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Julia Cornelia Paula
Augusta
Marble bust of Julia Cornelia Paula
Roman empress
Tenure	219–220
Spouse	Elagabalus

Julia Cornelia Paula (lived 3rd century AD) was a distinguished Roman noblewoman who became Empress of Rome as the first wife of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, who divorced her.

Life

Paula was a lady, according to Herodian, of very noble descent: a relative of the gens Cornelia through her mother, her father, Julius Paulus, was an important jurist active throughout the Severan Dynasty, who subsequently served as praetorian prefect between 228 and 235.

In early 219, Julia Maesa, eldest sister of dowager empress Julia Domna, arranged for Cornelia Paula to marry her grandson, the new emperor Elagabalus. Their wedding was lavishly celebrated in Rome. Cornelia Paula, Elagabalus' first wife, was given the honorific title Augusta.

In late 220, Elagabalus divorced her to marry the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa in a union that was considered scandalous because she was still a Vestal. Apart from falling in love with Severa, Elagabalus married Severa as a part of the religious process of worshiping the Syrian Sun God El-Gabal and integrating El-Gabal into Roman religion.

After the divorce, Elagabalus removed Paula's Augusta title and reduced her to a private station. They had no children and her subsequent fate is unknown.

References

1. Bertolazzi, Riccardo (2020), "Women in the Severan dynasty", The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World, Routledge, doi:10.4324/9780429434105-43/women-severan-dynasty-riccardo-bertolazzi, ISBN 978-0-429-43410-5, retrieved 2024-05-13
2. Icks, Martijn (2006-09-12), "Priesthood and Imperial Power The Religious Reforms of Heliogabalus, 220-222 AD", The Impact of Imperial Rome on Religions, Ritual and Religious Life in the Roman Empire, Brill, pp. 169–178, ISBN 978-90-474-1134-5, retrieved 2024-05-13
3. Icks, Martijn (2006-09-12), "Priesthood and Imperial Power The Religious Reforms of Heliogabalus, 220-222 AD", The Impact of Imperial Rome on Religions, Ritual and Religious Life in the Roman Empire, Brill, pp. 169–178, ISBN 978-90-474-1134-5, retrieved 2024-05-13
4. Nugent, Mark (2008). "From 'Filthy Catamite' to 'Queer Icon': Elagabalus and the Politics of Sexuality (1960–1975)". Helios. 35 (2): 171–196. ISSN 1935-0228.
5. Buongiorno, Pierangelo (2021-11-25), "The Attitude of Herodian towards the Roman Senate", Herodian's World, Brill, pp. 202–221, ISBN 978-90-04-50045-7, retrieved 2024-05-13
6. Ramsay 1867, p. 141.

Bibliography

• "Emperor Elagabalus", The Roman Empire: People & The Decline, n.d. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
• "Julia Paula", Forvm Ancient Coins: NumisWiki, n.d. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
• Meckler, Michael L. "Elagabalus (218-222 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors, 26 August 1997. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
• Ramsay, William. "Paula, Julia Cornelia" In William Smith (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 3. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1867.

Sources

• Herodian 5.6.1.
• Cassius Dio 79.9.

• Julii
• Cornelii
• Augustae
• Wives of Elagabalus
• 3rd-century Roman empresses