Roman imperial honorific title given to empresses
Augusta (Classical Latin: [au̯ˈɡʊsta]; plural Augustae; Greek: αὐγούστα) was a Roman imperial honorific title given to empresses and women of the imperial families. It was the feminine form of Augustus. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater Senatus ("Mother of the Senate"), Mater Castrorum ("Mother of the Camp"), and Mater Patriae ("Mother of the Fatherland").[citation needed]
The title implied the greatest prestige.[clarify] Augustae could issue their own coinage, wear imperial regalia, and rule their own courts.
Agrippina, the wife of Claudius, was the first wife of the emperor in Roman history to receive the title of Augusta, a position she held for the rest of her life, ruling with her husband and son.[citation needed]
In the third century, Julia Domna was the first empress to receive the combined title Pia Felix Augusta after the death of her husband Septimius Severus, which may have implied greater powers being vested in her than was usual for a Roman empress mother. In this official position and honor, she accompanied his son on an extensive military campaign and provincial tour.[2]
Principate period
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Flavian dynasty
Nerva–Antonine dynasty
Year of the Five Emperors
Severan dynasty
Crisis of the Third Century
Dominate period
Tetrarchy
Constantinian dynasty
Valentinianic dynasty
Theodosian dynasty
Leonid dynasty
Byzantine period
Justinian dynasty
Heraclian dynasty
Isaurian dynasty
Nikephorian dynasty
Amorian dynasty
Macedonian dynasty
Komnenos dynasty
Doukid dynasty
Komnenos dynasty
Palaiologos dynasty
See also
References
Citations
- ^ Langford 2013, Introduction, note 88; Bédoyère 2018, p. 282.
- ^ Barbara Levick (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
- ^ a b c Société française de numismatique et d'archéologie 1873, p. 151.
Sources
- Bédoyère, Guy de la (2018). Domina: The Women Who Made Imperial Rome. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300230307.
- Kazhdan, Alexander Petrovich, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. New York, New York and Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Langford, Julie (2013). Maternal Megalomania: Julia Domna and the Imperial Politics of Motherhood. JHU Press. ISBN 9781421408484.
- Société française de numismatique et d'archéologie (1873). Comptes rendus de la Société française de numismatique et d'archéologie (in French). Vol. IV. Paris.
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External links
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