Syrian Women Ruling at the Roman Empire

Abstract

Iulia Domna, the second wife of Rome's African emperor Septimius Severus who had established the Severian dynasty in Rome, were from Emesa in the Province of Syria. Her father was julius Bassianus who was the priest of god of the Sun named Elagabal in Emesa. After Septimius Severus was declared emperor of Rome, the other women of Bassianus family, lulia Maesa and her daughters named lulia Soaemias, lulia Mamaea, went to Rome and lived there together with lulia Domna. lulia Domna, while her husband was living, always stayed as subordinate of him and became a real empress that Romans had not been used to it, but she. after her husband's death, was more influential on the administration of the Empire. After her death, lulia Maesa who is lulia Domna's older sister, together with her daughters captured the imperial throne in the name of her grandson, Elagabalus. These Syrian women were so ambitious about governing the Roman Empire that they did not want to share the power with their husbands. However these efforts of Syrian lulia Measa and her daughters did not take them to success which would insure the survival of Syrian dynasty after their death. The aim of this paper is to investigate the process of these four Syrian women's endavour to take the power and to reveal their positions in the imperial government and to depict the arduous efforts of them for keeping their positions.