Julia Balbilla was a 2nd-century CE Roman noblewoman and poet from the royal family of Commagene. As a companion to Empress Vibia Sabina, she accompanied the imperial court of Emperor Hadrian to Egypt in 130 CE.

Her sole surviving works are four elegiac epigrams inscribed on the Colossus of Memnon at Thebes. These poems commemorate the statue’s famed “song,” which the empress experienced during her visit.

Balbilla is a rare example of a Roman imperial female poet whose work survives in its original location. Her poems are stylistically significant for their deliberate use of the Aeolic dialect and allusions to the poet Sappho, reflecting the learned archaism characteristic of the Second Sophistic period. They provide valuable insight into courtly culture, elite travel, and the public literary role of aristocratic women in the Roman Empire.