- Julia Cornelia Paula
Julia Cornelia Paula or Julia Paula was a distinguished, Roman noble woman who lived in the
3rd century . Paula was a member of theCornelius (gens) of ancient Rome. She was a Syrian woman of Roman descent and her family was a distinguished family fromSyria . Paula’s father, Julius Cornelius Paulus was a prefect of thePraetorian Guard inRome ; however, his ancestry is not known. Paula was well educated and was a charming person.In
219 ,Julia Maesa (eldest sister of Roman EmpressJulia Domna ), had arranged for Julia Cornelia Paula to marry her grandson, Rome’s new emperorElagabalus . Their wedding ceremony was a lavish ceremony that occurred in Rome. Paula became a Roman empress, as Elagabalus’ first wife and was given the honorific title of "Augusta".In early
220 , Elagabalus ended his marriage to Paula. They had no children. Elagabalus divorced Paula to marry theVestal Virgin JuliaAquilia Severa . His marriage to Severa was considered as scandalous because she was still a Vestal. Apart from falling in love with Severa, Elagabalus married Severa as apart of the religious process of worshipping the Syrian Sun God El-Gabal and integrating El-Gabal into Roman religion.After the divorce, Elagabalus removed Paula's Augusta title. She withdrew from public life and her fate afterwards is unknown.
ources
* German version of Wikipedia
* http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Julia%20Paula
* http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/elagabalus.html
* http://www.roman-emperors.org/elagabal.htm
* http://www.livius.org/he-hg/heliogabalus/heliogabalus2.html
* http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2474.htmlExternal links
Her bust can be seen at [http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/864_Julia_Paula.html]
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