Publius Septimius Geta - Paris, France
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N 48° 51.666 E 002° 20.138
31U E 451271 N 5412227
Publius Septimius Geta was Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209 to his death in 211.
Waymark Code: WMEG0J
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 05/24/2012
Views: 14
Geta became co-Emperor at age 20 and was murdered by his co-Emperor brother Caracalla two years later. The lifesized marble bust of him depicts him as Emperor..a boyishly chubby face, short curly hair and wearing a toga clasped on his right shoulder.
Wikipedia (
visit link) tells us that Geta:
"... was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife Julia Domna. Geta was born in Rome, at a time when his father was only a provincial governor at the service of Emperor Commodus.
Geta was always in a place close to his older brother Lucius, the heir known as Caracalla. Perhaps due to this, the relations between the two were difficult from their early years. Conflicts were constant and often required the mediation of their mother. To appease his younger son, Septimius Severus gave Geta the title of Augustus in 209.
During the campaign against the Britons of the early 3rd century, the imperial propaganda presented the image of a happy family that shared the responsibilities of rule. Septimus Severus entrusted his wife Julia Domna as his counsellor, his older son Caracalla as his second in command, and gave administrative and bureaucratic duties to his younger son Geta. In reality, however, the rivalry and antipathy between the brothers was far from resolved...
When Septimius Severus died in Eboracum in the beginning of 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed joint emperors and returned to Rome.
Regardless, the shared throne was not a success: the brothers argued about every decision, from law to political appointments. Later sources speculate about the desire of the two of splitting the empire in two halves. By the end of the year, the situation was unbearable. Caracalla tried to murder Geta during the festival of Saturnalia without success. Later in December he arranged a meeting with his brother in his mother's apartments, and had him murdered in her arms by centurions.
Succession
Following Geta's assassination, Caracalla damned his memory and ordered his name to be removed from all inscriptions. The now sole emperor also took the opportunity to get rid of his political enemies, on the grounds of conspiracy with the deceased. Cassius Dio stated that around 20,000 persons of both sexes were killed or proscribed during this time."