90. Scipio Africanus. Roman General.
For life, see [No. 109].
91. Julia Mæsa. Roman Empress.
[Born at Emesa, in Syria, (date unknown). Died, probably at Rome, A.D. 223.]
Daughter to a Priest of the Sun. When her sister, Julia Domna, as wife of Septimius Severus, became Empress, Julia Mæsa resided at the Imperial Court. Her bold political intrigues placed her grandson Elagabalus on the throne. Against law, she was made a member of the Senate. She bore the title of Augusta to her death, and was afterwards deified. A woman of powerful mind, unscrupulously ambitious, but using power well.
[From the marble in the Gallery of the Emperors, in the Capitol, at Rome.]
92. Sabina.
[Died probably A.D. 137.]
Wife of the Emperor Hadrian, and grandniece of Trajan. Ill treated by her husband, by whom, it is said, she was poisoned. Others assert that in despair she put an end to her life. She was deified after her decease.
[From the original in alabaster in the Capitoline Museum, at Rome.]