Julia was the daughter of bassianus, the high priest of the cult of the sun god baal at Emesa in Syria. She was reputed to be a beautiful and highly intelligent woman, whose horoscope, it was said predicted she would one day be the wife of the emperor. Indeed she married Severus between 185-87 AD and assisted him in his rise to power. As empress, julia was a highly influential woman and had enormous impact on the intellectual development of the Empire. After the death of Severus, julia tried to reconcile her two sons to a joint prosperous rule. For this she was rewarded with seeing Geta butchered in her arms by assassins sent by Caracalla. Even so she still took an active role in Caracalla's administration. After Caracalla was killed, Macrinus ordered her to return to Rome from the East whereupon she starved herself to death in 217 AD

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