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Julia Soaemias

Reece Period attributed: Period 10

Member of the The Severans dynasty.

Coins for this issuer were issued from 218 until 222.

Julia Soaemias was the mother of Elagabalus, and did much of the administrative work during his short reign. Her lover, Gannys, had the idea of making Elagabalus emperor; Elagabalus had him executed shortly after his accession, probably because Gannys had too much personal ambition.

Julia Soaemias was killed along with her son by the Praetorian Guard in March 222.

View all coins recorded by the scheme attributed to Julia Soaemias.

Wikipedia derived information

Julia Soaemias Bassiana (180 – March 11, 222) was the mother of Roman Emperor Elagabalus and ruled over the Roman Empire during the minority of her son's rule.

Julia was the daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Syrian noble Julius Avitus. Julia was born and raised in Emesa. She was a niece of empress Julia Domna and emperor Septimius Severus and a sister of Julia Avita Mamaea.

Her husband was Sextus Varius Marcellus, a Syrian Roman of an Equestrian family. As members of the imperial Roman family of the Severan dynasty, they lived in Rome, where their numerous children were born. In 217 her cousin Emperor Caracalla was killed, and Macrinus ascended to the imperial throne.

Julia's family was allowed to return to Syria with the whole of their financial assets. They would not allow the usurper to stand unopposed. Together with her mother, Julia plotted to replace Macrinus with her son Varius Avitus Bassianus.

To legitimise this plot, Julia and her mother spread the rumour that the thirteen-year-old boy was Caracalla's illegitimate son. In 218 Macrinus was killed and Bassianus became emperor with the name of Elagabalus. Julia became the de facto ruler of Rome, since the teenaged emperor was concerned mainly with religious matters.

Their rule was not popular, and soon discontent arose, mainly because of the strange sexual behaviour and the eastern religious practices of Elagabalus. Julia Soaemias and Elagabalus were killed by the Praetorian Guard in 222. Julia was later declared public enemy and her name erased from all records..

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Soaemias
This data is sourced from dbpedia, and as such should be treated with caution

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