[Born at Emesa, in Syria, (date unknown). Died, probably at Rome, A.D.
223.]
Daughter to a Priest of the Sun. When her sister, Julia Domna, as wife
of Septimius Severus, became Empress, Julia Mæsa resided at the Imperial
Court. Her bold political intrigues placed her grandson Elagabalus on
the throne. Against law, she was made a member of the Senate. She bore
the title of Augusta to her death, and was afterwards deified. A woman
of powerful mind, unscrupulously ambitious, but using power well.
[From the marble in the Gallery of the Emperors, in the Capitol, at
Rome.]