Julia Paula was a member of the Roman nobility and part of the gens Cornelia family, a patrician house that lasted some 700 years from the early onset of the Roman Republic to the third century AD. Julia’s nobility led to her betrothal and marriage to the emperor Elagabalus in AD 219, when she was awarded the honorific title of Augusta, the title given to empresses.

The marriage only lasted a year and the couple divorced in late AD 220 in a controversial manner, with Elagabalus divorcing Julia to marry the Vestal Virgin Aquila Severa in a procedure which involved worshipping a Syrian sun god outside the Roman pantheon.

Following the divorce, the title of Augusta was removed from Julia Paula and her role was reduced; her tale after this is unknown.