Julia Maesa
| Roman imperial dynasties | |||
| Severan dynasty | |||
 Julia Maesa on a coin from Sidon. On the reverse, Astarte. |
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| Chronology | |||
| Septimius Severus | 193–198 | ||
| —with Caracalla | 198–209 | ||
| —with Caracalla and Geta | 209–211 | ||
| Caracalla and Geta | 211–211 | ||
| Caracalla | 211–217 | ||
| Interlude: Macrinus | 217–218 | ||
| Elagabalus | 218–222 | ||
| Alexander Severus | 222–235 | ||
| Dynasty | |||
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Severan dynasty family tree All biographies |
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| Succession | |||
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Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors |
Followed by Crisis of the Third Century |
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Julia Maesa (ca. 7 May 165 –ca. 3 August 224) was a Roman citizen and daughter of Gaius Julius Bassianus, priest of the sun god Heliogabalus, the patron god of Emesa (modern Homs) in the Roman province of Syria. Grandmother of both the Roman emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus, she figured prominently in the ascension of each to the title at the age of fourteen. She was also the maternal aunt of the emperors Geta and Caracalla.
Like her younger sister Julia Domna, she was among the most important women to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman empire. Following the death of Caracalla, Julia Maesa rescued the Severan dynasty from the usurper Macrinus.
Julia Maesa was married to Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus by whom had two daughters Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia Avita Mamaea each one mother of an emperor. Following the accession to the throne of her brother in law Lucius Septimius Severus, Julia Maesa moved to Rome to live with her sister. After the murder of her nephew, the emperor Caracalla and the suicide of Julia Domna, she was compelled to return to Syria. The new emperor Macrinus did not proscribe her and allowed her to keep her money.
Once back in Syria and possessed of ample funds, Maesa engaged in a plot to overthrow Macrinus and place one of her grandsons, Elagabalus son of Julia Soaemias, in his place. In order to legitimise this pretension, mother and daughter fomented the rumor that the 14-year-old boy was Caracalla's illegitimate son. The two Julias were successful, mainly because Macrinus was of an obscure origin without the proper political connections and Elagabalus became emperor.
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