Marcia Otacilia Severa

Otacilia Severa, wife of Philip I the Arab. Lunense marble, 244–249. From the Via dei Fori Imperiali, 1933. (Centrale Montemartini, Rome)

Marcia Otacilia Severa or Otacilia Severa was the Empress of Rome and wife of Emperor Marcus Julius Philippus or Philip the Arab, who reigned over the Roman Empire from 244 to 249. She was a member of the ancient gens Otacilia, of consular and senatorial rank. Her father was Otacilius Severus or Severianus, who served as Roman Governor of Macedonia and Moesia, while her mother was a member of gens Marcius or was related to the gens. According to sources she had a brother called Severianus, who served as Roman Governor of Lower Moesia between 246–247.

History

In 234, Severa married Philip who served in the Praetorian Guard under Emperor Alexander Severus and they had three children:

• Marcus Julius Philippus Severus or Philippus II (born in 238);
• Julia Severa or Severina who is known from numismatic evidence but is never mentioned by the ancient Roman written sources;
• Quintus Philippus Severus (born in 247).

In February 244, Gordian III was killed in Mesopotamia and there is a possibility that Severa was involved in the conspiracy. Philip became the new emperor and he gave his young predecessor a proper funeral and his ashes were returned to Rome for burial.

Philip gave Severa the honorific title of Augusta and had their son made heir of the purple. Severa and Philip are generally considered as the first Christian imperial couple, because during their reign the persecutions of Christians had ceased and the couple had become tolerant towards Christianism. It was through her intervention, for instance, that Bishop and Saint Babylas of Antioch was saved from persecution.

In August 249, Philip died in battle in Verona and Decius became the new emperor. Severa was in Rome that time and when the news of her husband’s death arrived, their son was murdered by the Praetorian Guard still in her arms. Severa survived her husband and son and lived later in obscurity.

File:Otacilie-Sevère.jpg

Otacilia Severa

It is mentioned in the Roan scripts of Malta V.118 of the museum of Valletta that she had set sail to the land of Aliya Shamsan to live in the birthplace of Phillip.

See also

• Otacilia (gens)

Further reading

• (French) Minaud, Gérard, Les vies de 12 femmes d’empereur romain - Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés , Paris, L’Harmattan, 2012, ch. 10, La vie de Marcia Otacilia Sévéra, femme de Philippe l’Arabe, p. 243-262

Royal titles
Preceded by Tranquillina	Empress of Rome 244–249	Succeeded by Herennia Etruscilla