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Otacilia Severa – Roman Empress: 244-249 A.D. wife of Philip I ‘the Arab’
Bronze 24mm (4.61 grams) of Magnesia ad Sipylum in Lydia
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 271; BMC 88.
M ΩTA CЄBHPA CЄB; Draped bust right, wearing stephane and set upon crescent; COUNTERMARK within incuse circle.
MAΓNHTΩN CIΠV; Cybele seated left on throne, holding patera and scepter; lion to left.
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 Rhea (known by Romans as Cybele), an ancient Greek goddess, appears to have been a goddess of the earth. She is represented as a daughter of Uranus and Ge, and the wife of Cronos, by whom she became the mother of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. Cronos devoured all his children by Rhea, hut when she was on the point of giving birth to Zeus, she went to Lyctus in Crete, by the advice of her parents. When Zeus was born she gave to Cronos a stone wrapped up like an infant, which the god swallowed supposing it to be his child. Crete was undoubtedly the earliest seat of the worship of Rhea; though many other parts of Greece laid claim to the honor of being the birth-place of Zeus. Rhea was afterwards identified by the Greeks in Asia Minor with the Great Asiatic goddess, known under the name of ” the Great Mother,”‘ or the ” Mother of the Gods,” and also bearing other names such as Cybele, Agdistis, Dindymene. Hence her worship became of a wild and enthusiastic character, and various Eastern rites were added to it, which soon spread throughout the whole of Greece. From the orgiastic nature of these rites, her worship became closely connected with that of Dionysus (Dionysos). Under the name of Cybele her worship was universal in Phrygia. Under the name of Agdistia, she was worshipped with great solemnity at Pessinus in Galatia, which town was regarded as the principal seat of her worship. Under different names we might trace the worship of Rhea even much further east, as far as the Euphrates and even Bactriana. She was, in fact, the great goddess of the Eastern world, and we find her worshipped there under a variety of forms and names. As regards the Romans, they had from the earliest times worshipped Jupiter and his mother Ops, the wife of Saturn. During the war with Hannibal (2nd Punic War) the Romans fetched the image of the Mother of the Gods from Pessinus ; but the worship then introduced was quite new to them, and either maintained itself as distinct from the worship of Ops, or became united with it. A temple was built to her on the Palatine, and the Roman matrons honored her with the festival of the Megalesia. In all European countries Rhea was conceived to be accompanied by the Curetes, who are inseparably connected with the birth and bringing up of Zeus in Crete, and in Phrygia by the Corybantes, Atys, and Agdistis. The Corybantes were her enthusiastic priests, who with drums, cymbals, horns, and in full armor, performed their orgiastic dances in the forests and on the mountains of Phrygia. In Rome the Galli were her priests. The lion was sacred to her. In works of art she is usually represented seated on a throne, adorned with the mural crown, from which a veil hangs down. Lions appear crouching on the right and left of her throne, and sometimes she is seen riding in a chariot drawn by lions.
Magnesia ad Sipylum (Greek: Mαγνησία του Σιπύλου) (modern Manisa, Turkey), was a city of Lydia, situated about 65 km northeast of Smyrna (now İzmir) on the river Hermus (now Gediz) at the foot of Mount Sipylus. The city should not be confused with its older neighbor, Magnesia on the Maeander, both founded by colonists from the Greek region of Magnesia.
The first famous mention of the city is in 190 BC, when Antiochus the Great was defeated in the battle of Magnesia by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus. It became a city of importance under Roman rule and, though nearly destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius, was restored by that emperor and flourished through the Roman empire. It was an important regional centre through the Byzantine Empire, and during the 13th century interregnum of the Empire of Nicea. Magnesia housed the Imperial mint, the Imperial treasury, and served as the functional capital of the empire until the recovery of Constantinople in 1261. Magnesia was one of the few towns in this part of Anatolia which remained prosperous under the Turkish rule.
Landmarks
 Early 20th century postcard image of the Hittite statue of the Mother Goddess Kybele in Mount Sipylus
There are two famous relics of antiquity. The first is the Niobe of Sipylus (Aglayan Kaya), a natural rock formation, on the lowest slopes of the mountains in the middle of town. The second is a carving, allegedly of Cybele (Suratlu Tash) about 100 meters up the mountain about 6 km east of the town. This is a colossal seated image cut in a niche of the rock, of Hittite origin, and perhaps that called by Pausanias the very ancient statue of the Mother of the Gods, carved by Broteas, son of Tantalus, and sung by Homer. It can be seen by driving into a parking lot at a children’s playground.
Near the carving lie many remains of a primitive city, and about a kilometer east is the rock-seat conjecturally identified with Pausanias’s Throne of Pelops. There are also hot springs and a sacred grotto of Apollo. Parts of the major fortifications built during the Empire of Nicea remain evident.
Magnetism
One of the regions colonized by the Magnetes was a primary source for mysterious stones that could attract or repel each other, possibly leading to the modern term for magnets and magnetism. Some suggest that it was Magnesia ad Sipylum, others that it was the Magnesia regional unit in Thessaly; this has been debated both in modern times and in antiquity without resolution.
Otacilia Severa – Roman Empress: 244-249 A.D.
| Wife of Philip I ‘the Arab’ | Mother of Philip II | Daughter in law (possibly posthumously) of Julius Marinus |
 Marcia Otacilia Severa or Otacilia Severa was the Empress of Rome and wife of Emperor Marcus Julius Philippus or Philip the Arab who reigned over the Roman Empire from 244 to 249.
Severa was a member of the ancient gens Otacilius who were people of consular and senatorial rank. Severa’s father was Otacilius Severus or Severianus, who served as Roman Governor of Macedonia and Moesia, while her mother was a member of gens Marcius or was related to the gens. According to sources she had a brother called Severianus, who served as Roman Governor of Lower Moesia between 246-247.
Little is known on her life before marrying Philip. In 234, Severa married Philip who served in the Praetorian Guard under Emperor Alexander Severus. Severa had two children with Philip: a son named Marcus Julius Philippus Severus or Philippus II (born in 238) and – according to numismatic evidence – a daughter called Julia Severa or Severina, who is never mentioned by the ancient Roman sources.
In February 244, Gordian III was killed in Mesopotamia. There is a possibility that Severa was involved in a conspiracy to murder Gordian. Philip became the new emperor who gave his young predecessor a proper funeral and his ashes were returned to Rome for burial.
Philip gave Severa the honorific title of Augusta. Their son was made heir of the purple. Sometimes Severa and Philip are considered as the first Christian imperial couple, because during their reign the persecutions of Christians had ceased and the couple had become tolerant towards the faith of the Christians. Through her intervention, she saved Bishop and Saint Babylas of Antioch from persecution.
In August 249, Philip had died in battle in Verona and Decius (emperor) became the new emperor. Severa was in Rome that time. When the news of Philip’s death had reached Rome, Severa’s son was murdered by the Praetorian Guard. The child died in her arms. Severa survived her husband and son and lived later in obscurity. Her later life is unknown.
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