Julia Domna (Latin: [ˈjuːli.a ˈdomna]; c. 160 – 217 AD) was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus.

Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arab family[2] of priests of the deity Elagabalus.

Julia Domna was born in Emesa (modern day Homs) in Syria around 160 AD[6] to an Arab family that was part of the Emesene dynasty.

[10] The Historia Augusta, a generally unreliable source, relates that, after losing his first wife around 186,[11] politician Septimius Severus heard a foretelling of a woman in Syria who would marry a king.

[15] After the Roman emperor Commodus was murdered without an heir in 192, many contenders rushed for the throne, including Domna's husband Severus.

By offering Clodius Albinus, a powerful governor of Britannia, the rank of Caesar (successor), Severus could focus on his other rival to the throne, Pescennius Niger, whom he defeated at the Battle of Issus in 194.

[18] Unlike most imperial wives, Domna remarkably accompanied her husband on his military campaigns and stayed in camp with the army.

[22][b] She was respected and viewed positively for most of her tenure, as indicated by coins minted with her portrait that mention her titles or simply refer to her as "Julia Augusta".

Either the reconstruction of [the temple] took more than fifteen years, or Julia Domna had a different motivation, perhaps one connected to her role as the mother of Septimius Severus' heirs, as the legend on the reverses suggests.

[26] When Severus died in 211 in Eboracum (York), Domna became the mediator between their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who were supposed to rule as joint emperors, according to their father's wishes expressed in his will.

[29] As explained by Caillan Davenport: [Caracalla] spent the majority of his reign outside Rome, departing the city in late 212 or early 213 for a campaign against the Alemanni on the Rhine, for which he claimed the title Germanicus Maximus.

[34] Domna chose to commit suicide after hearing about the rebellion,[35][36] perhaps a decision hastened by the fact that she was suffering from breast cancer, as well as a reluctance to return to private life.

[40] Domna encouraged Philostratus to write the Life of Apollonius of Tyana,[41] but is thought to have died before he finished the eight-volume work.

According to Mallan, Dio may have seen a parallel between Domna and Aurelius, both virtuous philosophers whose later lives were troubled by the bad character of their sons.