Posthumous dedication to Paccia Marciana

Paccia Marciana was the first wife of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

, who later became Roman emperor. They married around 175 and she died of natural causes around 186.

Name and marriage

Her name shows her links to two Roman gentes, the Paccia and the Marcia - the latter also included Marcia, mother of the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

and his sister

Ulpia Marciana Ulpia Marciana (August 48 – 112) was the beloved elder sister of Roman Emperor Trajan and grandmother of empress Vibia Sabina the wife of Hadrian. Upon her death her brother had her deified. Life She was the eldest child born to Roman woman ...

. She originated in

Leptis Magna Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names in antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean. Originally a 7th-centuryBC Phoenician foundation, it was great ...

and was of

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

origin, but virtually nothing else is known of her. Severus probably met her during his tenure as

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

under his uncle - he does not mention her in his autobiography, though he later commemorated her with statues when he became Emperor.

Disputed issue

The '' Historia Augusta'' claims that Marciana and Severus had two daughters but their existence is nowhere else attested. It appears that the marriage produced no surviving children, despite lasting for more than ten years.

Aurelius Victor Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 – c. 390) was a historian and politician of the Roman Empire. Victor was the author of a short history of imperial Rome, entitled ''De Caesaribus'' and covering the period from Augustus to Constantius II. The work ...

, Eutropius and the unknown author of '' Epitome de Caesaribus'' state that she and not Severus' second wife

Julia Domna Julia Domna (; – 217 AD) was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was the first empress of the Severan dynasty. Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arab family of priests ...

was the mother of

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

, though this is now disregarded and thought to be linked to their claims that Julia married Caracalla. Aurelius Victor 21: 2-3; Eutropius 8,20,1; Epitome de Caesaribus 21.5. Julia Domna is widely accepted to be the mother of both Caracalla and his younger brother

Geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get� ...

Severan dynasty family tree

References

{{Reflist 2nd-century births category:186 deaths 2nd-century Roman women Paccii People of Africa (Roman province) Family of Septimius Severus 2nd-century Punic people Wives of Roman emperors