0:00:02 > 0:00:06The official rulers of the ancient Roman Empire were all men.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11I think that has overshadowed the fascinating stories
0:00:11 > 0:00:16of the women nearest to those men - wives, mothers, sisters and lovers.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Their proximity to the Emperor gave them enormous power.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27For the first hundred years of imperial Rome,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31these women were aristocrats from the great established families...
0:00:32 > 0:00:38..characters such as the scheming Livia, the murderous Agrippina
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and the scandalous Messalina.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44But later, extraordinary personalities would
0:00:44 > 0:00:48emerge from outside the capital, from the margins of Roman
0:00:48 > 0:00:53society and the far-flung outposts of empire,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56remarkable women who would help shape Roman
0:00:56 > 0:01:00history as the Empire was transformed.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Among them were freed slaves,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07a woman from the East who was celebrated all over the Empire
0:01:07 > 0:01:10but saw her son murdered in her arms,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12ruthless sisters ready to kill one another to
0:01:12 > 0:01:15put their children on the imperial throne
0:01:15 > 0:01:19and a standard bearer for a dramatic religious revolution which
0:01:19 > 0:01:23would set global history on an entirely new path.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28These were the outsiders who turned the Roman world on its head.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47This is Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49niece of Rome's first emperor, Augustus,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51and mother of the Emperor Claudius.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57In short, a lynchpin of the Julio-Claudian dynasty which
0:01:57 > 0:02:00dominated Rome in the first century AD
0:02:00 > 0:02:04until its fall with the suicide of Nero in AD 68.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10By the end of the following year,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14after a bewildering succession of short-lived emperors,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19the last man standing was Titus Flavius Vespasianus.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25After the chaos, Vespasian was a practical, no-nonsense man,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28a stable, and therefore very different, kind of ruler.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34So different that the woman sharing the life of the new emperor
0:02:34 > 0:02:40was a freed slave, someone who had once been owned by Antonia.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47This freed slave, who was to be a stalwart of Vespasian's rule,
0:02:47 > 0:02:48was called Caenis.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54The historian Cassius Dio wrote that she was an extraordinary woman.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59He adds that she was an invaluable secretary to her mistress,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Antonia, and was highly trusted.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Never more so than in the dangerous days of Rome's second emperor,
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Tiberius, whose reign was marked by paranoia and purges.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Antonia entrusted Caenis with secret messages
0:03:19 > 0:03:22to be committed to her exceptional memory.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24And her loyalty was repaid.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26At some point before or after Antonia's
0:03:26 > 0:03:31death in AD 37, Caenis was granted her freedom.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37For the Romans, slavery wasn't necessarily a permanent state.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40For those few who were fortunate enough to earn
0:03:40 > 0:03:45the respect, trust, affection, even love, of powerful masters
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and mistresses, the prospect of freedom
0:03:48 > 0:03:52and even of substantial personal standing was very real.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59Caenis was proof of how, in Rome's surprisingly mobile society,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02a slave's fortunes could be transformed.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08It's impossible to say anything about Caenis' life between
0:04:08 > 0:04:11the death of Antonia and the sudden rise to power of Vespasian
0:04:11 > 0:04:14more than 30 years later, save that at some point,
0:04:14 > 0:04:15she became his companion.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19The relationship was interrupted
0:04:19 > 0:04:22when Vespasian married a woman of his own rank.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26But Vespasian's wife died before he became emperor.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31The biographer Suetonius writes that after her death,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Vespasian took up again with his former mistress, Caenis,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36and that even when he was emperor,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38she had the position almost of lawful wife.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Writer Lindsey Davis has enjoyed international success
0:04:44 > 0:04:46with the Falco series,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49mystery stories set in late first century Rome.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53But her first literary venture into the period was actually
0:04:53 > 0:04:58a novel about the long romance between Caenis and Vespasian.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02We know really very little about Caenis, don't we?
0:05:02 > 0:05:06What is it that makes her so fascinating for you?
0:05:06 > 0:05:09The fact that she and Vespasian obviously were lovers
0:05:09 > 0:05:13when they were very young. Because of her social rank, she's
0:05:13 > 0:05:18a freed slave or even, perhaps, when he first knew her, an actual slave,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20he was not allowed legally to marry her.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23But clearly, there was true love going on there
0:05:23 > 0:05:25because after he has been properly married
0:05:25 > 0:05:29and he has three children - so it's quite a long marriage -
0:05:29 > 0:05:30he goes back to Caenis.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34And quite obviously, there was genuine affection
0:05:34 > 0:05:38between them. And presumably, he respected her for her mind as well.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Caenis was a canny businesswoman, adept at raising finances
0:05:43 > 0:05:47that Vespasian desperately needed to refill the imperial coffers.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52The Emperor was busily rebuilding Rome after
0:05:52 > 0:05:55the mayhem of Nero's final years.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Projects such as an expensive new amphitheatre would transform
0:06:01 > 0:06:03the city skyline.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10According to the historian Cassius Dio, Vespasian
0:06:10 > 0:06:13allowed his beloved consort to milk the imperial system.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Caenis, the ex-slave,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20became wealthy and powerful in her own right,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23a political player at the highest levels,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27providing, Dio claimed, that the Emperor got his cut.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33For this reason, Caenis had the greatest influence
0:06:33 > 0:06:38and she accrued untold wealth, so that it was even thought that
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Vespasian made money through Caenis as his agent.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46For she received a great deal from many sources,
0:06:46 > 0:06:47selling governorships to some,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52to others, procuratorships, generalships and priesthoods,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55and in some cases, even the Emperor's decisions.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05She also had her own villa,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07and to me, this is one of the interesting things about
0:07:07 > 0:07:11imperial-freed women, that that was one of the few places where a woman
0:07:11 > 0:07:16could, in fact, do well for herself, obtain her own home, have a certain
0:07:16 > 0:07:20amount of money, presumably, when she finally had her freedom.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Most other women didn't have that, couldn't have that.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26And when you think how historians in the Roman period
0:07:26 > 0:07:33loved to make out women as being terrible, scandal-prone creatures,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38the fact that Caenis is treated as someone you should actually respect
0:07:38 > 0:07:41- is quite interesting.- That's very telling, isn't it?- Mm.
0:07:43 > 0:07:49Caenis died in AD 74. Vespasian followed her five years later.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Now, another exceptional woman came onto the scene.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58But this time, the constraints and traditions of Roman society
0:07:58 > 0:08:02ensured the story took a tragic turn.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Vespasian's son, Titus,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07also aspired to share his rule with an outsider,
0:08:07 > 0:08:12a foreign queen called Berenice, born far from Rome.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17The case of the Jewish queen Berenice illuminates Roman
0:08:17 > 0:08:21attitudes to race, identity and religion.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25It's a significant demonstration of the limits of imperial power.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Vespasian left Titus in charge of a military campaign to subdue
0:08:33 > 0:08:34Jewish rebels in Judea.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40This is the Arch of Titus, built to honour his decisive victory.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45At the end of a long and savage war,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49in AD 70, Titus' legions sacked Jerusalem.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Here, they are shown carrying off the treasures of the Great Temple.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01In the midst of all this, an unlikely love affair had begun.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06During the bitter fighting, Titus had formed an important
0:09:06 > 0:09:09personal relationship with a Jewish ally of Rome,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13the client queen Berenice, a woman at least ten years his senior.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Her family had long-standing links with Rome's emperors
0:09:16 > 0:09:17and with Vespasian.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Titus returned to Rome in AD 71.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28A few years later, Berenice followed.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Controversially, Titus brought her to live with him
0:09:31 > 0:09:33in his father's imperial palace.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39A foreign queen was now at the heart of the ruling family.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44The Jewish faith prohibited personal likenesses,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47so we don't have any visual records of Berenice.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Nonetheless, she's fascinated artists for millennia.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56The romance between Titus
0:09:56 > 0:10:01and his Jewish queen has inspired plays, novels, ballets and operas.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08One reason for that is that their relationship came to an abrupt
0:10:08 > 0:10:09and unhappy end.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Titus may have been infatuated with Berenice,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21but his feelings were not shared by the people of Rome.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24From the time she arrived, there were public protests.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29The regime's response to its critics was decisive.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30One philosopher who spoke out
0:10:30 > 0:10:33against the relationship was beheaded.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37There seems to have been quite extraordinary, open
0:10:37 > 0:10:41hostility to the relationship between Titus and Berenice in Rome.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Why do you think that was?
0:10:43 > 0:10:48For him to be having a liaison with a really quite
0:10:48 > 0:10:52blatantly Jewish queen was an extraordinary contravention
0:10:52 > 0:10:56of all the prejudices that the regime had been trying to encourage.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Yes. After all, there'd been a triumph over the Jews
0:10:59 > 0:11:01through the streets of Rome.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02It does seem quite strange, doesn't it?
0:11:02 > 0:11:07So she's a queen and she's Jewish, and in the eyes of Titus' fellow
0:11:07 > 0:11:11senators, she just didn't look quite like one of them.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16Titus was the Emperor's son
0:11:16 > 0:11:20but remained subject to the rules of Roman social convention.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25He was still a member of the Roman aristocracy
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and was expected to find a wife from among its ranks.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34Women may have been pawns
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and players in a game of matrimonial power politics,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39but it was a game played solely
0:11:39 > 0:11:41within traditional Roman high society.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Disapproval of Berenice in Rome was prompted by more than her
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Jewish heritage.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55The population fretted about the imperial succession.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Berenice could not fulfil the most important function of a Roman
0:11:58 > 0:12:00imperial woman.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05When she arrived in Rome, Berenice was around 46 years old.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09The chances of her having a son looked extremely remote.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11Without an heir,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15the Empire might be plunged into another destructive civil war.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21An ancient source records that Titus had offered to marry Berenice.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25But when he became emperor in AD 79,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28he was forced to make a heart-breaking decision.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Titus accepted that public opinion, whether of the aristocracy
0:12:35 > 0:12:38or of the Roman masses, would not tolerate his relationship
0:12:38 > 0:12:41with Berenice continuing now that he was emperor.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43And so, in the words of the biographer
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Suetonius, "He at once sent Queen Berenice away from Rome,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51"invitus invitam, against his will and against hers."
0:12:56 > 0:12:59The production of a male heir was
0:12:59 > 0:13:02so important in Roman dynastic politics.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It's a very new regime.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10It had come out of nowhere, out of a civil war in which huge numbers of
0:13:10 > 0:13:15Roman citizens had died, and it was trying to establish its legitimacy.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17- Yes.- And Berenice did not help.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19No, she didn't at all.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29By the closing years of the first century, change was in the air.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37The Great Emperor Trajan, who acceded to the throne in AD 98,
0:13:37 > 0:13:38was from Spain.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43His wife, Plotina, came from Gaul,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and she was instrumental in ensuring that another
0:13:45 > 0:13:50senator from Spain, Hadrian, succeeded her husband as emperor.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Power was passing to a new breed of rulers,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02culturally Roman, but with roots far away from the imperial capital.
0:14:04 > 0:14:10The provincials were on the march with women in the vanguard.
0:14:12 > 0:14:1560 years after Hadrian, at the close of the second century,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18this process moved on decisively.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The eclipse of the great aristocratic families who
0:14:21 > 0:14:24dominated Rome for hundreds of years was
0:14:24 > 0:14:26confirmed by the arrival of a new empress.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32Her name was Julia Domna,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and she was from Syria, on the eastern edge of the Roman world.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Her husband, Septimius Severus, who fought his way to the top,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42hailed from the province of Africa.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Power was now in the hands of newcomers from distant
0:14:46 > 0:14:48corners of the Roman Empire.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59On Rome's Palatine Hill stand these remains of the great palace
0:14:59 > 0:15:02built by Septimius Severus and Julia Domna.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08In a city many miles from their birth places,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12the couple were determined to found a dynasty to rule the Roman
0:15:12 > 0:15:14Empire for centuries to come.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21In their prime, they seemed invincible.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Monuments in Rome record Septimius Severus' military victories
0:15:26 > 0:15:28in far-flung provinces like Britain.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35But it was Julia Domna who was the real pioneer.
0:15:35 > 0:15:36Her public profile
0:15:36 > 0:15:40and her role in government set her apart from all her predecessors.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Julia Domna did not stay on the sidelines like Caenis
0:15:46 > 0:15:49or suffer public scorn like Berenice.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Domna became a celebrated figure among the Empire's populace,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02even here, in York, more than 1,000 miles from Rome.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09From AD 208, York was Septimius' base
0:16:09 > 0:16:12as he tried to secure Britain's northern frontier...
0:16:14 > 0:16:18..the same problem that had led his predecessor, Hadrian, to
0:16:18 > 0:16:21build his famous wall nearly 90 years earlier.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30- This one's my favourite, actually.- Right.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33'In the Yorkshire Museum,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36'we can see the impression Domna made on the locals.'
0:16:38 > 0:16:42Natalie, here we have this amazing pot, in the shape of a human head.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46What is it that makes people identify it as Julia Domna herself?
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I think if you look at the pot next to wall paintings and frescoes,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53you do get a sense that it echoes how she looked.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55I mean, the hair, particularly. If you look at the way the hair is,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58she has this part down the centre and then her hair is pulled
0:16:58 > 0:17:02back into this tidy little neat bun at the nape of the neck.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Very typical of how you see Julia Domna portrayed,
0:17:04 > 0:17:05particularly on coins.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Yeah. It's a very distinctive hairstyle, isn't it?
0:17:07 > 0:17:08Oh definitely, yes.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12It's not really in the style of official art.
0:17:12 > 0:17:13No, I don't think so.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16I think it's much more likely that somebody has perhaps seen
0:17:16 > 0:17:19an image of Julia Domna on a coin, which circulate throughout
0:17:19 > 0:17:22the Empire, and has perhaps thought, "I really like that image.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25"I'd like my very own pot made with a face of hers
0:17:25 > 0:17:27"that I can put on my mantelpiece."
0:17:28 > 0:17:33How did this woman become such a popular icon throughout the Empire?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36It was a long and improbable journey.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43Domna's story began in the Syrian city of Emesa, modern-day Homs.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Her father had wealth and status as priest of the religion
0:17:46 > 0:17:50based in the city, the cult of the sun god, Elagabal.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Its worship was just one of many innovations her family
0:17:54 > 0:17:55would bring to Rome.
0:17:57 > 0:18:04Domna and her husband had first met in Syria around AD 180.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07At the time, Septimius Severus was a Roman general,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10thought to be in his mid 30s.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15Julia Domna was just a girl of six or seven.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19When his first wife died seven years later,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Septimius cast around for a new bride.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25In a tale that's probably the invention of gossipy writers trying
0:18:25 > 0:18:27to bolster his imperial credibility,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30we're told he consulted the horoscopes of some candidates.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35That of Julia Domna revealed she was destined to marry a king.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Whatever the truth of that, in AD 187, aged 13 or 14,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45she travelled west to Gaul to marry her 42-year-old husband.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52By AD 192, already the mother of two sons, Domna was with her
0:18:52 > 0:18:56husband and his legions on the Empire's Northern Frontier.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01When news came that the Emperor Commodus had been murdered,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Septimius made his bid for power.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09With his army at his back, he headed for Rome.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13After five years and battle on two continents,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Septimius finally established himself as Rome's sole ruler.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Having fought his way to power, he now sought to justify
0:19:20 > 0:19:24and legitimise his reign and to hold out the prospect of a stable
0:19:24 > 0:19:29and secure succession, avoiding the possibility of more civil wars.
0:19:29 > 0:19:35And in this battle for hearts and minds, his wife was a key weapon.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40This regime of outsiders deliberately harked
0:19:40 > 0:19:42back to the glories of Rome's past.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47And Julia Domna was at the centre of this campaign.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53Do you think it's right to see Julia Domna as almost being recast
0:19:53 > 0:19:58as a symbol of tradition for this really rather innovative dynasty?
0:19:58 > 0:20:00I think that's right.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03She plays the role of being the matron, of being at
0:20:03 > 0:20:05the steady centre of the dynasty,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08looking after the arts and being the supportive wife
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and all of those things which Roman matrons are supposed to do.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15So you have this sort of bizarre society in Rome where people
0:20:15 > 0:20:18who come from all over the Empire, and pretending they don't.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Severus' sister allegedly couldn't speak proper Latin or maybe
0:20:23 > 0:20:25spoke Latin with a dreadful provincial accent.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27She wasn't even allowed to come to Rome when he was Emperor.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31- Too embarrassing.- Absolutely. Really let the side down.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Domna was promoted as the model of traditional Roman motherhood.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41After all, she had produced two sons who could succeed her husband.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46The chances of another civil war seemed happily remote.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Coins hailed the Empress and her boys Caracalla and Geta as
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Felicitas Saeculi - "the joy of the age."
0:20:58 > 0:21:02We can see Julia Domna as something very new, in a way,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06but in the context of the Severan regime,
0:21:06 > 0:21:09she's also used as very much a symbol of tradition, isn't she?
0:21:09 > 0:21:12She is and I think Severus has to use her like that.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15She is part of his back to basics campaign.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17He's a military usurper,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20he's come to Rome after a period of destabilising civil war and looking
0:21:20 > 0:21:24back to good old nuclear imperial families with mother and father
0:21:24 > 0:21:28and heir and a spare, ready to go. He promises stability, continuity.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32So she is used, yes, as a symbol of a return to traditional values,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34to counterbalance that idea, that there's something
0:21:34 > 0:21:38a bit different and a bit foreign about this family arriving in Rome.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43As part of this campaign,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Julia Domna embraced Rome's long-established religious cults.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Though her father had been a priest of an eastern god,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57Domna oversaw the restoration of the house of the Vestal Virgins.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00This cult was one of the few Roman
0:22:00 > 0:22:04institutions where women had an established role.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08The priestesses of the goddess Vesta cultivated a sacred flame
0:22:08 > 0:22:10that was not allowed to go out.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14If it did, Rome might fall.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16In this Roman museum,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19a fascinating piece of evidence shows just how effective
0:22:19 > 0:22:24these strategies were in endearing Domna to the Roman establishment.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31This beautiful and very precious doll - too precious to be taken out
0:22:31 > 0:22:35of her cabinet - is almost certainly a representation of Julia Domna.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38She's fully jointed,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42made of ivory and she's also got this incredible jewellery on.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45She's got a lovely gold necklace
0:22:45 > 0:22:47and it's also got little gold bangles and
0:22:47 > 0:22:53little gold ankle bracelets as well, so it's really very precious indeed.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57It was found in the grave, not of a young girl, as such dolls
0:22:57 > 0:23:01normally are, but of a 66-year-old Vestal Virgin called Cossinia.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Cossinia was buried at Tivoli, not far from Rome.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Julia Domna's image was absolutely everywhere, it seems,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and this is a wonderful instance of it.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Julia Domna went from strength to strength.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24This ceremonial arch near the banks of the Tiber,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28erected in AD 204, depicts Domna and her husband
0:23:28 > 0:23:32engaged in the solemn business of a religious sacrifice.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37But the key point is that the arch was not an official,
0:23:37 > 0:23:38government construction.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40It was commissioned by local businessmen.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44And while it may show them currying favour, it also reveals them
0:23:44 > 0:23:47buying into the idea that the Emperor and Empress
0:23:47 > 0:23:50were guardians of Rome's ancient traditions.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58Julia Domna's status in Roman society was truly exalted -
0:23:58 > 0:24:03but her position was also precarious.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06She had made influential enemies.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09One of them was uncomfortably close to home...
0:24:10 > 0:24:13A contemporary source tells us that beneath the public harmony
0:24:13 > 0:24:16and honours which included the prestigious title of Augusta,
0:24:16 > 0:24:21Domna's private life was made a misery by the actions of her husband's power-hungry
0:24:21 > 0:24:25friend, kinsman and favoured advisor, Fulvius Plautianus...
0:24:27 > 0:24:31The historian Cassius Dio recorded how Plautianus tried to
0:24:31 > 0:24:34undermine Domna.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39Plautianus had such control over the Emperor, in so many ways,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42that he often treated even the Augusta in a disgraceful manner,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45for he cordially loathed her
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and would always abuse her violently to Severus.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Plautianus used to conduct investigations into her conduct, gathering
0:24:52 > 0:24:58evidence against her by submitting women of the nobility to torture.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Domna did not buckle under this onslaught.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08She was made of sterner stuff than that.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Instead, she immersed herself in intellectual pursuits.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Retreating from persecution, she began to study philosophy,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21as well as rhetoric, both traditionally male preserves.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24She also explored other subjects, such as geometry with
0:25:24 > 0:25:27the informal circle of intellectuals which gathered around her.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Some of Rome's great thinkers are represented
0:25:32 > 0:25:36here in the Musei Capitolini's Hall of Philosophers.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Domna developed her own relationships with
0:25:40 > 0:25:42some of the period's sharpest minds.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Accounts of the period stress Julia Domna's interest in a wide range
0:25:48 > 0:25:52of intellectual activities - philosophy, rhetoric, medicine.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55How unusual was that for the time?
0:25:55 > 0:26:00Well, I think her interests in itself were not unprecedented.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04But Julia Donma's interests went farther, I think.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09They were on a higher scale, and possibly also on a higher level.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12She had this whole group of intellectuals around her,
0:26:12 > 0:26:17and, in this sense, I have no earlier examples of women
0:26:17 > 0:26:20who did this in the Roman Empire.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22It's very interesting, isn't it? Philostratus,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24the literary author, boasts about his
0:26:24 > 0:26:27friendly relationship with, with Julia Domna, doesn't he?
0:26:27 > 0:26:31He tells us that he wrote his Life of Apollonius of Tiana
0:26:31 > 0:26:35at her request, and I think he was proud of it,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37of being a sort of court philosopher.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Of course, she was a very powerful woman so she must have attracted
0:26:41 > 0:26:47a lot of scholars who tried to get, well, maybe tried their luck.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Plautianus did not succeed in poisoning the Emperor's mind
0:26:53 > 0:26:55against the Empress.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Domna remained an important part of her husband's life,
0:26:58 > 0:27:04accompanying Septimius on his many journeys across Rome's vast Empire.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09And so, at the height of her fame and influence, Julia Domna found
0:27:09 > 0:27:14herself in York, where the locals had made the pot in her honour.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19What do you think this pot tells us about Julia Domna's popularity?
0:27:19 > 0:27:22She is hugely popular.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27People have seen Julia Domna's image on coins or in other media and she's
0:27:27 > 0:27:30got a celebrity status - I mean, you know, coins are like
0:27:30 > 0:27:32the OK! Magazine of the day.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35They've seen her, whether they want to be associated with her or
0:27:35 > 0:27:38they just like the way she looks, I think it's much more a reflection
0:27:38 > 0:27:41of her popularity and people wanting to have a piece of her.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44- She has the aura of imperial power about her...- Absolutely.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46- ..so she's very important.- Yes.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49It's really very substantial, this pot, isn't it? Is it heavy?
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It's not actually heavy at all.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55It's very well made, the clay is quite thin, so it's not very heavy.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56Would you like to have a hold?
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Oh, goodness, can I? Thank you very much.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01No, she's not heavy, is she?
0:28:01 > 0:28:03She's really lovely.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Fantastic. Thank you.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Now, she was made, almost certainly, between
0:28:08 > 0:28:13208 and 211, when Julia Domna and Septimius Severus were in York.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16So she's almost exactly 1,800 years old.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18I must say she's looking very good for her age.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26But it was here in York that the years of triumph ended.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Events were about to throw this hard-won dynasty into turmoil,
0:28:30 > 0:28:35and set Domna on a path to personal tragedy.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42In February, AD 211, in this northern outpost of the Roman world,
0:28:42 > 0:28:46the African Emperor Septimius Severus died.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50He named his two sons Caracalla and Geta as co-heirs.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53With the leadership of the Roman world at stake,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56this was a recipe for open hostility
0:28:56 > 0:29:00and Domna was caught in the middle of her warring sons.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05For a little while, their mother managed to contain this
0:29:05 > 0:29:08dangerous sibling rivalry.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10But once back in Rome,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13she could no longer control 23-year-old Caracalla.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18He had an obsessive belief that he should rule alone.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21He decided that Geta, his junior by just a year,
0:29:21 > 0:29:26needed to be removed from the equation.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Caracalla was set on murdering his younger brother.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33But while he had a powerful motive and didn't lack means,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36he was rather short of opportunity.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38Geta was suspicious,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41and guards protected him from potential assassins.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Cassius Dio tells us
0:29:43 > 0:29:46how Caracalla solved the problem of access to his brother
0:29:46 > 0:29:52by convincing Domna that he wanted to discuss a reconciliation.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00So Geta was persuaded to meet his brother,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02but when they were inside,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06a group of centurions rushed in and struck Geta down.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09At the sight of the soldiers he had run to his mother,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12hung about her neck and clung to her bosom and breasts,
0:30:12 > 0:30:19lamenting and crying, "Mother who bore me, mother who bore me, help!
0:30:19 > 0:30:21"I am being murdered!"
0:30:21 > 0:30:27And so Domna, deceived in this way, saw her son dying in this
0:30:27 > 0:30:31most impious way in her arms,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35..for she was all covered...
0:30:37 > 0:30:38..with his blood.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44But the bloodthirsty Caracalla was not done yet.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52He bullied the Senate into for ever condemning Geta's memory.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56His brother's image was chiselled out of depictions
0:30:56 > 0:30:59of the imperial family across the Empire.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09Caracalla's cruelty had bitter consequences for his mother.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Domna had seen her younger son murdered in her arms.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15And now she was denied the opportunity to mourn him.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23On the contrary, Domna was forced to be joyful
0:31:23 > 0:31:27and laugh as though at some great good fortune, so closely were
0:31:27 > 0:31:31all her words, gestures, and changes of colour scrutinised.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34So she alone, the Augusta, wife of the Emperor
0:31:34 > 0:31:39and mother of the Emperors, was not permitted to weep,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42even in private, over so great a loss.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Less than a year after his father's death,
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Caracalla now had sole rule throughout the Roman world.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58At this point, Domna's life took another unexpected turn.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Given her circumstances, she might have retired into private life,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04or been murdered by her son, the Emperor.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Instead, her involvement in the administration
0:32:07 > 0:32:09of the Roman Empire actually grew.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15Later on, we've got evidence that she's in charge of imperial
0:32:15 > 0:32:17correspondence - extremely unusual for a woman,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19we don't know of anyone else like that.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22I think she was the first and the last. I mean, there was no other.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25So this is very, very unusual,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28and Dio says it's only the routine business that she was doing,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31but routine business can, of course, be very important.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Absolutely, and letter writing is often seen
0:32:34 > 0:32:38as one of the key activities that emperors undertake,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41- so looking after the letters is very important.- Yes, yes.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45The correspondence contained reports
0:32:45 > 0:32:47and requests from all over the Empire.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Domna was deciding which petitioners should be answered.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55She was, in effect, controlling access to the Emperor.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Given her son's murderous tendencies,
0:32:59 > 0:33:03Domna was surely wise not to turn down the job.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08Caracalla had begun his rule with bloodshed.
0:33:08 > 0:33:14In the summer of AD 217, he finally got his comeuppance.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17On campaign in the East, the ruler of the Roman world was
0:33:17 > 0:33:21assassinated as he relieved himself by the side of the road.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27Julia Domna had no reason to love Caracalla - after all,
0:33:27 > 0:33:30he had butchered her younger son before her eyes.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35So her reaction to news of his murder might seem curious.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Domna was so affected that she dealt herself a violent blow
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and tried to starve herself to death.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48In this way she mourned, now that he was dead,
0:33:48 > 0:33:53the same man she had hated while he lived.
0:33:56 > 0:34:01Dio's account makes the depths of Domna's distress painfully clear.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Though what's really fascinating, because it tells us
0:34:05 > 0:34:08so much about her place in the world, is the reason Dio
0:34:08 > 0:34:11gives for her distraught reaction.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14It wasn't that she wished her son were still alive, he tells us,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18but that she was frustrated at having to return to private life.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25Later in AD 217, Julia Domna received news that Macrinus,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30one of her son Caracalla's bodyguards at the time of his murder, had become Emperor.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35With no prospect of a return to power or influence,
0:34:35 > 0:34:40Domna committed suicide shortly afterwards.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44Some years after,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49her remains were interred here at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52It is said that the ashes of Domna's younger son, Geta,
0:34:52 > 0:34:56murdered by his brother, were placed next to her.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Today, she remains a contradictory figure.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Her husband's regime stressed -
0:35:02 > 0:35:06or invented - its connections to Rome's past.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09But whether as a patron of an intellectual circle,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12an administrator or fashion role model, Domna,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15admired throughout the Empire, broke entirely new ground -
0:35:15 > 0:35:18and her impact did not die with her.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22With the demise of his sons,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Septimius Severus' direct bloodline had been brought to a bloody end.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31But the dynasty continued.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34It was Domna's family, not her husband's,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38who shaped the history of the Empire over the next two decades.
0:35:38 > 0:35:39And most remarkably of all,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43the family members who did this were all women.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49The key player would be Julia Domna's elder sister, Julia Maesa.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Maesa believed her family could be restored to the imperial throne
0:35:53 > 0:35:57in the person of her teenage grandson, Elagabalus,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00from Syria, like herself.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Julia Maesa hatched a plot to oust Emperor Macrinus.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Maesa successfully wooed the Syrian legions,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14who fondly remembered their generous paymasters, Septimius
0:36:14 > 0:36:16and his son Caracalla.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22A woman from the East had raised an army.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24And, even more remarkably, it defeated
0:36:24 > 0:36:28and executed Macrinus in AD 218.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33According to the historian Cassius Dio, Julia Maesa
0:36:33 > 0:36:36leapt from her chariot in the midst of the battle,
0:36:36 > 0:36:41inspiring her troops to victory by her bravery.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45The way was now clear for Maesa to enter Rome with her grandson,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47Elagabalus, as Emperor.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Maesa had achieved her ambition.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54The Syrians were back at the summit of the Roman world.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56But her power broking marked an important
0:36:56 > 0:36:59change in the nature of the Roman autocracy.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Elagabalus, the most powerful person in the Empire,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08was just 14 years old.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13There had been emperors who were unsuitable, unstable or even insane.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16But the Empire had never been ruled by a child.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21A hundred years earlier, in Rome's golden age,
0:37:21 > 0:37:26emperors had been selected by their predecessors on the basis
0:37:26 > 0:37:29of their personal qualities and experience.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33This system had helped ensure an era of peace and stability.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Now, thanks to the influence of Maesa,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40the emperor didn't even have to be an adult.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44It appears that Rome was not even in the hands of a particularly
0:37:44 > 0:37:47gifted teenager.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51In manipulating her family back into power, Maesa had saddled
0:37:51 > 0:37:55the Roman world with an Emperor who, as the third-century historian
0:37:55 > 0:38:00Herodian put it, "was in every way an empty-headed young idiot."
0:38:02 > 0:38:06Elagabulus squandered money, engaged in orgiastic rituals and was
0:38:06 > 0:38:11even rumoured to have prostituted himself inside the imperial palace.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15His mother, Julia Soaemias, struggled to keep her
0:38:15 > 0:38:20delinquent teenage son on the straight and narrow.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Meanwhile, his grandmother, Maesa,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30and his mother, Soaemias, did their best to run the Empire.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35It was an unprecedented instance of female power,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38borne out by the fact the two of them attended the Senate -
0:38:38 > 0:38:41the only women ever recorded to have done so.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Though Soaemias exercised a restraining influence on her
0:38:44 > 0:38:47son Elagabalus, he continued to alienate Roman society.
0:38:51 > 0:38:52There really is a limit to what
0:38:52 > 0:38:55these imperial women can do, isn't there?
0:38:55 > 0:38:57There is a limit, because in the end, an emperor can say,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59- "Ignore my mother, I'm the Emperor." - Yeah.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03So what we see is a family,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06in which the most experienced and perhaps the most dominant
0:39:06 > 0:39:10members are females looking at their power going down the chute.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Unlike his more diplomatic relative Domna, Elagabulus did not
0:39:17 > 0:39:21bother toeing the Roman religious line in public.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25On this site, In the heart of the capital,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29he built a temple to the Syrian sun god.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34Even worse, one of the Emperor's three hasty marriages was to
0:39:34 > 0:39:38a Vestal Virgin, who traditionally took a vow of chastity.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42Rome was outraged by this blasphemous behaviour.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45They've got to play the role.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48And this is what Elagabalus is patently not doing,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51he's not playing the role of Roman Emperor,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54and so he's actually writing himself out of a job.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56He's performing the role of a deviant, and if you perform
0:39:56 > 0:39:59the role of a deviant, eventually people say you can't be Emperor.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02And he's probably lucky that his relatives said it
0:40:02 > 0:40:04before other people did.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09To address rising hostility to the regime,
0:40:09 > 0:40:14Soaemias called on help from yet another woman of the family.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21She did a deal with her sister, Julia Mamaea,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23who had a son of her own.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28The boy, Alexander, was even younger than his cousin Elagabalus.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33But Alexander was, at least, untainted by the Emperor's excesses.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39In AD 221, Elagabulus,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42encouraged by his mother Soaemias and his grandmother
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Julia Maesa, adopted Alexander as his heir.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51There was some logic to this move by Soaemias.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53She was trying to shore up her unpopular son,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57Elagabalus, by appointing a more acceptable colleague or successor.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Unfortunately, this tactic completely backfired.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05All she had done was to create an obvious replacement emperor.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10The two sisters were now clearly divided into two opposing camps,
0:41:10 > 0:41:15with Soaemias behind Elagabalus, and Mamaea backing Alexander.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21Mamaea was the shrewder sister.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24She built support for her son Alexander by bribing
0:41:24 > 0:41:28the Praetorians, the Emperor's bodyguard.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31It would tilt the balance in Mamaea's favour
0:41:31 > 0:41:35when the feud came to a bloody head in AD 221.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40Elagabalus led an attempt to kill Alexander,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44but was himself overwhelmed by the Praetorians and assassinated.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50His mother Soaemias did not escape the bloodshed.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Soaemias, embracing her son and holding him tight,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58perished with him.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Their heads were cut off and their bodies, stripped naked,
0:42:01 > 0:42:04were dragged all over the city.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09The mother's corpse was then dumped, somewhere or other.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Alexander Severus became Emperor aged 13,
0:42:16 > 0:42:20even younger than his predecessor had been.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23His mother and grandmother would pull the strings.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29The writer Herodian says that Alexander was allowed
0:42:29 > 0:42:32the title of Emperor...but the control of affairs was in the hands
0:42:32 > 0:42:35of his women.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39But his mother, Mamaea, soon made a momentous mistake.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45On his deathbed, the founder of the dynasty, Septimius Severus, had
0:42:45 > 0:42:50advised his heirs to be generous to the army and ignore everyone else.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53It was a rather grim acknowledgement of the realities of
0:42:53 > 0:42:57third-century Roman politics, but a reality nevertheless.
0:42:57 > 0:43:02And now, Mamaea suffered for not recognising it.
0:43:05 > 0:43:10Once her son was Emperor, Mamaea ignored Septimius's advice.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14She became mean and penny-pinching.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19Over the next decade, dissent and anger within the army grew.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25In AD 235, legions on the Northern Frontier staged a mutiny.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Alexander and Mamaea arrived with an army to stamp it out.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33They failed.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Herodian tells us the rebels urged Alexander's soldiers to desert
0:43:39 > 0:43:43"the tight-fisted woman and the timid youth under his mother's thumb."
0:43:46 > 0:43:50It is said that soldiers eventually found the Emperor in a tent,
0:43:50 > 0:43:52clinging to his mother.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56Alexander and Julia Mamaea were both murdered.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Alexander, Herodian tells us,
0:44:02 > 0:44:06was celebrated for his good deeds and benevolence.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08His reign might have been famously successful if his mother's
0:44:08 > 0:44:12tight-fisted avarice hadn't brought disgrace upon him.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17The influence of the women from Syria had finally come to an end.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Almost a century later, a very different personality would
0:44:31 > 0:44:35again place Roman womanhood centre stage.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39She would help transform the Empire by exerting a great
0:44:39 > 0:44:44influence on this man, Emperor Constantine the Great.
0:44:44 > 0:44:50He would use his supreme power to initiate a religious revolution.
0:44:50 > 0:44:55The remarkable result would be a Christian Roman Empire.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00And a crucial figure in the Empire's journey from its long pagan
0:45:00 > 0:45:04traditions to its Christian future was a woman who became
0:45:04 > 0:45:07one of the most celebrated saints of the early Church -
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Constantine's mother, Helena.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17Helena's early life remains a mystery, shrouded in speculation.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21We know little or nothing about her origins,
0:45:21 > 0:45:27but, arguably, in later life she changed the course of history.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30It was believed that Helena played a role in converting her
0:45:30 > 0:45:34emperor son to Christianity
0:45:34 > 0:45:36and that she discovered the True Cross
0:45:36 > 0:45:39on which Jesus had been crucified.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45In the church we're sitting in, there's a wonderful image
0:45:45 > 0:45:47of Helena.
0:45:47 > 0:45:48How important was she as a figure
0:45:48 > 0:45:51in the late antique and medieval Christian world?
0:45:51 > 0:45:52Incredibly important.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55There are so many different stories told about her in
0:45:55 > 0:45:57so many languages from different periods.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59She's very useful, I think,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01because so little is known about her.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03She was obscure even in her own day.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08She then became a figure of a sort of ideal holy woman
0:46:08 > 0:46:11and somehow modelled a little on Mary, as well.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13And the stories that are told about her
0:46:13 > 0:46:15take different shapes and different contexts.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19So, Ambrose, who was Bishop of Milan in the fourth century,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22talks interestingly about Helena's background.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25He calls her a "stabularia," that she was a stable keeper,
0:46:25 > 0:46:29and says that she was "raised from dung to royalty."
0:46:29 > 0:46:32Hostile commentators, like pagan writers,
0:46:32 > 0:46:36used this to argue that she was actually a very dubious woman,
0:46:36 > 0:46:40and she was of low birth and possibly a prostitute.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46Our best guess is that the future Saint hailed from Asia Minor,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48modern day Turkey.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Whatever her origins, as a young woman she met a young,
0:46:52 > 0:46:55ambitious, officer in the Roman army.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58His name was Constantius Chlorus.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03Around AD 275, the couple had a son.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06They named him Constantine.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08It's not clear whether Helena
0:47:08 > 0:47:12and Constantine's father Constantius Chlorus were ever married.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16What we do know is that Constantius abandoned Helena.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21His motive was political ambition in a changing Roman world.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28Constantius' rise was the result of dramatic changes to
0:47:28 > 0:47:33the Roman Empire since the fall of Julia Domna's dynasty.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40In the late third century, there was a radical reorganization.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44The Empire was split in two - East and West.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Each had a senior ruler, known as The Augustus,
0:47:47 > 0:47:52and a junior partner and successor titled Caesar.
0:47:52 > 0:47:57By AD 293, Constantius was Caesar in the western half of the empire.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00In order to marry the daughter of his senior colleague,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03the Augustus, he cast Helena aside.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07Helena then falls off the radar for 20 years.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10Though it's very possible that by the time she was put
0:48:10 > 0:48:14aside by Constantius, she was already a Christian.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20'By AD 300, Christianity was gaining ground.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25Historians believe that between 5% and 10%
0:48:25 > 0:48:29of the Empire's population had converted to the new faith.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Helena was one of those converts,
0:48:33 > 0:48:37but it's not known how much contact she had with her son.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42However, Constantine remained close to his father.
0:48:42 > 0:48:47In AD 305, he was here at the military base in York,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50as Constantius led a campaign against the Picts on
0:48:50 > 0:48:54the ever-troublesome Northern Frontier.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58A year later, Constantius died suddenly.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03When Constantius died here in York in AD 306, his troops acclaimed
0:49:03 > 0:49:07Constantine the senior ruler - the Augustus - of the West.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10He responded by gradually defeating his rivals
0:49:10 > 0:49:13and asserting his claim to the western half of the Empire.
0:49:13 > 0:49:20Then, in AD 324, Constantine took control of the entire Roman world.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25During Constantine's long rise to power,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29his support for Christianity grew.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Significantly, Helena was part of his life during these years.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40The Hall of Constantine, in Rome's Vatican Palace, features
0:49:40 > 0:49:47spectacular Renaissance images of the Emperor's developing faith,
0:49:47 > 0:49:51his vision of the Cross before a crucial battle
0:49:51 > 0:49:55for control of the West in AD 312,
0:49:55 > 0:50:00Constantine's decisive victory at that battle,
0:50:00 > 0:50:02near the Milvian Bridge in Rome.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08Here, his soldiers are shown displaying Christian symbols.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17And, finally, Constantine's baptism as a Christian.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Overseeing all these history-changing events
0:50:23 > 0:50:26is his mother, Helena.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29It's impossible to say how much influence Helena had over
0:50:29 > 0:50:34such hugely significant decisions, or in the growth of Christianity
0:50:34 > 0:50:36during the reign of Constantine.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40But we do know she was deeply respected by her son.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43Constantine gave her the title of Augusta,
0:50:43 > 0:50:47ranking her alongside the great imperial women of Rome's past.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Given Helena's status, her public support for the faith
0:50:51 > 0:50:56and that of other high-ranking women would surely have advanced
0:50:56 > 0:50:58the Christian cause.
0:50:58 > 0:50:59In broad terms,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02how important were women from the upper reaches of Roman
0:51:02 > 0:51:06society in promoting Christianity in Helena's time, would you say?
0:51:06 > 0:51:10I think what was important was the role that the image of women
0:51:10 > 0:51:14played in popular perceptions of Christianity.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17So, symbolically, they're really very important.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20That's right, in terms of their sort of literary profile
0:51:20 > 0:51:25and images of them, that they are almost as important as men.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27Makes a change.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39It could be that Helena played a part in Constantine's decision,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41in AD 313,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45to declare that Christianity would be officially tolerated.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49In one fell swoop,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52centuries of imperial persecution were brought to an end.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00One direct consequence of the growing influence of Christian
0:52:00 > 0:52:05ideas on imperial policy was this - women became more independent.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11From the time of Augustus, Roman law had penalised refusal to marry
0:52:11 > 0:52:14and even before that had limited female property rights.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18Under Constantine, these measures were set aside
0:52:18 > 0:52:22because Christianity celebrated female celibacy.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26Now, women could choose not to marry
0:52:26 > 0:52:28and could control their own wealth.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Helena was about to demonstrate the possibilities of this new
0:52:35 > 0:52:37female independence.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40Though now almost 80, she left Rome and set off for Jerusalem
0:52:40 > 0:52:43on one of the first great Christian pilgrimages.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52Describing Helena's journey through the Eastern provinces,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56the Christian writer Eusebius praised her innumerable
0:52:56 > 0:52:59gifts to the unclothed and unsupported poor.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02Others, she set free
0:53:02 > 0:53:06from prisons and from mines where they laboured in harsh conditions.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15The concept of "good works" of that kind would have been alien to
0:53:15 > 0:53:17all the imperial women who preceded her.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20Even before she arrived here in Jerusalem, Helena was
0:53:20 > 0:53:24embodying a new age.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32Helena's visit would become the stuff of legend
0:53:32 > 0:53:36and leave an enduring mark on Jerusalem.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
0:53:40 > 0:53:45a site of pilgrimage for Christians from all over the world.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48THEY CHANT PRAYERS
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Inside is a chapel dedicated to Helena.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09She is said to have made an astonishing discovery here
0:54:09 > 0:54:13that led to the construction of this church.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16First, Helena found the inscription placed at the head
0:54:16 > 0:54:20of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22With it were three crosses.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Helena now faced the problem of identifying the sacred relic.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30An invalid woman was invited to touch each cross in turn.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34After placing her hands on the last one, she was miraculously cured.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40We will never know for certain
0:54:40 > 0:54:44if Helena's discovery was really the True Cross.
0:54:44 > 0:54:50What matters is that early Christians believed it was.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01As a character in one of John Ford's westerns has it,
0:55:01 > 0:55:03"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
0:55:03 > 0:55:07Helena's powerful legend gained a foothold throughout
0:55:07 > 0:55:08the Christian world
0:55:08 > 0:55:11and she and the True Cross were bound together from this point on.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19Helena's discovery gave her enormous prestige for centuries to come.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24One of the interesting ways in which she was reused in the later
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Middle Ages was in Britain,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30where she was held to be a British princess, that she was both
0:55:30 > 0:55:33the daughter of Old King Cole, and a legendary ancestor of Arthur.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40Even today, Helena looks down on the High Street in Colchester.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43According to the enduring British legend,
0:55:43 > 0:55:45she was born in this Essex town.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51And that gave Britons a historic connection to the Roman Empire.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55The fact that she was also a Christian legitimised,
0:55:55 > 0:55:57if you like, the imperial Roman connection.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59That's really important, isn't it?
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Helena did not live to see the faith she championed become
0:56:09 > 0:56:13the official religion of the Roman Empire.
0:56:13 > 0:56:19She passed away in AD 330, with her son at her side.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23Helena's remains were buried in this vast funeral
0:56:23 > 0:56:26casket in the Vatican Museum.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35On this site, a church, The Basilica of the Holy Cross,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38was built to house the relics which Helena is said to have
0:56:38 > 0:56:40brought back to Rome.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46It is one of the legacies of an extraordinary woman who
0:56:46 > 0:56:50earned the great title Augusta.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57Not far away, there are reminders of other women who shared
0:56:57 > 0:56:59this distinction.
0:56:59 > 0:57:06The house occupied by Livia, the first great imperial woman of Rome.
0:57:06 > 0:57:11The palace where Agrippina schemed to make her son Nero emperor.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18An image of an empress originally from Syria sacrificing to
0:57:18 > 0:57:20Rome's ancient gods.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24Short distances.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26But they span four centuries
0:57:26 > 0:57:30and many different worlds, culturally and politically.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37All those worlds nevertheless bear witness to
0:57:37 > 0:57:41the impact of the remarkable women of ancient Rome.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45Their ambitions, fears, passions, triumphs and tragedies
0:57:45 > 0:57:51still have the power to fascinate, thrill and occasionally shock us.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53But, crucially, their stories take us to the heart
0:57:53 > 0:57:57of the times they inhabited, the history they shaped,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00and the societies they left behind them.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd