To the thoughtful Roman the name of Syria must have suggested an abyss of corruption, and the extension of the Empire over that swarm of Asiatic peoples to whom the name was vaguely applied must have seemed an infelicitous triumph. From the cities of nearer Asia, in which the senile energies of the older civilizations seemed incapable of rising above the ministry to vice, luxury, and folly, had come the larger part of the taint that had infected the blood of Rome. It is therefore singular to observe that, of the five women whom Syria placed on, or above, the Roman throne in the third century, four were distinguished for sobriety of judgment and concern for the common weal. The family from which the first four of these women sprang is variously described as “humble” and “noble.” We may reconcile the epithets by a conjecture that the family which controlled the wealthy shrine of Emesa descended from some branch of the fallen nobility of the East. Both Soæmias and Mamæa had married Syrians, and we may assume that Mamæa had done the same. In those circumstances, the public spirit with which Julia Domna, Julia Mæsa, and Julia Mamæa used the great influence they had is not a little remarkable. Of the three--to whom we must presently add a fourth remarkable woman of the East--Mamæa had the greatest power, and made the best use of it. She is not blameless, as we shall see; but even if it be true, as is commonly said, that she was unduly covetous of money and power, we must at least admit that she employed them solely to restore peace and prosperity to the Empire, and prolong the reign of a high-principled ruler. Mamæa entered upon her work with all the shrewdness which we have already recognized in her. Instead of claiming the right, which Soæmias had enjoyed, to sit in the Senate and sign its decrees, she preserved a discreet silence when the Senate abolished the innovation, and poured out their long-repressed annoyance on the memory of its author. The Senators ostentatiously enjoyed their shadow of power: Mamæa quietly possessed the substance. She provided the finest preceptors for the education of her son Alexander, who was in his fourteenth year, and selected sixteen of the most distinguished Senators and lawyers as a Council of State. With these she worked energetically and harmoniously for the renovation of the Empire. The palace was purged of the quaint and the loathsome officers that she found in it, Rome was relieved of Ela-gabal and his ghastly ritual, competent officials were substituted for the ministers to the lust of the late Emperor, and the heavier taxes of the previous two reigns were remitted or lessened. In this work, which extends over the thirteen years of the reign of Alexander Severus, Mæsa had little part. She died soon after the beginning of this happier era, and Mamæa alone guided the willing hands of her son. It is remarked by all the authorities that Alexander was singularly subservient to his mother.