It was a passing dream as I awoke this morning, but very beautiful. I wrote a little poem about it, though I got some details wrong (to wit, it was Julia Maesa, Domna’s sister, who invited Origen to the court). Still, the feeling is maintained—what was this beautiful Syrian woman like when she hosted thinkers from around the empire at her salon?
I dreamed that Julia Domna was laughing
She had Philostratus and Origen before her.
They were arguing about the man from Tyana
and the other man from Galilee,
and who was lord of the universe.
And meanwhile, Julia Domna
was laughing and blushing
and bopping around
and keeping score in her intellectual playground.
12/15/20, Harlem River
Julia Domna
Her statue at the Louvre. Let’s go see it.