Sextus Varius Marcellus

Sextus Varius Marcellus (c. 165 – c. 215 ) was a Roman aristocrat and politician from the province of Syria. Marcellus was a Roman citizen from the Equestrian order.

Marcellus had a long and distinguished political career. Marcellus did not serve in a significant Roman military or political position, probably due to Roman emperor Lucius Septimius Severus views about him being influenced by the Praetorian prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus. The maternal aunt of Soaemias was the Roman empress Julia Domna; her maternal uncle-in-marriage was the Roman emperor Lucius Septimius Severus; her maternal cousins were the Roman emperors Caracalla and Publius Septimius Geta and she was the maternal aunt of the Roman emperor Alexander Severus. Marcellus and Soaemias' marriage may have been arranged to strengthen Lucius Septimius Severus' position in the Roman East. but only one of them is known, Varius Avitus Bassianus, who became the Severan Roman emperor Elagabalus However, the family would later claim that Caracalla, not Marcellus, was the boy's biological father.

Epigraphic evidence Inscriptional evidence has survived on Marcellus. After his death in c. 215, his wife Julia Soaemias Bassiana and their two sons, dedicated to him a tombstone which was found in Velletri, not far from Rome. The bilingual inscription which is in Greek and Latin on an altar, dedicated by him is honoring Bel in remembrance of the oracles given to him in Apamea.

The Circus Varianus was also named after his family.

Severan dynasty family tree