Julia Mamaea (wife of Polemon II of Pontus)

Julia Mamaea[1] also known as Mamaea[2] (1st century), was a princess[3] from the Syrian Roman Client Emesene Kingdom, queen of Pontus by marriage to King Polemon II of Pontus.

This article is about the Emesene Princess of the 1st century who married King Polemon II of Pontus. For the Emesene Aristocrat who was the mother of Roman emperor Alexander Severus of the 3rd century, see Julia Avita Mamaea.

Family background and early life

Mamaea was a monarch of Arab, Armenian, Greek and Median ancestry. The name Mamaea is a name of Semitic origins,[4] while her first name Julia refers to her being as a Roman citizen. She was a daughter and one of the four children born to the Priest King Sampsiceramus II[5] who ruled the Emesene Kingdom from 14 until 42 and his wife, Queen Iotapa.[6] She had two brothers: Azizus and Sohaemus[7] who served as Emesene Priest Kings, and had a sister called Iotapa who married the Herodian Prince Aristobulus Minor.[8] Her paternal grandfather was the former Emesene Priest King Iamblichus II,[9] while her maternal grandparents were the former Commagenean Monarchs Mithridates III of Commagene and his cousin-wife Iotapa. She was born and raised in Emesa, Syria. Little is known on her early life.

Marriage to Polemon II of Pontus

At an unknown date perhaps after the early 50s, Mamaea married the Roman Client King Polemon II of Pontus,[10] a Prince of Anatolian Greek and Roman descent. Polemon II married Mamaea as his second wife,[11] as he was previously married to the Herodian Princess Berenice.[12] Through her marriage to Polemon II, Mamaea became a Roman client queen of Pontus, Colchis and Cilicia. The circumstances that lead Polemon II to marry Mamaea are unknown.

The relationship between Polemon II and Mamaea is unknown. Mamaea marrying Polemon II is only known through surviving evidence. Her name and identity is revealed from surviving bronze coinage.[13] Surviving coinage that was issued from Polemon II and Mamaea is extremely rare,[14] as only three specimens are known.[15] On surviving coinage, shows her royal title in Greek ΙΟΥΛΙΑΣ ΜΑΜΑΙΑΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ[16] (of Julia Mamaea the Queen) or ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΙΟΥΛΙΑΣ ΜΑΜΑΙΑΣ (of Queen Julia Mamaea).[17] These coins can be dated from the second half of Polemon II's reign from 60 until 74.

In the city of Laodicea Catacecaumene an Imperial Freedman Procurator called Glycerinus who had associations with the Imperial estates in the city had set up and dedicated an inscription to Julia Mamaea. This inscription is dated before the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian,[18] who reigned from 117 until 138. After this moment, no more is known of Mamaea.

Issue

Mamaea bore Polemon II two sons who were Polemon and Rheometalces.[19] Her sons that she bore to Polemon II are known from a restored surviving inscription from Amphipolis Greece,[20] that is commemorating Polemon II, Polemon and Rheometalces is dated from the second half of the 1st century.

See also

References
  1. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.70
  2. Levick, Julia Domna: Syrian Empress, p.xx
  3. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.70
  4. Levick, Julia Domna: Syrian Empress, p.18
  5. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.224
  6. Levick, Julia Domna: Syrian Empress, p.xx
  7. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.224
  8. Levick, Julia Domna: Syrian Empress, p.xx
  9. Levick, Julia Domna: Syrian Empress, p.xx
  10. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.222
  11. Coinage of Polemon II and Julia Mamaea
  12. Temporini, Politische Geschichte (Provinzen Und Randv Lker: Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien): Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien), p.929
  13. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, p.222
  14. Coinage of Polemon II and Julia Mamaea
  15. Coinage of Polemon II and Julia Mamaea
  16. Temporini, Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt: Principat, p.926
  17. Coinage of Polemon II and Julia Mamaea
  18. Temporini, Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt: Principat, p.1078
  19. On the Polemonid dynasty - see R.D. Sullivan, “Dynasts in Pontus”, ANRW 7.2 (1980), p.p. 925-930. For the intermarriages between the Polemonids and other dynasties of East Asia Minor, see R.D. Sullivan, “Papyri reflecting the Eastern Dynastic Network”, ANRW 2.8 (1977), p. 919
  20. Temporini, Politische Geschichte (Provinzen Und Randv Lker: Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien): Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien), p.929

Sources
  • H. Temporini & W. Haase, Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt: Principat, Walter de Gruyter, 1980
  • H. Temporini & W. Haase, Politische Geschichte (Provinzen Und Randv Lker: Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien): Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien), Walter de Gruyter, 1980
  • A.R. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, Routledge, 2002
  • B. Levick, Julia Domna: Syrian Empress, Routledge, 2007
  • Coinage of Polemon II and Julia Mamaea
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