Roman emperor from 209 to 211
Geta
|
---|
|
|
Reign
| late 209 ? December 211
(senior from 2 February 211)
|
---|
Predecessor
| Septimius Severus
|
---|
Successor
| Caracalla
|
---|
Co-emperors
| Septimius Severus (until 211)
Caracalla
|
---|
|
Born
| 7 March 189
Rome
|
---|
Died
| 26 December 211 (aged 22)
|
---|
|
Publius Septimius Geta
| |
Imperator Caesar Publius Septimius Geta Augustus
|
|
Dynasty
| Severan
|
---|
Father
| Septimius Severus
|
---|
Mother
| Julia Domna
|
---|
Publius Septimius Geta
(
GHET
-?
; 7 March 189 ? 26 December 211) was
Roman emperor
with his father
Septimius Severus
and older brother
Caracalla
from 209 to 211. Severus died in February 211 and intended for his sons to rule together, but they proved incapable of sharing power, culminating with the murder of Geta in December of that year.
Early life
[
edit
]
Geta was the younger son of
Septimius Severus
by his second wife
Julia Domna
. He was born on 7 March
[1]
[2]
in either
Rome
or
Mediolanum
,
[3]
[4]
at a time when his father was only a provincial governor at the service of Emperor
Commodus
. On 28 January 198, Geta was raised to
caesar
(heir).
[1]
Septimius Severus gave him the title of
augustus
(emperor) in late 209,
[5]
perhaps in September or October.
[6]
During
the campaign against the Britons
in the early 3rd century AD, imperial propaganda promoted the image of a happy family that shared the responsibilities of rule. Geta's brother
Caracalla
acted as Severus' second-in-command, and administrative and bureaucratic duties were Geta's responsibility. In reality, however, the rivalry and antipathy between the brothers did not abate. With the death of Severus in 211, control of the empire passed to Geta and Caracalla jointly.
[7]
Joint emperor
[
edit
]
When Septimius Severus died in
Eboracum
on 4 February 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed joint emperors and returned to Rome. Their mother,
Julia Domna
, who had served as a crucial advisor and confidante to her husband, was able to maintain her political influence over two co-emperors. It is said that on the journey from Britain to Rome the two brothers kept well away from each other, not once lodging in the same house or sharing a common meal.
[8]
Their joint rule was a failure. The Imperial Palace was divided into two separate sections, and neither allowed the servants of the other into his own. They only met in the presence of their mother, and with a strong military guard, being in constant fear of assassination.
[9]
The current stability of their joint government was only through the mediation and leadership of their mother, Julia Domna, accompanied by other senior courtiers and generals in the military. The historian Herodian asserted that the brothers decided to split the empire in two halves, but with the strong opposition of their mother, the idea was rejected, when, by the end of 211, the situation had become unbearable.
[10]
Caracalla tried unsuccessfully to murder Geta during the festival of
Saturnalia
(17 December). Finally, the next week, Caracalla had his mother arrange a peace meeting with his brother in his mother's apartments, thus depriving Geta of his bodyguards, and then had him murdered in her arms by
centurions
.
[11]
[12]
[13]
Caracalla ordered the
damnatio memoriae
, which was thoroughly carried out, as is clear from the archaeological record.
[14]
[15]
Reportedly, Caracalla was thereafter tormented by guilt over his deed, but sought to expiate it by adding to this crime the proscription of all his brother's former followers.
[16]
Cassius Dio
stated that around 20,000 men and women were killed or proscribed on this charge during this time.
[17]
Portrait
[
edit
]
Very few marble portraits attributable to Geta survive to date, presumably due to the very thorough
damnatio memoriae
which resulted in the erasing of his images. However Roman coins with his image are plentiful, and can reflect how his father
Septimius Severus
and mother
Julia Domna
and later Geta himself wanted him to be seen by the Roman people (and especially the Roman military).
Images of Geta and his older brother Caracalla cannot be well distinguished until the death of the father. Both sons were supposed to be presented as equally suitable heirs to the throne, showing thus more "depth" to the dynasty.
On his coins, Caracalla, who became
Augustus
in 198, was shown with a wreath of laurels, while Geta remained bareheaded until he himself became
Augustus
in 209.
[18]
Between 209 and their father's death in February 211, both brothers were shown as equally mature young men with a short full beard, ready to take over the empire. Between the death of Septimus Severus and the assassination of Geta, Caracalla's portraits did not change, while Geta was depicted with a long beard with hanging hairs, much like his father, a strong indication of Geta's efforts to be seen as the "true" successor of his father.
[18]
The
Severan Tondo
panel painting depicts Septimius Severus and his family with an obliterated face assumed to be Geta.
Gallery
[
edit
]
Severan dynasty family tree
[
edit
]
Severan family tree
|
|
|
- (1) = 1st spouse
- (2) = 2nd spouse
- (3) = 3rd spouse
- (4) = 4th spouse
- Dark green indicates an
emperor
of the Severan dynasty
Notes:
- Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.
Bibliography:
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Vagi, David (2016).
Coinage and History of the Roman Empire
.
Routledge
. pp. 284, 286.
ISBN
9781135971250
.
The notoriously unreliable
Historia Augusta
suggests Geta was born in May [27th] of 189. However, other more reliable sources are available for determining Geta's date of birth.
- ^
Kitzler, Petr (2015).
From 'Passio Perpetuae' to 'Acta Perpetuae'
.
de Gruyter
. p. 14.
ISBN
9783110418675
.
- ^
"Publius Septimius Geta | Roman emperor"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
4 October
2021
.
- ^
Heffernan, Thomas J. (18 June 2012).
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 69.
ISBN
978-0-19-977757-0
.
Publius Septimius Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus. He was likely born in Rome?Milan has also been proposed?in March of 189.
- ^
Birley, Anthony R.
(1999) [1971].
Septimius Severus: The African Emperor
. London:
Routledge
. p. 274.
ISBN
0415165911
.
Roxan no. 191 shows that Geta was already Augustus and
trib. pot. II
on 7 January 210
. The
tribunicia potestas
was renewed every 10 December.
- ^
Kienast, Dietmar (2017) [1990].
Romische Kaisertabelle
(in German) (6th ed.). Darmstadt:
WBG
. p. 161.
ISBN
978-3-5342-6724-8
.
- ^
"Roman Emperors - DIR Geta"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 March 2022.
- ^
Edward Gibbon,
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. VI., p. 114
- ^
Gibbon, Ibid.
- ^
Herodian,
History of the Empire from the death of Marcus
, IV., p. 144
- ^
Gibbon, Ibid. p. 115
- ^
Varner, Eric R. (2004).
Mutilation and transformation: damnatio memoriae and Roman imperial portraiture
. BRILL. p. 156.
ISBN
978-90-04-13577-2
.
There is conflicting evidence concerning the exact date of Geta's murder.
T. D. Barnes
, has demonstrated that 26 December is almost certainly correct, ([
The Sources of the Historia Augusta
] 1978) 51-2.
- ^
According to Dio, "he was only twenty-two years and nine months old". Several other dates have been proposed:
Zwei syrische Verwandte des severischen Kaiserhauses
. In:
Chiron
12, 1982, S. 217?235: 229f y 49 (
19 December
); Michael L. Meckler:
Caracalla and his late-antique biographer
, Ann Arbor 1994, S. 15, 109?112 (
25 December
); Anthony R. Birley:
The African Emperor. Septimius Severus
, Routledge, 1991, 189 (
26 December
); A. Mastino,
Le titolature di Caracalla e Geta
, 1981 (
2 February 212
, accepting the
HA
).
- ^
Dunstan, William, E. (2011).
Ancient Rome
. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. pp. 405?406.
ISBN
978-0-7425-6832-7
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Goldsworthy, Adrian (2009).
How Rome Fell: death of a superpower
. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp.
70?71
.
ISBN
978-0-300-16426-8
.
- ^
Gibbon, Ibid.
- ^
Cassius Dio
,
Roman History
78.4.
- ^
a
b
(in German)
Andreas Pangerl: Portrattypen des Caracalla und des Geta auf Romischen Reichspragungen - Definition eines neuen Caesartyps des Caracalla und eines neuen Augustustyps des Geta; Archaologisches Korrespondenzblatt des RGZM Mainz 43, 2013, 1, 99?116
- ^
King, Charles William (1885).
Handbook of Engraved Gems
(2nd ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. p. 237.
External links
[
edit
]
- Life of Geta
(
Historia Augusta
at LacusCurtius: Latin text and English translation)
|
---|
|
|
|
|
|
---|
Period
| |
---|
Roman
(30 BC?313 AD)
| |
---|
|
|
|
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|