Geta (emperor)

Publius Septimius Geta (in Latin, Publius Septimius Geta; Rome, March 7, 189 - December 19, 25 or 26, 211), better known in Roman historiography as Geta, was a Roman emperor who ruled from late 209 (or as early as 210) until his death in 211.

Geta was born into the family of Septimius Severus, proclaimed emperor in 193, and Julia Domna. Before ascending to the imperial purple, he served as Caesar and had two consulates with his brother as a colleague. After the death of his father, along with his older brother Caracalla, he ascended the throne. However, his joint rule failed that same year due to deadly rivalry between them and, after a failed attempt to divide the Empire thwarted by his mother, Caracalla lured Geta into a trap and had him assassinated. After this, he was sentenced with the damnatio memoriae .

Early Years

Publius Septimius Geta was born in Rome on March 7, 189 as the son of Lucius Septimius Severus, who was a native of Africa and made an important career under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, and his second wife Julia Domna, of Syrian origin. The author of Geta's biography in the Historia Augusta, Elio Esparciano, writes that Publius was born "six days before the Kalends of June", that is, on May 27, however, this dating is incorrect, as the first date is confirmed by the lives of Saints Perpetua and Felicity and the message of Cassius Dio. Geta was named after his paternal grandfather and was only eleven months younger than his brother Caracalla, who he was born on April 4, 188. When Geta was born, his father was in Rome, from where he arrived from Gaul Lugdunense, a province in which he was governor, and was preparing to leave for Sicily, where he had been appointed proconsul. In 193, while serving as governor of the Upper Pannonia province, Septimius Severus proclaimed himself emperor after Pertinax's death and, as a result of the outbreak of civil war, became sole ruler after defeating his two rivals, Pescenio Niger and Clodio Albino.

In 195, to legitimize his rule, Septimius Severus declared himself the adoptive son of Marcus Aurelius and brother of Commodus, and consequently, Caracalla began to be formally considered a grandson of Marcus Aurelius and received the new name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and later the title of Caesar. Geta in turn changed his praenomen from Publius to Lucius, which contained a reference to Marcus Aurelius' co-ruler Lucius Verus, but was not declared a relative of the Antonines, praenomen which he used, possibly as late as 205. It is obvious that Septimius Severus gave preference to Caracalla and considered him his main heir, while Geta was, in the words of Michael Meckler, a "spare".

In 197, Geta accompanied his father in the campaign against the Parthians along with his brother and mother. The following year, after the Roman victory over the Parthians at the Battle of Ctesiphon, on January 28, 198, the emperor proclaimed Geta Caesar and Prince of Youth (Latin: princeps iuventutis), and Caracalla Augustus. Between 199 and 202, Geta traveled the empire: first he visited the eastern provinces, then he went to Thrace, Moesia and Pannonia. In 202-203, together with his father and brother, he visited the north from Africa and wintered in Septimius Severus' hometown of Leptis Magna, where a statue dedicated to him is kept. Propaganda tried in vain to hide the irreconcilable enmity between Caracalla and Geta. It was because of his passion for music, entertainment or cockfighting, although Septimius Severus took steps to put an end to this. Caracalla's father-in-law, the Praetorian prefect Gaius Fulvius Plaucianus, also tried to contain the brothers' hatred, but after his murder, as Cassius Dio says, no one stopped the young people:

They overwhelmed women and abused boys, embezzled money and turned gladiators and aurigas into co-workers, emulating each other in their actions; but colliding absolutely in rivalling; and it is that if one joined a certain faction, it was certain that the other chose the opposite. And finally, they faced each other in a spice of contest with pony teams, leading them with such a fierce rivalry that Antonino fell off his two-wheeled car and broke his leg.

Between 205 and 207, Geta, along with Caracalla and his father, visited Campania. The emperor tried to reconcile them, appointing the two consuls in 205 and 208. Herodian writes that Severus tried to "persuade them to live in peace and harmony. He kept reminding them of tales and plays of old, telling them over and over again of the misfortunes suffered by the royal brothers as a result of dissension." In 209, the emperor and his family moved to Britain, where he campaigned military in Caledonia. There, while Caracalla was with his father with the army at the front, Geta remained in Eboracum with his mother, where he took over the civil administration of the province. At the end of 209, in September or October, or as early as 210, Septimius Severus proclaimed Geta Augustus, making him equal to his brother. Geta's promotion came surprisingly late, considering that he was less than a year younger than Caracalla, so he had to wait almost twelve years to reach an equal position.. Apparently, around 210, the emperor realized that it was clearly impossible to count on Caracalla making his brother co-ruler. Meanwhile, the fighting in Britain raged, and Septimius Severus did not take part in it at all. 210 due to the deterioration of his state of health. Finally, on February 4, 211, he died at Eboracum, and Geta and Caracalla subsequently ascended the throne.

Government and death

Geta dying in her mother's armsby Jacques-Augustin-Catherine Pajou

The British campaign was apparently completed by the withdrawal of all Roman troops north of Hadrian's Wall. Caracalla was apparently in a hurry to return to Rome to reinforce his position, and he also dismissed many of the their father's advisers and executed some of them. Taking Severus' ashes, in the summer of 211, the brothers returned to the capital, but on the way they constantly quarreled and feared that one of them would poison the other, so they they did not stay together and did not eat at the same table. Cassius Dio says that Caracalla wanted to kill Geta while his father was still alive, but he did not dare, and after his death the soldiers arrested him as they felt sympathy for Geta, especially because he closely resembled his father physically. Upon their arrival in Rome, they performed all the necessary ceremonies, culminating in the late Caesar's official funeral, and then divided the palace in half and blocked off all corridors between the two parties. brothers, a struggle for support broke out among the senators, most of whom reportedly sided with Geta. According to a controversial hypothesis, Geta's followers had influence in the east of the empire, while Caracalla found support in the empire. west, especially among troops from the Rhine and Danube provinces.

Tondo severiano, in which appears the imperial family formed by Septimio Severo and Julia Domna, and his sons Caracalla and Geta, whose face has been bitten and eliminated after his murder by order of his brother and his later disaster memory.

Geta and Caracalla even considered dividing the empire, with Geta controlling the eastern provinces with the capital at Antioch or Alexandria, and Caracalla the western provinces with the center at Rome. But Julia Domna thwarted the two Augusti's plan., and declared the following: «Sea and land, my children, you have found a way to divide, and, as you have said, the Gulf of Proponticus separates the continents. But your mother, how are you going to divide her? How am I, unhappy, miserable? How am I to be torn apart for you two? Kill me first, and after you have claimed your share, let each of you perform the funeral rites for her share. So also I, together with the land and the sea, will be divided between you". Probably, the empress feared that she would completely lose influence over her children. In any case, attempts to find confirmation of the attempt to divide the Roman state through epigraphy have been unsuccessful.

Caracalla decided to kill Geta during the Saturnalia; however, this plan failed, as rumors spread about his intentions, and Geta consequently reinforced the security of his quarters with soldiers and trained gladiators who were on duty day after day. and night. After this, Caracalla chose a different strategy, he induced his mother to invite them both, alone, to her apartment, in order to reconcile them. Once Geta entered the room, Caracalla's centurions attacked him and killed him in his mother's arms. Caracalla later went to the Praetorian camp, where he declared that he had escaped an attempt on his own life. the emperor, Geta was assassinated because he was conspiring against him. The following day, in the Senate, Caracalla announced an amnesty to all exiles, but unleashed a bloody persecution against Geta's supporters and, according to Cassius Dio, twenty thousand people lost their lives. The body of the late emperor was also cremated.. Geta's murder is dated in different ways: December 19, December 25, December 26, 211 or early 212. After the death of his brother, Caracalla sentenced him with the damnatio memoriae and ordered that his name be removed from all records. Only in 219, after the arrival of Heliogábalo in Rome, his remains were transferred to Hadrian's Mausoleum and buried there together with the ashes of his father and brother.

Appearance and personal qualities

Aure of Emperor Geta.

The author of Geta's biography in the Historia Augusta, Aelius Espartano, described the emperor's appearance and habits as follows:

Geta had a rough adolescence, but not cruel. It was beautiful, but speaking, glutton and avid of wines prepared in different ways. [...] He showed determination for the lyrics, especially by the ancient writers, and always remembered his father's maxims. [...] His voice was sound despite some stuttering. He was careful in the dress, to the point of mourning his father. As soon as he received some gift from those who used to make the palace, he used it in his ornament and never gave anything to anyone.

The main sources of information about Geta are the historical works of his contemporaries Cassius Dio and Herodianus. The former's work gives an unfavorable impression of the emperor, describing his intemperance.Herodian, on the other hand, gives diametrically opposite assessments of Geta. In one place, he writes that the latter was spoiled by luxury, the metropolitan lifestyle and a passion for various spectacles, and in another, on the contrary, extols his decency and modesty. But despite the scant reliable evidence of Geta, his murder on the orders of his own brother contributed to the creation of an idealized legend about him.