Severan dynasty in the context of "Julia Soaemias"

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (/ˌkærəˈkælə/; Latin: [karaˈkalːa]), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then ruling alone after 211 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. Severus proclaimed Caracalla co-ruler in 198, doing the same with his other son Geta in 209. The two brothers briefly shared power after their father's death in 211, but Caracalla soon had Geta murdered by the Praetorian Guard and became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Julia Domna had a significant share in governance, since Caracalla found administration to be mundane. His reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples.

Caracalla issued the Antonine Constitution (Latin: Constitutio Antoniniana), also known as the Edict of Caracalla, which granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the Roman Empire. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen: "Marcus Aurelius". Other landmarks of his reign were the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, the second-largest bathing complex in the history of Rome, the introduction of a new Roman currency named the antoninianus, a sort of double denarius, and the massacres he ordered, both in Rome and elsewhere in the empire. In 216, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire. He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. Macrinus succeeded him as emperor three days later.

Julia Domna (Latin: [ˈjuːli.a ˈdomna]; c. 160 – 217 AD) was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was the first empress of the Severan dynasty. Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arab family of priests of the deity Elagabalus. In 187, she married Severus, then-governor of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. They had two sons, Caracalla and Geta. A civil war over the Roman throne broke out in 193, and shortly afterwards Severus declared himself emperor. The war ended in 197 with the defeat of the last of Severus's opponents.

As empress, Domna was famous for her political, social, and philosophical influence. She received titles such as "Mother of the Invincible Camps". After the elder of her sons, Caracalla, started ruling with his father, she was briefly co-empress with Caracalla's wife, Fulvia Plautilla, until the latter fell into disgrace. Following the death of Severus in 211, Domna became the first empress dowager to receive the title combination "Pia Felix Augusta", which may have implied greater powers being vested in her than what was usual for a Roman empress mother. Her sons jointly inherited the throne, and she acted as mediator in the conflicts that arose between them. Caracalla had Geta killed later that year.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, c. 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus (/ˌɛləˈɡæbələs/ EL-ə-GAB-ə-ləs) and Heliogabalus (/ˌhiːliə-, -lioʊ-/ HEE-lee-ə-, -⁠lee-oh-), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was notorious for religious controversy and alleged sexual debauchery. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Syrian Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where he served as the head priest of the sun god Elagabal from a young age. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the Principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.

Elagabalus is largely known from accounts by the contemporary senator Cassius Dio who was hostile to him, Herodian, who likely relied extensively on Dio, and the much later Historia Augusta. The reliability of the accounts of Cassius Dio and the Historia Augusta, particularly their most salacious elements, has been questioned. Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions. He brought the cult of Elagabal (including the large baetyl stone that represented the god) to Rome, making it a prominent part of religious life in the city. He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, presiding over them in person. According to the accounts of Cassius Dio and the Augusta, he married four women, including a Vestal Virgin, in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers they suggested to have been his lovers, and prostituted himself. His behaviour estranged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander in March 222. The assassination plot against Elagabalus was devised by Julia Maesa and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard.

Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – March 235), also known as Alexander Severus, was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty and was the youngest sole emperor of the united Roman Empire (aged 13).

When Alexander took power he was aged 13, and succeeded his slain cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus, whose adopted son and heir he had been. Alexander and his predecessor were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, who was the sister of the empress Julia Domna and had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion.

Julia Maesa (7 May before 160 AD – c. 224 AD) was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire who was the grandmother of emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, elder sister of empress Julia Domna, and mother of Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea. She wielded influence during the reigns of her grandsons as Augusta of the Empire from 218 to her death, especially on their elevation to emperors.

Born in Emesa, Syria (modern day Homs), to an Arab family of priests of the deity Elagabalus, Maesa and her sister Domna were the daughters of Julius Bassianus. Through her sister's marriage, Maesa became sister-in-law to Septimius Severus and aunt of Caracalla and Geta, who all became emperors. She married fellow Syrian Julius Avitus, who was of consular rank. They had two daughters, Soaemias and Mamaea, who became mothers of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, respectively.

The Massufa are a Berber tribe whom belong to the Sanhaja. The ancestor of the Massufa, Adjana, had settled near the Chelif river in the central Maghreb. The Massufa are identifiable with the Masofi (Massufa) and their territory, known as “Bilad Massufa” (country of the Massufa) was located in the eastern region of Jebel Titteri during the Severan era (3rd century AD). This important tribal confederation were ruled by the Talkata branch, that of the Zirids in the 10th century.

A number of Berber tribes fled southward during the Arab invasion. The Massufa are listed among the Sanhaja tribes who were displaced from the north. Ibn Khaldun commented on these tribes and stated that the Sanhaja are indigenous people of the region and placed the kings of the Lamtuna and Massufa in the meeting of the middle Maghreb, he also mentioned that the Massufa were present in the Gourara.

Britannia Inferior (Latin for "Lower Britain") was a new province carved out of Roman Britain probably around AD 197 during the reforms of Septimius Severus although the division may have occurred later, between 211 and 220, under Caracalla. The removal of the governors in Londinium from control over the legions guarding Hadrian's Wall was aimed at reducing their power, given Clodius Albinus's recent bid to become emperor. The province was probably formalised around 214 by Severus's son Caracalla.

Including most of modern northern England and the Midlands, the region was governed from the city of Eboracum (modern York) by a praetorian legate in command of a single legion stationed in the city. This subdivision of Britannia lasted throughout the Severan dynasty until the reorganisation of the empire under Diocletian in 296.

Damnatio memoriae (Classical Latin pronunciation: [damˈnaːti.oː mɛˈmɔri.ae̯]) is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory" or "damnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. There are and have been many routes to damnatio memoriae including the destruction of depictions, the removal of names from inscriptions and documents, and even large-scale rewritings of history.

Oea (/ˈiːə/; Ancient Greek: Ἐώα) was an ancient city in present-day Tripoli, Libya. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and later became a Roman–Berber colony. As part of the Roman Africa Nova province, Oea and surrounding Tripolitania were prosperous. It reached its height in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, when the city experienced a golden age under the Severan dynasty in nearby Leptis Magna. The city was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate with the spread of Islam in the 7th century and came to be known as Tripoli during the 9th century.