Barbia Orbiana was Augusta

Augusta (honorific)

Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...

 of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 from 225 AD - 227 AD. Her full name was Gneaea Seia Herennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana. She was the wife of Alexander Severus

Alexander Severus

Severus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty...

. The emperor married her in late 225, following the death of his grandmother. Severus was around sixteen years of age at this time.

Obscurity

Not much is known about Orbiana, including her age. She is known in history entirely through coins. Careful attention was paid to the coinage of copper money during the reign of Severus. Following his reign, the art and undiluted quality of money declined.

Marital discord

She was selected for marriage by Julia Avita Mamaea

Julia Avita Mamaea

Julia Avita Mamaea was the second daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin and Syrian noble Julius Avitus. She was a niece of empress Julia Domna and emperor Septimius Severus and sister of Julia Soaemias...

. Their union was short in duration and childless. It ended in August 227. Mamaea treated her daughter-in-law cruelly because of her unwillingness to share power. She also extended her meanness to Orbiana's father. Eventually Mamaea had Macrinus

Macrinus

Macrinus , was Roman Emperor from 217 to 218. Macrinus was of "Moorish" descent and the first emperor to become so without membership in the senatorial class.-Background and career:...

 executed and forced Severus to divorce Orbiana. Orbiana was banished to North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

.

Family

Orbiana was from a noted family, the daughter of Seius Sallustius Varius Macrinus. He was a nobleman of senatorial rank. He was promoted to the rank of Caesar following his daughter's marriage to Severus. This fact is quite difficult to confirm however.