Julia Domna – Roman Empress Wife of Emperor Septimius Severus 193-211 A.D. –
Silver Denarius 19mm  Rome mint. Struck under Caracalla circa 211-215 A.D.
Reference: RIC IV 390 (Caracalla); RSC 230; Sear 7108
Certification: NGC Ancients  AU  4284709-184
IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped bust right, hair arranged in waves and coiled at the back.
VESTA, Vesta standing left holding palladium and scepter.

The helmet-like coiffeur Julia Domna adopts in her later years is most probably an elaborate wig. A tiny curl of her actual hair is visible against her cheek. This portrait type faithfully recreates the marble effigy of her widely circulated throughout the empire, down to the little side curl.

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Vesta, one of the great Roman divinities, identical with the Greek Hestia, both in name and import. She was the goddess of the hearth, and therefore inseparably connected with the Penates ; for Aeneas was believed .to have brought the eternal fire of Vesta from Troy, along with the images of the Penates; and the praetors, consuls, and dictators, before entering upon their official functions, sacrificed, not only to the Penates, but also to Vesta at Lavinium. In the ancient Roman house, the hearth was the central part, and around it all the inmates daily assembled for their common meal (coena) ; every meal thus taken was a fresh bond of union and affection among the members of a family, and at the same time an act of worship of Vesta, combined with a sacrifice to her and the Penates. Every dwelling-house therefore was, in some sense, a temple of Vesta ; but a public sanctuary united all the citizens of the state into one large family. This sanctuary stood in the Forum, between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, and not far from the temple of the Penates. The temple was round with a vaulted roof, like the impluvium of private houses, so that there is no reason to regard that form as an imitation of the vault of heaven. The goddess was not represented in her temple by a statue, but the eternal fire burning on her hearth or altar was her living symbol, and was kept up and attended to by the Vestals, her virgin priestesses. As each house, and the city itself, so also the country had its own Vesta, and the latter was worshipped at Lavinium, the metropolis of the Latins, where she was worshipped and received the regular sacrifices at the hands of the highest magistrates. The goddess herself was regarded as chaste and pure like her symbol, the fire ; and the Vestals who kept up the sacred fire were likewise pure maidens. On the 1st of March in every year her sacred fire, and the laurel tree which shaded her hearth, were renewed, and on the 15th of June her temple was cleaned and purified. The dirt was carried into an angiportus behind the temple, which was locked by a gate that no one might enter it. The day on which this took place was a dies nefastus the first half of which was thought to be so inauspicious, that the priestess of Juno was not allowed to comb her hair or to cut her nails, while the second half was very favourable to contracting a marriage or entering upon other important undertakings. A few days before that solemnity, on the 9th of June, the Vestalia was celebrated in honour of the goddess, on which occasion none but women walked to the temple, and that with bare feet.

In Greek and Roman mythology, the palladium or palladion was a cult image of great antiquity on which the safety of Troy and later Rome was said to depend, the wooden statue (xoanon) of Pallas Athena that Odysseus and Diomedes stole from the citadel of Troy and which was later taken to the future site of Rome by Aeneas. The Roman story is related in Virgil’s Aeneid and other works. This statue, three cubits in height, held a lance in the right hand, a shield on the left arm. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who follows the Grecian figment that it was the gift if heaven to the Trojans, adds that Aeneas possessed himself of it and conveyed it to Italy, with his household gods (Penates). It was said to have long been preserved in the Temple of Vesta, at Rome and many medals represent that goddess seated, with the Palladium in her hand.

That the Palladium was preserved in the Temple if Vesta, at Rome, is a fact considered by Eckhel, to be typified on a brass medallion of Lucilla, Empress if Lucius Verus, on which, without epigraph, appears a temple, in which is an idol and before which six female figures are sacrificing at a lighted altar.  It is narrated by Val. Maximus that, at the burning of the temple of Vesta, Metellus preserved the Palladium, which was snatched unharmed from out of the midst of the conflagration.  Lucan, Herodian, and Livy, confirm this statement; the last named writer says – “Quid de asternis Vestae ignibus signoque quod imperii pignus custodia ejus templi tenetur, loquar?” – [“Why need I speak of the eternal fire of Vesta, and of the statue (i.e. Palladium) which is preserved, as a pledge of the empire’s safety, in the sanctuary of her temple?”]

The Palladium borne by Aeneas in his right hand whilst he carries Anchises on his shoulders, appears on coins from the moneyers Cecilia and Julia and on denarii of Julius Caesar. – Minerva also holds it on some imperial medals – It appears in the hand of Juno, on a coin of Julia Soemias.  In the hands of Vesta, it is placed, on coins of Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, and Antonine; and also on medals of the faustinas and other Empresses. – Also in the hand of Venus, on a coin of Faustina jun.  The Palladium also is seen in the right hand of the Genius or Rome, on coins of Vespasian, Domitian, Antoninus Pius and constantius Chlorus. – It also appears in the right hand of Annona, on a silver medal of Titus, as indicating the popular belief that so long as that image was preserved the Roman empire would flourish.

In English, since around 1600, the word palladium has been used figuratively to mean anything believed to provide protection or safety, and in particular in Christian contexts a sacred relic or icon believed to have a protective role in military contexts for a whole city, people or nation. Such beliefs first become prominent in the Eastern church in the period after the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, and later spread to the Western church. Palladia were carried in procession around the walls of besieged cities and sometimes carried into battle.

Julia Domna – Augusta 193-217 A.D.

| Wife of Septimius Severus | Mother of Caracalla and Geta | Sister of Julia Maesa | Aunt of Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea |  Great-aunt of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander | Mother-in-law of Plautilla |

Julia Domna, (Latin: Iulia Domna; c. 170 AD – 217 AD) was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Geta and Caracalla, Julia was famous for her prodigious learning as well as her extraordinary political influence.

Family background

Julia Domna was born in Emesa (known today as Homs) in Syria. She was the youngest daughter of the high-priest of Ba’al Gaius Julius Bassianus and sister to Julia Maesa, and she had two nieces: Julia Mamaea, mother of Severus Alexander, and Julia Soaemias, mother of Elagabalus. Her ancestors were Priest Kings of the famous temple of Elagabalus. The family had enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy. Before her marriage, Julia inherited the estate of her paternal great-uncle Julius Agrippa, a former leading Centurion.

Reign

In the late 180s, Julia married future emperor Septimius Severus, usually considered to be of Punic background. They had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla) in 188 and Publius Septimius Geta in 189. Because of her love of philosophy, Julia protected philosophers and helped philosophy to flourish in Rome. She was an imperial woman from 193-217 CE as wife to the emperor Septimius Severus and mother to emperors Geta (murdered by Caracalla in 211 CE) and Caracalla (r. 211-217 CE). Julia Domna died shortly after her son Caracalla was murdered.

Civil War or “Year of the Five Emperors”

After Commodus was murdered without an heir in 192 CE, many contenders rushed for the throne. An elder senator, Pertinax, was appointed by the praetorian guard. When Pertinax would not meet the guard’s demands of payment, his son-in-law Iulianus was called to Rome. After bribing the guard, Iulianus was appointed emperor, and Pertinax was murdered. Septimius Severus, coming from the north into Rome, overthrew Iulianus and had him executed. Septimius claimed the title of emperor in 193, and co-ruled Rome with Clodius Albinus until 195 CE when Septimius declared his sons AVGVSTVS, and defeated Albinus and his British legions. Septimius remained at war with an eastern rival to the throne, Niger, until he defeated Niger’s forces in 201 CE. Julia Domna and her sons accompanied Septimius in his campaigns in the East. During this time, titles were granted to Julia Domna reminiscent of titles given to Faustina the Younger, including MATER CASTORVM, or mother of the camp, MATER AVGVSTVS, mother of Augustus, and MATER PATRIAE, or mother of the fatherland.

Imperial Building Project: The aedes Vestae

The fire of Commodus in 192 CE destroyed areas of the aedes Vestae which includes the Temple of Vesta and the home, or Atrium, of the Vestal Virgins. Based on numismatic evidence, historical authors, and a laconic inscription found in situ, most scholars agree that Julia Domna funded restorations to the site during Septimius Severus’s reign.

Controversy and transition of power

As empress, Julia was often involved in intrigues and had plenty of political enemies, who accused her of treason and adultery. None of these accusations was proven. Severus continued to favour his wife and insisted on her company in the campaign against the Britons that started in 208. When Severus died in 211 in Eboracum (York), Julia became the mediator between their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who were to rule as joint emperors, according to their father’s wishes expressed in his will. The two young men were never fond of each other and quarrelled frequently. Geta was murdered by Caracalla’s soldiers in the same year.

Caracalla was now sole emperor, but his relations with his mother were difficult, as attested by several sources, probably because of his involvement in Geta’s murder. Nevertheless, Julia accompanied Caracalla in his campaign against the Parthian empire in 217.

During this trip, Caracalla was assassinated and succeeded (briefly) by Macrinus. Julia chose to commit suicide after hearing about the rebellion, perhaps a decision hastened by the fact that she was suffering from breast cancer. Her body was brought to Rome and placed in the Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris (perhaps a separate chamber in the Mausoleum of Augustus). Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were transferred by her sister Julia Maesa to the Mausoleum of Hadrian. She was later deified.

Apollonius

If it were not for Julia, there would have survived little information about the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana. It was at the behest of Julia that Philostratus wrote his now famous Life of Apollonius of Tyana. Julia is thought to have died before Philostratus could finish his work of eight volumes.