Died 217 C.E.
Empress

Syrian Roots. Julia Domna, the daughter of a Syrian priest, was born in Emesa. In 187 C.E. she married the North African Septimus Severus, who was appointed governor of Pannonia Superior in 191. In 193 he was proclaimed emperor, and they became the first rulers of the Severan dynasty. During their rule Severus fought off domestic rivals and was successful in battle in Parthia and Britian. He lavished honors and posts on their two sons, Caracella and Geta, but after his death in 211, a sibling rivalry resulted in the assassination of Geta in 212. Domna supported her son and even ruled in his absence.

An International Family. The empress was interested in intellectual matters and reportedly sponsored a circle of writers and thinkers with whom she discussed matters of philosophy and history. She was a patron of Flavius Philostratus and commissioned him to write The...