JULIA PAULA (219-220)

“The first wife” Julia Cornelia Paula was a lady of very noble descent, according to Herodian: she was a member of the Cornelia family on her mother's side, and her father, Julius Paulus, was an important lawyer who served the Severan dynasty and later held the position of Praetorian Prefect. In early 219 AD, Julia Maesa, the elder sister of the widowed Empress Julia Domna, arranged for Julia Paula to marry her grandson, the new emperor Heliogabalus. Their wedding was celebrated with great fanfare in Rome. Julia Paula received the honorary title of Augusta. By the end of 220 AD, Heliogabalus divorced her to marry the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa. After the divorce, Heliogabalus stripped Paula of her title of Augusta. They had no children, and her subsequent fate is unknown.