Publius Septimius Geta (fl. 2nd century, c. 110 – 171) was the father of the emperor

Lucius 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. As a young man he advanced through the customary succ ...

, father-in-law of the Roman empress

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 o ...

and the paternal grandfather of the Roman emperors

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 ...

and Geta. Besides mentions in the ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the si ...

'', Geta is known from several inscriptions, two of which were found 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 grea ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(East of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

in modern

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

Early life

Geta was of Punic origin. His family were local, wealthy and distinguished in

, a prominent city of the

Carthaginian Empire Carthage () was a settlement in modern Tunisia that later became a city-state and then an empire. Founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, Carthage reached its height in the fourth century BC as one of the largest metropolises in t ...

, founded by

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their hist ...

ns. His father,

(c. 70 – aft. 110) was ''sufes'' and ''prefectus'' when Lepcis was made a ''colonia'' and its inhabitants were granted

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

under

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 ...

; Lucius was the first ''duumvir'' of the new ''colonia'' (IRT 412). He is likely the wealthy equestrian that is highly commemorated by the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known ...

poet

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

(''Silvae'' 4.5, 4.''praef.''). Geta's paternal grandparents were Marcus Septimius Aper (born c. 35), and possibly an Octavia. Geta also had a sister named Septimia Polla, who apparently never married; Geta honored her memory with a silver statue.Birley, ''Septimius Severus'', p. 214 While Geta seems to have held no political offices, either local or imperial, other members of his family were distinguished. He had two cousins, who served as Consuls under Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius: Gaius Septimius Severus,

suffect consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politi ...

in 160; and Publius Septimius Aper, suffect consul in July 153. Another relative of his was

Gaius Septimius Severus Aper Gaius Septimius Severus Aper (c. 175211/212) was a Roman aristocrat. Life He was appointed consul ordinarius in 207 with the otherwise unknown Lucius Annius Maximus. Aper came from Leptis Magna and was probably a paternal grandson of the consul ...

, ordinary consul in 207.

Family

Geta married Fulvia Pia (c. 125 – bef. 198), a woman of Roman descent belonging to the ''gens'' Fulvia, an Italian patrician family that originated in

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ...

. He died after his son Septimius had achieved the rank of '' quaestor'', and was about to set off for

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...

to serve as proconsul, i.e. in 171. Septimius was forced to return to Africa to settle his father's affairs.''

'', 2.3; translated in Anthony Birley, ''Lives of the Later Caesars'' (Hammondsworth: Penguin, 1976), pp. 202f

Severan dynasty family tree

References

External links

* http://www.roman-emperors.org/sepsev.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20000819000400/http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/sept-severus.html * http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20080108231453/http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/academics/MS/8th/romanhis/Forum/mattb/severus/index.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Septimius Geta, Publius Family of Septimius Severus Septimii 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century Punic people 110 births 171 deaths Year of birth uncertain