opponents of Caracalla. In reality, the relationship between mother and son was severely strained after Geta's death, and, according to Cassius Dio's report, she even hated Caracalla. Incest was a topos of the portrayal of tyrants and was already subordinated to Nero .

Late antiquity

From the 4th century onwards, the gossip about Julia's alleged sexual relationship with her son was widely believed; it was adopted and disseminated by many authors and, in the process, imaginatively transformed, expanded and embellished. Most of the late antique historians, including Aurelius Victor , Eutropius and the unknown author of the Epitome de Caesaribus , made Julia Domna the stepmother Caracallas and claimed that he had married her. According to this tradition he was a son of Paccia Marciana, the first wife of Severus, only Geta came from the marriage of the emperor to Julia. The marriage legend was also adopted by the author of the Historia Augusta , a collection of imperial biographies, reproducing it in different versions. In Severus' biography he claimed that Julia was not a stepmother but that Caracalla married his birth mother. In the biography of Caracalla, however, he referred to her as a stepmother who married Caracalla after he had shortly before murdered her biological son Geta. The legend of the marriage with the stepmother found faith among Christian authors of the patristic time; Orosius and Hieronymus have taken them over. She permanently shaped the image of Caracalla as an unrestrained monster.

In Aurelius Victor and in the Caracalla biography of the Historia Augusta , Julia appears as a shameless woman who seduces the stepson. Such descriptions apparently corresponded to the expectations of the reading public. As a justification, it was put in her mouth that what he wanted was allowed to him. This was an allusion to the legal principle that the emperor is not bound by certain statutory provisions or - generalized - is above the law. The famous lawyer Ulpian , a contemporary of Caracalla, expressed this idea with the later famous words “The emperor is released from the laws” (Princeps legibus solutus est) . In the early days of the Principate , the special legal position of the emperor was specifically concerned with his dispensation from individual civil law provisions, but in Caracalla's time the principle of a supra-legal position of the ruler had become generally applicable.

Julia Domna was also accused of adultery and conspiracy by authors of late antiquity. These allegations are likely to be free inventions. The starting point for the creation of the legend was possibly the message handed down by Cassius Dio that Plautian, as a bitter enemy of Juliet, had investigated her way of life in order to denigrate her husband.

The Historia Augusta claims that Severus' decision to start the civil war with his rival Clodius Albinus was primarily due to Juliet's influence. Albinus had hoped for the imperial dignity in 193, but Severus had accepted the title of Caesar and the prospect of a successor. This regulation became obsolete when Severus clearly indicated in 195/196 that he reserved the succession of his sons. Therefore the civil war between Severus and Albinus, which had been avoided in 193, broke out.

Early modern age

At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, an unknown English poet wrote the Latin university drama Antoninus Bassianus Caracalla in iambic senars . He let Caracalla and Julia Domna get married. Since Julia is Caracallas' birth mother in this drama, it is an incest .

Edward Gibbon drew a very favorable picture of Julia in the 18th century . He said she had an extraordinary steadfastness of mind and judgment, exercised a steering function in affairs of state with prudence and moderation, and distinguished herself by promoting culture.

Modern

Until the 20th century, modern historians held the now outdated view that with the appearance of Julia Domna in the center of the Roman Empire a fateful orientalization had set in, which had intensified in the later Severan period. Such a picture was drawn, for example, by Franz Altheim (1952), who emphasized Julia's influence and her oriental mentality. He said that without Julia the rule of Severus and Caracallas would be "unthinkable". Ernst Kornemann (1958) also assumed an orientalization connected with Julia's role; characteristic is the "dynastic position of the imperial house elevated into the divine", which "in a real Hellenistic-oriental way puts women in the foreground". Julia had "most sustainably influenced" the development of the empire. Alfred Heuss (1960) also rated the importance of the empress very highly . He assessed her positively, however, because he saw in Julia Domna and the female members of her family an important stabilizing factor. They had succeeded "in preventing the empire from becoming the plaything of disparate forces after the death of Severus, which it was to give up with little interruptions during the next half century". Erich Kettenhofen (1979) emphasized the continuity of the development of the imperial term ruler; he stated that a “break-in of oriental concepts of rule and cult forms” under the influence of Syrian women was “difficult to prove”. Karl Christ (1988) was of the opinion that Julia Domna was "already strongly Romanized"; It was only with her sister Julia Maesa and her descendants that the influence of the oriental mentality in Rome "had an impact on world history".

Julia Domna's biographer Barbara Levick (2007) comes to the conclusion that the historical significance of the empress is not based on her personal initiative and her individual decisions. In Levick's view, it was more important that Julia reliably fulfilled the prominent role that she had to play in the public self-portrayal of the dynasty and that her loyalty made an important contribution to stabilizing the precarious rule of the Severi.

literature

• Annelise Freisenbruch: Caesars' Wives. Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire. Free Press, New York 2010, ISBN 978-1-4165-8303-5 , pp. 179-201.
• Erich Kettenhofen : The Syrian Augustae in the historical tradition. A contribution to the problem of orientalization. Habelt, Bonn 1979, ISBN 3-7749-1466-4 .
• Julie Langford: Maternal Megalomania. Julia Domna and the Imperial Politics of Motherhood. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2013, ISBN 978-1-4214-0847-7 .
• Barbara Levick : Julia Domna. Syrian Empress. Routledge, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-415-33143-2 .
• Sonja Nadolny: The Severan imperial women . Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-515-11311-3
• Arthur Stein , Leiva Petersen (ed.): Prosopographia Imperii Romani . 2nd Edition. Part 4, de Gruyter, Berlin 1952-1966, pp. 312-315 (I 663).

iconography

• Klaus Fittschen , Paul Zanker : Catalog of the Roman portraits in the Capitoline Museums and the other municipal collections of the city of Rome. Volume 3. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-8053-0582-6 , text volume p. 27–30, table volume panels 38–40 (No. 28–31)

Web links

Commons : Julia Domna  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ On the family background, see Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, pp. 6–22; Willem J. Zwalve: In re Iulius Agrippa's Estate . In: Lukas de Blois (ed.): Administration, Prosopography and Appointment Policies in the Roman Empire , Amsterdam 2001, pp. 154–166, here: 162–165.
2. ^ Anthony R. Birley : The African Emperor. Septimius Severus , 2nd, expanded edition, London 1988, pp. 72, 222; Erich Kettenhofen: The Syrian Augustae in the historical tradition , Bonn 1979, pp. 76-78; Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 18.
3. ↑ Historia Augusta , Vita Severi 3.9 and Vita Getae 3.1. Cf. Elisabeth Wallinger: The women in the Historia Augusta , Vienna 1990, p. 84 f.
4. ^ Anthony R. Birley: The African Emperor. Septimius Severus , 2nd expanded edition, London 1988, p. 75.
5. ↑ Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 31.
6. ↑ For the date see Géza Alföldy : Nox dea fit lux! Caracalla's birthday . In: Giorgio Bonamente, Marc Mayer (eds.): Historiae Augustae Colloquium Barcinonense , Bari 1996, pp. 9–36, here: 31–36.
7. ↑ This dating is the predominant one in recent research, see Anthony R. Birley : The African Emperor. Septimius Severus , 2nd, extended edition, London 1988, p. 218. Florian Krüpe represents a different dating (May 27): Die Damnatio memoriae , Gutenberg 2011, p. 13, 177. For the place of birth see Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 32.
8. ↑ Historia Augusta , Vita Severi 8.1.
9. ↑ Michael Louis Meckler: Caracalla and his late-antique biographer , Ann Arbor 1994, p. 5 and note 22.
10. ↑ On this title Julias see Erich Kettenhofen: Die syrischen Augustae in der historical Tradition , Bonn 1979, p. 78 f.
11. ↑ On the dating - only the day, not the year is clearly certain - see Matthäus Heil : Clodius Albinus and the civil war of 197 . In: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer (Ed.): Statehood and Political Action in the Roman Empire , Berlin 2006, pp. 55–85, here: pp. 73 f.
12. ↑ On the trip to Africa and its dating see Anthony R. Birley: The African Emperor. Septimius Severus , 2nd, expanded edition, London 1988, pp. 146-154.
13. ↑ Achim Lichtenberger : Severus Pius Augustus , Leiden 2011, pp. 225 f., 247.
14. ^ Charmaine Gorrie: Julia Domna's Building Patronage, Imperial Family Roles and the Severan Revival of Moral Legislation . In: Historia 53, 2004, pp. 61-72; Achim Lichtenberger: Severus Pius Augustus , Leiden 2011, pp. 282–290; Nina Mekacher: The vestal virgins in the Roman Empire , Wiesbaden 2006, p. 85, note 747.
15. ↑ Erich Kettenhofen: The Syrian Augustae in the historical tradition , Bonn 1979, p. 134, 142; Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, pp. 66, 68.
16. ↑ Cassius Dio 76 (75), 15: 6-7. When specifying some of the books of Cassius Dio's work, different counts are used; a different book count is given here and below in brackets.
17. ↑ Herodian 4,3,5-9.
18. ^ Julia Sünskes Thompson: Uprising and protest actions in the Imperium Romanum , Bonn 1990, p. 63; Géza Alföldy: The Crisis of the Roman Empire , Stuttgart 1989, pp. 190–192, 213 f.
19. ↑ For the dating see Anthony R. Birley: The African Emperor. Septimius Severus , 2nd, expanded edition, London 1988, p. 189; Helmut Halfmann : Two Syrian relatives of the Severan imperial family . In: Chiron 12, 1982, pp. 217-235, here: 229 f .; Michael Louis Meckler: Caracalla and his late-antique biographer , Ann Arbor 1994, pp. 15, 109-112; Florian Krüpe: The Damnatio memoriae , Gutenberg 2011, pp. 13, 195–197; Géza Alföldy: The Crisis of the Roman Empire , Stuttgart 1989, p. 179.
20. ↑ Cassius Dio 78 (77), 2.5-6.
21. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 23.1 and 79 (78), 24.1.
22. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 23.2.
23. ↑ Emily A. Hemelrijk: Matrona docta , London 1999, p. 304, note 113.
24. ↑ It is unclear whether she was already given the extended title under Severus; see Charmaine Gorrie: Julia Domna's Building Patronage, Imperial Family Roles and the Severan Revival of Moral Legislation . In: Historia 53, 2004, pp. 61–72, here: p. 64 and note 16. Cf. Wolfgang Kuhoff : Iulia Aug. mater Aug. n. Et castrorum et senatus et patriae . In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 97, 1993, pp. 259-271 and Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, pp. 93 f. Kuhoff connects the creation of the new title with the situation after the fall of Plautian.
25. ↑ Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 94 f.
26. ↑ Cassius Dio 78 (77), 18.2.
27. ↑ See also Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 96 f.
28. ↑ Cassius Dio 78 (77), 10.4; 78 (77), 18.1-2.
29. ↑ Philostratos, Vitae sophistarum 2,30.
30. ^ Philostratos, Vita Apollonii 1,3.
31. ↑ Philostratos, letter 73. For content and authenticity see Emily A. Hemelrijk: Matrona docta , London 1999, p. 124 f. and note 121; Jaap-Jan Flinterman: Power, paideia & Pythagoreanism , Amsterdam 1995, p. 13 and note 60, p. 14.
32. ↑ Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 110 f.
33. ↑ On the circle of intellectuals see Emily A. Hemelrijk: Matrona docta , London 1999, pp. 122–128; Glen Bowersock : Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire , Oxford 1969, pp. 5, 12, 101-109; Jaap-Jan Flinterman: Power, paideia & Pythagoreanism , Amsterdam 1995, pp. 22-25; Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, pp. 107–123 and Anne Daguet-Gagey: Septime Sévère , Paris 2000, pp. 394–396.
34. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 4.2-3; 79 (78), 23.1; Herodian 4.13.8.
35. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 23.1 and 79 (78), 23.6.
36. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 23.2 f.
37. ^ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 2-6. Compare Herodian 4,13,8. Herodian's version that she may have acted on orders is not believed to be credible.
38. ↑ Achim Lichtenberger: Severus Pius Augustus , Leiden 2011, pp. 10, 106 f., 210-213, 225, 351-359, 367-376. See Rendel Schlüter: Die Bildnisse der Kaiserin Iulia Domna , Münster 1971, pp. 76-78; Francesca Ghedini: Giulia Domna tra Oriente e Occidente. Le fonti archeologiche , Rome 1984, pp. 125-156.
39. ↑ Achim Lichtenberger: Severus Pius Augustus , Leiden 2011, pp. 319–321; Manfred Clauss : Kaiser und Gott , Stuttgart 1999, p. 41–151, on the family p. 117.
40. ↑ Achim Lichtenberger: Severus Pius Augustus , Leiden 2011, pp. 320–383; Manfred Clauss: Kaiser and Gott , Stuttgart 1999, pp. 152–175. Cf. Francesca Ghedini: Giulia Domna tra Oriente e Occidente. Le fonti archeologiche , Rome 1984, pp. 123-125.
41. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 24.3.
42. ↑ On the dating of the deification see James Frank Gilliam : On Divi under the Severi. In: Jacqueline Bibauw (Ed.): Hommages à Marcel Renard , Vol. 2, Bruxelles 1969, pp. 284–289, here: 286 f., 289.
43. ↑ Cassius Dio 78 (77), 18.2 f .; Herodian 4,3,5-9. See Emily A. Hemelrijk: Matrona docta , London 1999, p. 306, note 130.
44. ↑ Cassius Dio 79 (78), 23.1.
45. ↑ Robert J. Penella speaks of a "Neronization" of Caracalla in the legendary tradition: Caracalla and his mother in the Historia Augusta . In: Historia 29, 1980, pp. 382-384, here: 383 f. Cf. Gabriele Marasco: Giulia Domna, Caracalla e Geta: frammenti di tragedia alla corte dei Severi . In: L'Antiquité Classique 65, 1996, pp. 119-134, here: 119-126.
46. ↑ Aurelius Victor 21: 2-3; Eutropius 8,20,1; Epitome de Caesaribus 21.5.
47. ↑ Historia Augusta , Vita Severi 21.7.
48. ↑ Historia Augusta , Vita Caracallae 10.1–4.
49. ↑ Orosius 7.18.2; Hieronymus, chronicle for the year 216. See Gabriele Marasco on the creation of legends from late antiquity: Giulia Domna, Caracalla e Geta: frammenti di tragedia alla corte dei Severi . In: L'Antiquité Classique 65, 1996, pp. 119-134, here: 126-134; Elisabeth Wallinger: The women in the Historia Augusta , Vienna 1990, pp. 86–88.
50. ^ Okko Behrends: Princeps legibus solutus . In: Rainer Grote et al. (Ed.): The order of freedom , Tübingen 2007, pp. 3–20, here: 3 f., 8 f .; Dieter Wyduckel: Princeps Legibus Solutus , Berlin 1979, pp. 48-51. Cf. Gabriele Marasco: Giulia Domna, Caracalla e Geta: frammenti di tragedia alla corte dei Severi . In: L'Antiquité Classique 65, 1996, pp. 119-134, here: 129 f.
51. ↑ Historia Augusta , Vita Severi 18.8; Aurelius Victor 20.23 f.
52. ↑ Historia Augusta , Vita Clodii Albini 3.4 f. See Zeev Rubin: Civil-War Propaganda and Historiography , Bruxelles 1980, pp. 165 f.
53. ↑ Edited, translated into German and commented by Uwe Baumann: Antoninus Bassianus Caracalla , Frankfurt am Main 1984.
54. ^ Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , Vol. 1, London 1776, p. 131.
55. ↑ Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, p. 1 f .; Erich Kettenhofen: The Syrian Augustae in the historical tradition , Bonn 1979, p. 1 f., 173-176; Francesca Ghedini: Giulia Domna tra Oriente e Occidente. Le fonti archeologiche , Rome 1984, pp. 187-193.
56. ^ Franz Altheim: Niedergang der alten Welt , Vol. 2, Frankfurt am Main 1952, pp. 258–266.
57. ^ Ernst Kornemann: Große Frauen des Altertums , Bremen 1958, pp. 259, 264.
58. ^ Alfred Heuss: Roman History , Braunschweig 1960, p. 350.
59. ↑ Erich Kettenhofen: The Syrian Augustae in the historical tradition , Bonn 1979, p. 176.
60. ^ Karl Christ: History of the Roman Imperial Era , Munich 1988 (6th edition Munich 2009), p. 626.
61. ↑ Barbara Levick: Julia Domna , London 2007, pp. 87, 91 f., 158-161.

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