JULIA MAESA

died c. 226 sister-in-law of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus and an influential power in the government of the empire who managed to make two of her grandsons emperors. Julia was the daughter of the hereditary high priest Bassianus at Emesa in Syria (Maesa was her Syrian name), and she married a Roman senator, Julius Avitus. Her daughters Soemias and Mamaea were the mothers of Elagabalus (emperor 218222) and Severus Alexander (emperor 222235), respectively. After the murder of her nephew, the emperor Caracalla (217), and the succession of Macrinus as emperor, Julia induced the Syrian legions to declare Elagabalus emperor. When his debauched behaviour threatened a speedy end to the Severan dynasty, she persuaded him to adopt his cousin Alexander and designate him as heir. The 14-year-old Alexander became emperor upon the murder of Elagabalus, and Julia Maesa continued to be a power in the imperial government until her death.