Two circumstances conspired to wreck this auspicious marriage. Bassianus disliked Plautilla, Julia hated her conceited and overbearing father. A third circumstance, in the opinion of Rome, was that Bassianus was already too intimate with a fiery little Syrian cousin, then living at the palace, of whom we shall see much in the next chapter. At length Plautianus brought a formal charge against the Empress, and there was agitation in the palace. The charge seems to have been one of adultery, and, though it was not established, some of the later historians declare that she owed her escape only to the fondness of Severus. Aurelius Victor (“De Cæsaribus,” xx) says that “his wife’s infamies robbed Severus of the height of his glory”; and he charges her with, to the Emperor’s knowledge, loose ways and treason. Lampridius (“Historia Augusta,” “Severus,” c. 18) affirms that she was “notorious for her adulteries and guilty of conspiracy.” Eutropius and Herodian join with them in bringing an even graver charge against her later. Dio, however, who was on the spot, brings no charge against her character, and many hold that his silence is more instructive than the chatter of later compilers. We may add that Severus was very eager to stamp out adultery, and, although his efforts were frustrated by the unwillingness of the citizens to use his law--Dio, when he was consul, found three thousand charges lying unheeded in the offices--his known temper must be taken into account. On the other hand, Dio wrote his history in the reign of a member of Julia’s family, and may have omitted much out of discretion. The evidence is, as usual, perplexing, and there is no need to press for a verdict. The Oriental religion, to which Julia adhered, was not one to lay bonds upon the passion of love, and the removal from the guarded seclusion of the East to the free life of the West would not engender scruples. The charge, in fact, was not admitted by Severus to be proved, though noble dames were tortured to wring evidence from them. After this scorching ordeal, however, Julia moderated her open hostility to Plautianus, and sought consolation in a close application to letters and philosophy. Her sister, Julia Mæsa, had by this time come from Emesa to join her in the palace, and had brought two married daughters, of whom we shall hear more.[16] With these, and the literary men of Rome, she formed an intellectual circle, and withdrew from politics.