The Severan Augustae as Mistresses of the World

The article examines two statue dedications mentioning Julia Domna and Julia Maesa from Histria (Moesia Inferior) and one mentioning Julia Mamaea from Augusta Traiana (Thrace). These texts are particularly noteworthy in that they credit both Domna and Maesa with the title "Fortune of the inhabited world" and Mamaea with that of "Mistress of the inhabited world". We do not know of other iscriptions attesting to titles like these, which the dedicators created by mixing the rather customary epithets of "Fortune" and "Mistress" with the title "Master of the inhabited world" often bestowed on emperors. The reason behind such creativity is probably twofold: inter-city rivalries became particularly intense in Thrace and the Lower Danubian area during the first decades of the III century; at the same time, the visibility of imperial women greatly increased, mostly thanks to the fact that they could influence their (young) sons and grandsons who were sitting on the throne.