Sallustia Orbiana

Gnaea Seia Herennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana (fl. 220s), usually known as Sallustia Orbiana, was a third century Roman empress, with the title of Augusta as the wife of Severus Alexander from AD 225 to 227. The emperor married her in late 225, following the death of his grandmother. Severus was around sixteen years of age at this time. She was known for her beauty, which was captured in multiple works of art. Possibly a victim of the jealousy of Julia Mamaea, the emperor's mother, Orbiana was divorced and exiled to Libya in 227.

Life Orbiana was the daughter of Lucius Seius Herennius Sallustius, an influential Roman senator, in the early third century. In August, 225, at about the age of sixteen, she wed the Roman emperor Severus Alexander, in an arrangement organized by the emperor's mother, Julia Avita Mamaea. Their union was short in duration and childless and it ended in August 227. Sallustius was proclaimed Caesar, Nothing further is known of her. Severus Alexander reigned for another eight years. He and his mother were slain in a mutiny in 235, clearing the way for the succession of Maximinus Thrax, and ending the Severan dynasty.

Depictions

Besides a limited emission of coinage in bronze and silver, several Roman gold coins were minted with Orbiana's visage. She was the only wife of Severus to be featured on coins.

Severan dynasty family tree

Cultural references Sallustia Orbiana is a character in Alessandro Severo (1716), an opera seria libretto by Apostolo Zeno. This was later adapted as La Salustia (1732), set to music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.