Julia Bodina

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Julia Bodina was a Roman Freedwoman from North Africa who lived in the 1st century. She was a former slave in the household of Roman client queen Julia Urania and Roman client king Ptolemy of Mauretania.

Little is known on her origins and life. In Cherchell Algeria, a funeral inscription has been found of Bodina’s. Cherchell was then known as Caesaria, the capital of Mauretania in the Roman Empire. In the funeral inscription, Bodina ascribed Julia Urania as Queen Julia Urania.

According to the inscription, she appeared to have taken the gentilicium of her former master, Julia Urania. She could have been a former slave from the Royal Family of Emesa (modern Homs, Syria). Julia Urania was ascribed as queen as a local courtesy or probably a dedication to honor her memory. This indicates that Bodina was a loyal former slave.

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• http://www.geocities.com/christopherjbennett/ptolemies/selene_ii.htm#Selene.10