Julia Cornelia Paula

First wife of the Roman emperor Elagabalus
Julia Cornelia Paula
Augusta
Marble bust of Julia Cornelia Paula
Roman empress
Tenure219–220
SpouseElagabalus

Julia Cornelia Paula (lived 3rd century AD) was a distinguished Roman noblewoman who became Empress of Rome as the first wife of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, who divorced her.[1][2]

Life

Paula was a lady, according to Herodian, of very noble descent: a relative of the gens Cornelia through her mother, her father, Julius Paulus, was an important jurist active throughout the Severan Dynasty, who subsequently served as praetorian prefect between 228 and 235.

In early 219, Julia Maesa, eldest sister of dowager empress Julia Domna, arranged for Cornelia Paula to marry her grandson, the new emperor Elagabalus.[3][4] Their wedding was lavishly celebrated in Rome. Cornelia Paula, Elagabalus' first wife, was given the honorific title Augusta.[5]

In late 220, Elagabalus divorced her to marry the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa in a union that was considered scandalous because she was still a Vestal. Apart from falling in love with Severa, Elagabalus married Severa as a part of the religious process of worshiping the Syrian Sun God El-Gabal and integrating El-Gabal into Roman religion.

After the divorce, Elagabalus removed Paula's Augusta title and reduced her to a private station. They had no children and her subsequent fate is unknown.[6]


  • v
  • t
  • e
Severan family tree
Septimius Macer
Gaius Claudius Septimius AperFulvius PiusLucius Septimius Severus
Publius Septimius AperGaius Septimius AperFulvia PiaPublius Septimius GetaSeptimia PollaJulius Bassianus
SeptimiusPublius Septimius GetaSeptimia OctavillaPaccia Marciana (1)Septimius Severus
(r. 193–211)[i]		Julia Domna (2)Julia MaesaGaius Julius Avitus Alexianus
Gaius Septimius Severus AperFulvia PlautillaCaracalla
(r. 197–217)[ii]		Geta
(r. 209–211)[iii]		Julia SoaemiasSextus Varius MarcellusJulia Avita MamaeaUnknown[iv] (2)
Julia Cornelia Paula (1)Aquilia Severa (2 and 4)Elagabalus
(r. 218–222)[v]		Annia Faustina (3)Sallustia OrbianaSeverus Alexander
(r. 222–235)[v]
  • (1) = 1st spouse
  • (2) = 2nd spouse
  • (3) = 3rd spouse
  • (4) = 4th spouse
  • Dark green indicates an emperor of the Severan dynasty

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.
  1. ^ Birley, Anthony R. (1999). Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. London: Routledge. p. i.
  2. ^ Burrell, Barbara (2004). Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors. BRILL. p. 216. ISBN 90-04-12578-7.
  3. ^ Burrell, Barbara (2004). Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors. BRILL. p. 247. ISBN 90-04-12578-7.
  4. ^ Icks, Martijn (2011). The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. pp. 57–58. ISBN 978-1-84885-362-1.
  5. ^ a b Gibbon, Edward; Smith, William (1889). The Student's Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. pp. 45–47.

Bibliography:

  • Birley, Anthony R. (1999). Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415165911.
  • Gibbon, Edward; Smith, William (1889). The Student's Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: Murray. OCLC 993285639.

References

  1. ^ Bertolazzi, Riccardo (2020), "Women in the Severan dynasty", The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World, Routledge, doi:10.4324/9780429434105-43/women-severan-dynasty-riccardo-bertolazzi, ISBN 978-0-429-43410-5, retrieved 2024-05-13
  2. ^ Icks, Martijn (2006-09-12), "Priesthood and Imperial Power The Religious Reforms of Heliogabalus, 220-222 AD", The Impact of Imperial Rome on Religions, Ritual and Religious Life in the Roman Empire, Brill, pp. 169–178, ISBN 978-90-474-1134-5, retrieved 2024-05-13
  3. ^ Icks, Martijn (2006-09-12), "Priesthood and Imperial Power The Religious Reforms of Heliogabalus, 220-222 AD", The Impact of Imperial Rome on Religions, Ritual and Religious Life in the Roman Empire, Brill, pp. 169–178, ISBN 978-90-474-1134-5, retrieved 2024-05-13
  4. ^ Nugent, Mark (2008). "From 'Filthy Catamite' to 'Queer Icon': Elagabalus and the Politics of Sexuality (1960–1975)". Helios. 35 (2): 171–196. ISSN 1935-0228.
  5. ^ Buongiorno, Pierangelo (2021-11-25), "The Attitude of Herodian towards the Roman Senate", Herodian's World, Brill, pp. 202–221, ISBN 978-90-04-50045-7, retrieved 2024-05-13
  6. ^ Ramsay 1867, p. 141.

Bibliography

  • "Emperor Elagabalus", The Roman Empire: People & The Decline, n.d. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  • "Julia Paula", Forvm Ancient Coins: NumisWiki, n.d. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  • Meckler, Michael L. "Elagabalus (218-222 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors, 26 August 1997. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  • Ramsay, William. "Paula, Julia Cornelia" In William Smith (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 3. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1867.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julia Cornelia Paula.
Royal titles
Preceded by Empress of Rome
219–220 		Succeeded by
  • v
  • t
  • e
Principate
27 BC – AD 235
Crisis
235–285
Dominate
284–610
Western Empire
395–480
Eastern Empire
395–610
Eastern/
Byzantine Empire
610–1453
See also
Italics indicates a consort to a junior co-emperor, underlining indicates a consort to an emperor variously regarded as either legitimate or a usurper, and bold incidates an empress regnant.