DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0284
216
Roman Africa
msea, whose activity and intrigue were unbounded, this quiet-
going princess appears to have taken no part in public life, nor
to have exhibited any interest in proceedings outside the court
circle. Her career is therefore a blank. And little more is
known of another of the Emperor's wives named Sallustia
Barbia Orbiana, whose memory has been preserved in an in-
scription at Caesarea, which may still be seen in the little
museum at Cherchel.1 As the wife of the Emperor she was
bound, in accordance with custom, to assume the title of
Empress, and probably did so. But Herodian informs us that
Julia Mammaea raised her objections to this assumption mainly
on the ground that she alone, as Empress-Mother, wished to be
called Empress. The same author adds that, in spite of Alex-
ander's resistance to his mother's wishes, Orbiana was banished
from Rome and ordered to pass the rest of her days in obscurity
in a city in North Africa.
GNEAE • SEIAE • HIERENNIAE • SALLVSTIAE
BARBIAE • ORBIANAE ■ SANCTISSIMAE ■ AVGVSTAE
CONIVGI • AVG • NOSTRI
EQQ • SINGVLARES ■ DEVOTI
NVMINI • MAIESTATIQVE ■ EIVS • CVRANTE
LICINIO • HIEROCLETE ■ PROC ■ AVG
PRAESIDE • PROVINCIAE
Orbiana, it will be noted, is proclaimed to be sanctissima
and augusta, but the name of the Emperor is not mentioned.
As a simple record of one who might, under other circumstances,
have played an important part in imperial matters, this dedica-
tion by the equites singulares is of value. It is a memorial of an
ill-starred princess, whom destiny removed from the gaieties of
Rome to gratify the ambition and avarice of the Emperor's
mother. Perhaps the quieter delights of a provincial city like
Julia Csesarea were more to her taste than the intrigue and cor-
ruption then prevailing in the metropolis, and daily life was
attended by untold pleasures in so sweet a spot. There is
no more enticing locality in North Africa than the surroundings
of this ruined capital of the enlightened Juba II. The air is
sweet and invigorating, the hills are clothed with timber, and
the blue waters of the Mediterranean break lightly on its
' C.I.L. No. 9355. Revue Africaiuc, i860, p. 156.
Roman Africa
msea, whose activity and intrigue were unbounded, this quiet-
going princess appears to have taken no part in public life, nor
to have exhibited any interest in proceedings outside the court
circle. Her career is therefore a blank. And little more is
known of another of the Emperor's wives named Sallustia
Barbia Orbiana, whose memory has been preserved in an in-
scription at Caesarea, which may still be seen in the little
museum at Cherchel.1 As the wife of the Emperor she was
bound, in accordance with custom, to assume the title of
Empress, and probably did so. But Herodian informs us that
Julia Mammaea raised her objections to this assumption mainly
on the ground that she alone, as Empress-Mother, wished to be
called Empress. The same author adds that, in spite of Alex-
ander's resistance to his mother's wishes, Orbiana was banished
from Rome and ordered to pass the rest of her days in obscurity
in a city in North Africa.
GNEAE • SEIAE • HIERENNIAE • SALLVSTIAE
BARBIAE • ORBIANAE ■ SANCTISSIMAE ■ AVGVSTAE
CONIVGI • AVG • NOSTRI
EQQ • SINGVLARES ■ DEVOTI
NVMINI • MAIESTATIQVE ■ EIVS • CVRANTE
LICINIO • HIEROCLETE ■ PROC ■ AVG
PRAESIDE • PROVINCIAE
Orbiana, it will be noted, is proclaimed to be sanctissima
and augusta, but the name of the Emperor is not mentioned.
As a simple record of one who might, under other circumstances,
have played an important part in imperial matters, this dedica-
tion by the equites singulares is of value. It is a memorial of an
ill-starred princess, whom destiny removed from the gaieties of
Rome to gratify the ambition and avarice of the Emperor's
mother. Perhaps the quieter delights of a provincial city like
Julia Csesarea were more to her taste than the intrigue and cor-
ruption then prevailing in the metropolis, and daily life was
attended by untold pleasures in so sweet a spot. There is
no more enticing locality in North Africa than the surroundings
of this ruined capital of the enlightened Juba II. The air is
sweet and invigorating, the hills are clothed with timber, and
the blue waters of the Mediterranean break lightly on its
' C.I.L. No. 9355. Revue Africaiuc, i860, p. 156.