Augusta (honorific)

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Augusta was the feminine form of the title Augustus. It was usually given to the wives or relatives of the Roman Emperors. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater patriae.

Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, took Egypt away from the Romans when she conquered Ægyptus in 269. She declared herself the Queen of Egypt and took the name Augusta for that title. She was well educated and knew much about history and other languages. This warrior Queen claimed that Egypt was an ancestral home of hers through a familial tie to Cleopatra VII. She was familiar with the culture of Egypt, its religion, and its language and was welcomed as a ruler by the native Egyptians..

List of Augustae among Roman women

14: Livia, wife of Augustus.
41: Antonia Minor, mother of Claudius.
50: Agrippina the Younger, wife of Claudius.
64: Poppaea Sabina and Claudia, wife and daughter of Nero.
before 80: Flavia Domitilla, daughter of Vespasian.

105: Pompeia Plotina and Ulpia Marciana, wife and sister of Trajan.
112: Salonina Matidia, niece of Trajan.
128: Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian.
138: Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius.
146: Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius, wife of Marcus Aurelius, mother of Commodus.
164: Lucilla, daughter of Marcus Aurelius and wife of Lucius Verus.
177: Bruttia Crispina, wife of Commodus.
193: Manlia Scantilla and Didia Clara, wife and daughter of Didius Julianus.

210s: Fulvia Plautilla, wife of Caracalla
220: Aquilia Severa, second and fourth wife of Elagabalus.
220s: Julia Avita Mamaea and Sallustia Orbiana, mother and wife of Alexander Severus.
238: Tranquillina, wife of Gordian III.
240s: Marcia Otacilia Severa, wife of Philip the Arab.
240: Herennia Etruscilla, wife of Trajan Decius, mother of Herennius Etruscus and Hostilian.
250s: Mariniana, wife of Valerian.
c. 250: Cornelia Salonina, wife of Gallienus.
253: Cornelia Supra, wife of Aemilianus.
260: Sulpicia Dryantilla, wife of Regalianus.

269: Zenobia, a warrior queen who conquered the Roman-occupied Egypt, becoming the Queen of Egypt under the title of Augusta
274: Ulpia Severina, wife of Aurelian, possibly the only Augusta on her own right.
283: Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus.

308: Galeria Valeria, daughter of Diocletian and wife of Galerius.
after 312: Helena of Constantinople and Constantina, mother and daughter of Constantine I.
between 364 and 378: Albia Domnica, wife of Valens.
before 385: Aelia Flaccilla, wife of Theodosius I.
ca 416?: Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius I, wife of Constantius III, mother of Valentinian III.

439: Licinia Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian III

c. 440: Justa Grata Honoria, sister of Valentinian III.
475: Zenonis, wife of Basiliscus

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Last updated on Wednesday January 23, 2008 at 17:33:01 PST (GMT -0800)
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