Julia Aquilia Severa
In 220 A.D. the young Emperor Elagabalus, decided to marry the Vestal Maxima and in his madness was also able to impose its will to the Senate which - according to Dio Cassius - so explained the reasons for his choice:
"So that by he, Pontifex Maximus and the Vestal Maximum divine children were born".
The marriage with the first priestess of Vesta had a political purpose: to make clear to all the Empire that had set the time of the ancient cults and the archaic gods were been replaced nowby the new one god and only El Gabal whose Emperor was the high priest, that is, with this act Elagabalo erased all the Roman pantheon and legitimized his power as the sole representative of the deity.
Iulia Aquilia Severa was the daughter Quintus Aquilius Sabinus, twice consul under Caracalla (214 and 216), a Roman jurist of great renown as to be nicknamed Cato.
A legend linked to the name of Aquilius Sabinus, helps to better understand how Elagabulus managed to marry the Vestal Max who was his daughter. Having been consul twice Aquilius Sabinus, he was definitely a man of power in Rome and therefore rich, almost certainly the intention of the Emperor to marry the Vestal Maximum offended him more than any other, as a senator for derision the laws Roman, as a father for the outrage to the sacrifice of his daughter and as a Roman for the contempt shown towards the gods; the hostility of the Senate almost certainly was referring to him and was the reason that Elagabulus gave the order to get rid of him. But it so happened that the officer who was ordered to be "a bit 'deaf' - as it relates Dictionary of every mythology of 1826 - and as a few days earlier he had received the order from the Emperor to let out the entire Senate by Roma, he understood had to let out the senator Aquilius Sabinus also and accompanied him outside the city. Probably the origin of the confusion there must be a misunderstanding to the language spoken by Elagabulus who had grown up and lived in Syria where there was as a spoken language Syriac, Aramaic dialect, and the greek how cultured language.
The father of Julia Aquilia escaped death by a fortuitous combination, but the order of Heliogabalus don't leaves doubt on the abuse and violence with which the Vestal forced to submit to his will.
Iulia Aquilia Severa when was forced to become the wife of Elagabulus had to have about 30-35 years; the hypothesis is based on the rules to become vestal. The Vestals were chosen by the Pontifex Maximus, and as they had to be virgins, usually had between 6 and 10 years old when they began the preparation that had lasted 10 years, then for another 10 were priestesses officiating and then for another 10 years had the task to educate novices; the Vestal Max was the highest representative and must have completed all the ritch; Iulia Aquilia Severa was then more than 35 years - had become Vestal maximum no more than 218 A.D. - When she married the emperor who was 16 years old.
This marriage lasted just over a year, then in 221 probably for the intervention of Julia Mesia, Elagabulus divorce from Julia Aquilia to marry Annia Faustina, a descendant of Marcus Aurelius; the young emperor became tired of Faustina very soon and went with him Julia Aquilia again citing the excuse of a bad divorce. Julia Aquilia did not give children to Elagabulus ...
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by M.L. ©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (Ed 1.0 - 20/07/2016)