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Julia Domna
–
Roman Empress
Wife of
Emperor
Septimius Severus
193-211 A.D. –
Bronze 15mm (2.29 grams) of
Nicopolis ad Istrum
in Moesia Inferior
Draped bust right.
Nemean Lion (the astrological zodiac sign of Leo and the constellation)
standing right.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Hercules, made temporarily insane by the goddess Hera,
murdered his wife and children. Once recovered, and distressed by his actions,
Hercules consulted the
Delphic
Oracle to find a means of expiating his sin. As a punishment, Apollo replied
that the hero would have to serve his cousin Eurystheus, the king Tiryns, a man
whom Hercules despised, for a period of twelve years. Because Eurystheus also
hated Hercules, he devised a series of ten feats of such difficulty that they
would be either insurmountable, or Hercules would die in the attempt. Because
Hercules received assistance in completing two of the tasks, Eurystheus added
two more. Each labor became more fantastic, and eventually Hercules was
compelled to break the bonds of the supernatural in order to complete his task.
Once he accomplished the Labors, Hercules was absolved of his guilt, and
proceeded to perform many other heroic feats.The First Labor was to slay the
Nemean Lion and bring back its skin. The Nemean Lion, called thus as it had been
terrorizing the area around Nemea, had a skin so thick that it was impenetrable
to weapons. After making futile attempts to subdue it with his weapons, Hercules
cast them aside and wrestled the lion to the ground, eventually killing it by
thrusting his arm down its throat and choking it to death. Skinning the beast
was no easy task, either. After Hercules spent hours trying unsuccessfully to
skin the lion, Athena, in the guise of an old crone, appeared to him, and
convinced him to use the creature’s own claws to cut the hide. Thereafter, the
hide became the hero’s own impenetrable armor. When Eurystheus saw Hercules
wearing his new fearsome outfit, he hid in a large bronze jar, and thenceforth
commanded the hero through a herald.
Leo
is one of the
constellations
of the
zodiac
, lying between
Cancer
to the west and
Virgo
to the east. Its name is
Latin
for
lion, and to the
ancient Greeks
represented the
Nemean Lion
killed by the mythical Greek hero
Heracles
(known to the
ancient Romans
as
Hercules
) as one of his
twelve labors.
Its symbol is
( ♌). One of the 48 constellations described by the
2nd century astronomer
Ptolemy
, Leo remains one of the 88 modern
constellations today, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its many
bright stars and a distinctive shape that is reminiscent of the crouching lion
it depicts. The lion’s mane and shoulders also form an
asterism
known as “the Sickle,” which to modern
observers may resemble a backwards “question mark.”
Julia
Domna (unknown date–217)
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 among the most important women ever to exercise power
behind the throne in the Roman Empire.
//
Family
background
Julia was of Syrian origin from the ancient city of
Emesa. Her
ancestors were Kings Priest of the famous temple of
Baal. The family
lost its kingdom to Rome but continued domination of the temple of Baal. The
family had an enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy.
She was the youngest daughter of high-priest Gaius
Julius Bassianus
and her eldest sister was
Julia
Maesa
.
Reign
In the late 180s, Julia married future Emperor
Septimius Severus
who himself was in part of
Punic
background. The marriage proved to be a happy one and Severus
cherished his wife and her political opinions, since she was very well read and
keen on philosophy. Together, they had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla)
in 186 and
Publius Septimius Geta
in 189.
Civil
War
When Severus became emperor in 193 he had a civil war waiting
for him, against rivals such as
Pescennius Niger
and
Clodius Albinus
. Julia accompanied him in his campaigns in the East, an
uncommon event in a time when women were expected to wait in Rome for their
husbands. Nevertheless, she remained with the emperor and among the several
proofs of affection and favour are the minting of coins with her portrait and
the title mater castrorum (mother of the camp).
Julia now had complete power and ruled behind the Roman
Empire. Many early Romans disliked the fact of her ruling over the throne when
Septimius Severus was at war.
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 were 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
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 on his will. But 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 due to 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
.
On hearing about the rebellion, Julia chose to commit suicide. 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.
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