Syrian Women Ruling at the Roman Empire

Year 2006, , 63 - 82, 01.04.2006

Mehmet Ali Kaya

https://doi.org/10.37879/belleten.2006.63

Abstract

Iulia Domna, the second wife of Rome's African emperor Septimius Severus who had established the Severian dynasty in Rome, were from Emesa in the Province of Syria. Her father was julius Bassianus who was the priest of god of the Sun named Elagabal in Emesa. After Septimius Severus was declared emperor of Rome, the other women of Bassianus family, lulia Maesa and her daughters named lulia Soaemias, lulia Mamaea, went to Rome and lived there together with lulia Domna. lulia Domna, while her husband was living, always stayed as subordinate of him and became a real empress that Romans had not been used to it, but she. after her husband's death, was more influential on the administration of the Empire. After her death, lulia Maesa who is lulia Domna's older sister, together with her daughters captured the imperial throne in the name of her grandson, Elagabalus. These Syrian women were so ambitious about governing the Roman Empire that they did not want to share the power with their husbands. However these efforts of Syrian lulia Measa and her daughters did not take them to success which would insure the survival of Syrian dynasty after their death. The aim of this paper is to investigate the process of these four Syrian women's endavour to take the power and to reveal their positions in the imperial government and to depict the arduous efforts of them for keeping their positions. 

Keywords

Roman Empire, Syrian Women, Septimius Severus, History

Roma İmparatorluğu’nu Yöneten Suriyeli Kadınlar

Abstract

Roma’nın Severuslar hanedanı dönemi (İ.S. 192-235) tarihinin dikkat çeken önemli özelliklerinden birisi, imparatorluk yönetiminin Romalı olmayan yabancıların elinde kalmış olmasıdır. Bu sülalenin ilk imparatoru Septimius Severus, Afrika kökenliydi(1). Dilindeki Fenike aksanı onun bu yönünü özellikle vurgulamak için eskiçağ kaynaklarında anıldı(2). Roma imparatorluğunu yöneten diğer yabancılar, Syria Eyaleti’nin Emesa kentinde Güneş Tanrısı Elagabal’ın başrahipliğini yapan Iulius Bassianus’un iki kızı ve onlardan olan torunlarıydı. Septimius Severus öldükten sonra bu başrahibin kızları ve kız torunları imparatorluk yönetiminin en etkili isimleri oldular(3). Onlar yalnızca yabancı olmalarıyla değil, aynı zamanda kadın olarak imparatorluk yönetiminin etkin isimleri olmalarıyla da önemlidirler. Çünkü Romalılar, kısmen öne çıkan Nero’nun annesi Agrippina hariç, devlet yönetiminde kadın etkinliğine alışık değildiler.

Keywords

Roma İmparatorluğu, Suriyeli Kadınlar, Septimius Severus, Tarih

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