Julia Jotapa

Julia Iotapa or Julia Iotape, sometimes known as Julia of Cilicia (Greek: Ίουλία Κιλικίας), born ca. 80, was a Cilician princess who lived in the 1st century and 2nd century. Daughter of King Gaius Julius Alexander of Cetis, she married Gaius Julius Quadratus Bassus, Galatian Roman Senator from Anatolia. Biography Julia Iotapa was the daughter to King Gaius Julius Alexander and Queen Julia Iotapa of Cetis. Her eldest brothers were Gaius Julius Agrippa and Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus. She was born, raised and educated in Cetis. The Kingdom of Cetis was a small client state in the Roman Empire. Cetis was a small region in Cilicia that was previously ruled by her Cappadocian royal ancestors and Antiochus IV. The city in Cilicia Elaiussa Sebaste was a part of the Kingdom. When her parents married in Rome in 58, the Roman Emperor Nero crowned his parents as monarchs and gave them that region to rule. Surviving inscriptions on her family reveal that her family was related to important members of Asian, non-Jewish and Jewish aristocracy. She was of Jewish, Nabataean, Edomite, Greek, Armenian, Median and Persian origins. Her paternal grandparents were King Tigranes VI of Armenia and his wife Opgalli. Through Tigranes, she was a descendant of King Archelaus of Cappadocia, King of Judea Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne. Iotapa along with her family and paternal relatives, were among the last known descendants of the Herodian Dynasty. She was an apostate to Judaism. It is unlikely that Iotapa attempted to exert influence on Judean politics. Her maternal grandparents were King Antiochus IV of Commagene and Queen Julia Iotapa.