Julia Aquilia Severa (d. after 222) was the second and fourth wife of
Roman emperor Elagabalus. She was the daughter of Quintus Aquilius. The ''
praenomen
The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bi ...
'' of "Julia" was given to her after becoming an empress.
Life
Severa was a
Vestal Virgin and, as such, her marriage to Elagabalus in late 220 was the cause of enormous controversy โ traditionally, the punishment for breaking the thirty-year vow of celibacy was death by being
buried alive. Elagabalus is believed to have had religious reasons for marrying Severa โ he himself was a follower of the eastern
sun god
A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...
El-Gabal
Elagabalus (), Aelagabalus, Heliogabalus, () or simply Elagabal (Aramaic: ๐ก๐กโ๐ก๐กโ๐ก๐ก ''สพฤlฤhgabฤl'' or ๐ก๐กโ๐ก๐ก๐กโ๐ก๐ก ''สพฤlฤhaสพgabฤl''; Arabic: ุฅูู ุงูุฌุจู ''Ilah al-Jabal'', "mountain god") ...
, and when marrying himself to Severa, he also conducted a symbolic marriage of his god to
Vesta.
[Cassius Dio, ''Roman History']
LXXX.9
/ref>
Both these marriages were revoked shortly afterwards, however. This was possibly on the urging of Julia Maesa, the grandmother who had engineered Elagabalus' rise to the imperial throne. Elagabalus then married Annia Faustina
Annia Aurelia Faustina (fl. 201 โ c. 222) was an Anatolian Roman noblewoman. She was briefly married to the Roman emperor Elagabalus in 221 and thus a Roman empress. She was Elagabalus' third wife.
Ancestry and family
Faustina was of noble ...
, a more generally acceptable choice to the senatorial elite. Within a short time, however, Elagabalus had divorced Faustina and returned to living with Severa, claiming that the original divorce was invalid. It is believed that Severa remained with Elagabalus until his assassination in 222. The two are not believed to have had any children.
Severa's own opinions about the entire affair are not very well recorded. Some sources state that she was forced to marry against her will, and others go further, alleging rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
. It is claimed by some historians, however, that many stories about Elagabalus have been exaggerated by his enemies, and so there is no certainty about what actually happened. It is unclear whether Elagabalus had any real feelings towards Severa, or whether he was more concerned with the symbolism of the marriage. Elagabalus also had relationships with men, and the historian Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
claims that Elagabalus had a more stable relationship with his chariot driver, Hierocles, than with any of his wives.
Her fate after Elagabalus's assassination is unknown.Aquilia Severa, CNG
/ref>
Severan dynasty family tree
See also
* Women in ancient Rome
Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens (''cives''), but could not vote or hold political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians. But while Roman women held no direct politi ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquilia Severa, Julia
Severan dynasty
Vestal Virgins
Aquillii
3rd-century clergy
3rd-century Roman empresses
Priestesses of the Roman Empire
Wives of Elagabalus
Augustae