Dates: 180 - March 11, 222
Known for: one of the four Severan Julias or Roman Julias; niece of Julia Domna, daughter of Julia Maesa and sister of Julia Mamaea; mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus
Occupation: regent
Also known as: Julia Symiamira, Julia Soaemias Bassiana
Background, Family:
- Mother: Julia Maesa
- Father: Julia Avitus
- Sibling: Julia Mamaea
Marriage, Children:
- husband: Sextus Varius Marcellus, a Syrian
- children include:
- Varius Avitus Bassianus, who ruled Rome as the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus or Elagabalus
About Julia Soaemias:
Julia Soaemias was the daughter of Julia Maesa and her husband, Julius Avitus. She was was born and raised in Emesa, Syria, where her grandfather Bassianus was the high priest of Emesa's patron god, the sun god Heliogabalus or Elagabal.
After Julia Soaemias married another Syrian, Sextus Varius Marcellus, they lived in Rome and had a number of children, including a son, Varius Avitus Bassianus.
When Septimius Severus, husband of her maternal aunt, was killed while at war in Britain, Macrinus became the emperor, and Julia Soaemias and her family returned to Syria.
Julia Soaemias joined with her mother, Julia Maesa, in spreading the rumor that the son of Julia Soaemias, Varius Avitus Bassianus, was really the illegitimate son of Caracalla, cousin of Julia Soaemias and nephew of Julia Maesa. This would make him a more legitimate candidate for emperor than was Macrinus.
Julia Maesa helped overthrow Macrinus and install Julia Soaemias' son as emperor. When he became emperor, he took the name Elagabalus, named for the sun god Elagabal, chief god of the Syrian city of Emesa, of whom his great-grandfather Bessianus, had been high priest. Elagabalus served as a high priest of Elagabal, too, and began promoting worship of this and other Syrian deities in Roman. His second marriage to a Vestal Virgin outraged many in Rome.
With Elagabalus focusing mainly on religious issues, Julia Soaemias took over most of the administration of the empire. But in 222, the army revolted, and the Praetorian Guard murdered Julia Soaemias and Elagabulus.
Unlike her mother and aunt, both of whom were deified on their deaths, Julia Soaemias' name was erased from public records, and she was declared an enemy of Rome.
