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PEOPLE AND PERSONALITIES OF ROME

Geta

Key information:

Official Name: IMPERATOR CAESAR PUBLIUS SEPTIMIUS GETA AUGUSTUS

Birthdate: March 7, 189 CE.

(Historia Augusta, Life of Antoninus Geta, 3)

Birthplace: Geta’s birthplace is disputed. According to the Historia Augusta, he was born in either Rome or Mediolanum (modern-day Milan). 

(Historia Augusta, Life of Antoninus Geta, 3) (Historia Augusta, Life of Septimius Severus, 4)

Reign: Geta was named Caesar in 198 CE, at the age of 8, on the orders of his father Septimius Severus. Geta ruled jointly with his father and his older brother, Caracalla, for a period of thirteen years. When Septimius Severus died on February 4, 211 CE, Caracalla and Geta became co-emperors. 

(Historia Augusta, Life of Antoninus Geta, 5) (Herodian 3.15.7)

Death: Geta was murdered by his older brother, Caracalla, in December 211 CE. Geta was only 22 years old, and he died in the arms of his mother, Julia Domna.

(Cassius Dio, Roman History, 78.2) (Herodian 4.4.3)

The Severan Tondo, Altes Museum, Berlin, February 2023
Bust of Geta, Palazzo Massimo, Rome, December 2018
Head of Geta, Roma Universalis Exhibition, Rome, February 2019

Famous facts and dates

211
Despite being brothers and ruling as co-emperors, Caracalla and Geta detested each other. While in Rome, they lived in separate sections of the imperial palace and would only meet each other in the company of their mother, Julia Domna.
(Herodian 4.1.5)
211
After having Geta murdered, Caracalla damned his brother’s memory. He ordered all coins and statues depicting Geta to be destroyed.
(Cassius Dio, Roman History, 78.12)
211
Caracalla also put to death many of Geta’s friends and associates. According to Cassius Dio, nearly twenty thousand soldiers and imperial freedmen allied with Geta were killed in the years following his death.
(Cassius Dio, Roman History, 78.4)

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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Geta,” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 3/20/2023. https://ancientromelive.org/Geta/

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