Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Template:Severan dynasty Marcus Aurelius Severus AlexanderTemplate:Sfn (1 October 208 – March 235), also known as Alexander Severus,<ref name="Alexander Severus"/> was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. Alexander took power in 222, when he succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus at the age of 13. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated in 235, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.
Alexander was the heir to his cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus. The latter had been murdered along with his mother Julia Soaemias by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river.<ref>Dio, 60:20:2</ref> Alexander and his cousin were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, who was the sister of empress Julia Domna and had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion.
Alexander's 13-year reign was the longest reign of a sole emperor since Antoninus Pius.<ref>A handful of emperors since Antoninus Pius reigned for longer than 13 years, but for some or most of their reign they were co-emperors with others and therefore they were sole emperor for less time.</ref> Alexander's peacetime reign was prosperous. However, Rome was militarily confronted with the rising Sassanid Empire and growing incursions from the tribes of Germania. Alexander managed to check the threat of the Sassanids, but when campaigning against Germanic tribes, he attempted to bring peace by engaging in diplomacy and bribery. This alienated many in the Roman army, leading to a conspiracy that resulted in the assassination of Alexander, his mother Julia Avita Mamaea, and his advisors. After their deaths, the accession of Maximinus Thrax followed. Alexander's death marked the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century.
Early lifeEdit
The future emperor Severus Alexander was born on 1 October 208 in Arca Caesarea, Phoenicia.<ref>Furius Dionysius Filocalus, Chronograph of 354, Part 3: "DIVI·ALEXANDRI·KAL·OCT".</ref><ref>Herodian, who lived during his reign, writes that Elagabalus and Alexander were "about fourteen and ten, respectively" in May 218 (5.3.3).Template:Where The Epitome de Caesaribus (23, 24), written over a century later, states that "he lived sixteen years", while Alexander died in his "twenty-sixth year" (Elagabalus lived 18 years).</ref>Template:Sfn Of his birth name, only two cognomina are known, from literary sources: Bassianus (Template:Langx) according to the historian Cassius Dio, and Alexianus (Template:Langx) according to Herodian. "Bassianus" was also borne by several family members, while "Alexianus" was probably later converted to Alexander.Template:Sfn
The historian Cassius Dio thought Alexianus was the son of Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus, but Icks disputes this, saying the latter could not have married the emperor's mother before 212 and that Alexianus must have been fathered by his mother's first husband, who is of unknown name but of certain existence.Template:Sfn The priest Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus may have been his younger brother.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
EmperorEdit
Early reignEdit
Severus Alexander became emperor when he was around 14 years old, making him the second youngest sole emperor in Rome's history, second only to Gordian III, who was 13.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Alexander's grandmother Maesa believed that he had more potential to rule and gain support from the Praetorian Guard than her other grandson, the increasingly unpopular emperor Elagabalus.<ref name=women>Jasper Burns (2006). Great Women of Imperial Rome: Mothers and Wives of the Caesars. London: Routledge, pp. 214–217. Template:ISBN</ref> Thus, to preserve her own position, she had Elagabalus adopt the young Alexander and then arranged for Elagabalus' assassination, securing the throne for Alexander.<ref>Wells, Colin (1997). The Roman Empire, Harvard University Press.</ref> The Roman army hailed Alexander as emperor on 13 March 222, and the Senate ratified this the following day, conferring on him the titles of Augustus, Pater patriae and Pontifex maximus.<ref>Feriale Duranum 20–25: iii I[d]us Ṃ[artias quod] Imp(erator) [Caesar M(arcus) Aurelius Severus Alexander im]peratọṛ ap[pellat]ụ[s... [Pridie Idu]ṣ [Martias q]uod Ạ[lexander Augustus no]ṣ[ter Augustus et Pater] [Patriae et Pontife]x̣ Max̣[imus appellatus s]ịṭ supp̣[licat]io.</ref>
Throughout his life, Alexander relied heavily on guidance from his grandmother, Maesa, before her death in 224, and mother, Julia Mamaea.<ref name=women /> As a young, immature, and inexperienced adolescent, Alexander knew little about government, warcraft, or the role of ruling over an empire. In time, however, the army came to admire what Jasper Burns refers to as "his simple virtues and moderate behavior, so different from [Elagabalus]".<ref name=women />
Domestic achievementsEdit
Under the influence of his mother, Alexander did much to improve the morals and condition of the people, and to enhance the dignity of the state.Template:Sfn He employed noted jurists, such as Ulpian,<ref name="Alexander Severus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to oversee the administration of justice.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His advisers were men like the senator and historian Cassius Dio, and historical sources claimed that with the help of his family, he created a select board of 16 senators,Template:Sfn although this claim is sometimes disputed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some scholars have rejected Herodian's view that Alexander expanded senatorial powers.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He also created a municipal council of 14 who assisted the urban prefect in administering the affairs of the 14 districts of Rome.<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 33:1</ref> Excessive luxury and extravagance at the imperial court were diminished,<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 15:1</ref> and he restored the Baths of Nero in 227 or 229; consequently, they are sometimes also known as the Baths of Alexander after him. He extended the imperial residence at the Horti Lamiani on the Esquiline Hill with elaborate buildings, and created the Nymphaeum of Alexander (known as the Trophies of Marius), which still stands in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. This was the great fountain he built at the end of the Aqua Claudia aqueduct.
Upon his accession he reduced the silver purity of the denarius from 46.5% to 43%Template:Sndthe actual silver weight dropped from 1.41 grams to 1.30 grams; however, in 229 he revalued the denarius, increasing the silver purity and weight to 45% and 1.46 grams. The following year he decreased the amount of base metal in the denarius while adding more silver, raising the silver purity and weight again to 50.5% and 1.50 grams.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, during his reign taxes were lightened; literature, art and science were encouraged;<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 21:6</ref> and, for the convenience of the people, loan offices were instituted for lending money at a moderate rate of interest.<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 21:2</ref>
In religious matters, Alexander preserved an open mind. According to the Historia Augusta, he wished to erect a temple to Jesus but was dissuaded by the pagan priests; however, this claim is unreliable as the Historia Augusta is considered untrustworthy by historians, containing significant amounts of information that is false and even invented, extending to when it was written and the number of authors it was written by.<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 43:6–7</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He allowed a synagogue to be built in Rome, and he gave as a gift to this synagogue a scroll of the Torah known as the Severus Scroll.<ref name=jew/>
In legal matters, Alexander did much to aid the rights of his soldiers. He confirmed that soldiers could name anyone as heirs in their will, whereas civilians had strict restrictions over who could become heirs or receive a legacy.Template:Sfn He also confirmed that soldiers could free their slaves in their wills,Template:Sfn protected the rights of soldiers to their property when they were on campaign,Template:Sfn and reasserted that a soldier's property acquired in or because of military service (his castrense peculium) could be claimed by no one else, not even the soldier's father.Template:Sfn
Military disciplineEdit
Alexander's reign was also characterized by a significant breakdown of military discipline.Template:Sfn In 228, the Praetorian Guard murdered their prefect, Ulpian,Template:Sfn in Alexander's presence. Alexander could not openly punish the ringleader of the riot, and instead removed him to a nominal post of honor in Egypt and then Crete, where he was "quietly put out of the way" sometime after the excitement had abated.<ref name="ledlie-ulpian">Template:Cite journal</ref> The soldiers then fought a three-day battle against the populace of Rome, and this battle ended after several parts of the city were set on fire.Template:Sfn
Dio was among those who gave a highly critical account of military discipline during the time, saying that the soldiers would rather just surrender to the enemy.Template:Sfn Different reasons are given for this issue; Campbell points to
...the decline in the prestige of the Severan dynasty, the feeble nature of Alexander himself, who appeared to be no soldier and to be completely dominated by his mother's advice, and lack of real military success at a time during which the empire was coming under increasing pressure.Template:Sfn
Herodian, on the other hand, was convinced that "the emperor's miserliness (partly the result of his mother's greed) and slowness to bestow donatives" were instrumental in the fall of military discipline under Alexander.Template:Sfn
Persian WarEdit
On the whole, Alexander's reign was prosperous until the rise of the SassanidsTemplate:Sfn under Ardashir I.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 231 AD, Ardashir invaded the Roman provinces of the east, overrunning Mesopotamia and penetrating possibly as far as Syria and Cappadocia, forcing from the young Alexander a vigorous response.<ref>Arthur E.R. Boak (1921). A History Of Rome To 565 A.D., New York: The Macmillan Company, chap. XVIII., p. 258</ref> Of the war that followed there are various accounts. According to the most detailed authority, Herodian, the Roman armies suffered a number of humiliating setbacks and defeats,<ref>Herodian, 6:5–6:6</ref> while according to the Historia Augusta<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 55:1–3</ref> as well as Alexander's own dispatch to the Roman Senate, he gained great victories.Template:Sfn Making Antioch his base, he organized in 233 a three-fold invasion of the Sassanian Empire; at the head of the main body he himself advanced to recapture northern Mesopotamia, while another army invaded Media through the mountains of Armenia, and a third advanced from the south in the direction of Babylon. The northernmost army gained some success, fighting in mountainous territory favorable to the Roman infantry, but the southern army was surrounded and destroyed by Ardashir's skilful horse-archers, and Alexander himself retreated after an indecisive campaign, his army wracked by indiscipline and disease.<ref name=":0">Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. VIII., p. 182</ref><ref>Herodian, 6:5:10</ref> Further losses were incurred by the retreating northern army in the inclement cold of Armenia as it retired into winter quarters, due to a failure through incompetence to establish adequate supply lines.<ref>Herodian, 6:6:3</ref><ref name=":0" /> Still, Mesopotamia was retaken, and Ardashir was not thereafter able to extend his conquests, though his son, Shapur, would obtain some success later in the century.<ref name=":0" />
Although the Sassanids were checked for the time,Template:Sfn the conduct of the Roman army showed an extraordinary lack of discipline. In 232, there was a mutiny in the Syrian legion, which proclaimed Taurinus emperor.<ref>Epitome de Caesaribus, 24:2</ref> Alexander managed to suppress the uprising, and Taurinus drowned while attempting to flee across the Euphrates.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The emperor returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph in 233.Template:Sfn
Germanic WarEdit
A new and menacing enemy started to emerge directly after Alexander's success in the Persian war. In 234, the barbarians crossed the Rhine and Danube in hordes that caused alarm as far as Rome. The soldiers serving under Alexander, already demoralized after their costly war against the Persians, were further discontented with their emperor when their homes were destroyed by the barbarian invaders.Template:Sfn
As word of the invasion spread, the emperor took the front line and went to battle against the Germanic invaders. The Romans prepared heavily for the war, building a fleet to carry the entire army across. However, at this point in Alexander's career, he still knew little about being a general. Because of this, he hoped the mere threat of his armies would be sufficient to persuade the hostile tribes to surrender.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Severus enforced a strict military discipline in his men that sparked a rebellion among his legions.<ref name="Western Press Association">Template:Cite book</ref> Due to incurring heavy losses against the Persians, and on the advice of his mother, Alexander attempted to buy the Germanic tribes off, so as to gain time.<ref>Herodian, 6:7</ref>
It was this decision that resulted in the legionaries looking down upon Alexander. They considered him dishonorable and feared he was unfit to be Emperor. Under these circumstances the army swiftly looked to replace Alexander.<ref>Herodian, 6:8</ref>
Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus was the next best option. He was a soldier from Thrace who had a golden reputation and was working hard to increase his military status.<ref name="Western Press Association"/> He was also a man with superior personal strength, who rose to his present position from a peasant background. With the Thracian's hailing came the end of the Severan Dynasty,<ref name="The Saylor Foundation">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and, with the growing animosity of Severus' army towards him, the path for his assassination was paved.
AssassinationEdit
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Alexander was forced to face his Germanic enemies in the early months of 235. By the time he and his mother arrived, the situation had settled, and so his mother convinced him that to avoid violence, trying to bribe the Germanic army to surrender was the more sensible course of action.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to historians, it was this tactic combined with insubordination from his own men that destroyed his reputation and popularity.<ref name="Valentine Nind Hopkins 240">Template:Cite book</ref> Alexander was thus assassinated together with his mother in early MarchTemplate:Refn in a mutiny of the Legio XXII Primigenia at Moguntiacum (Mainz) while at a meeting with his generals.Template:Sfn These assassinations secured the throne for Maximinus.Template:Sfn
The Historia Augusta documents two theories that elaborate on Severus's assassination. The first claims that the disaffection of Mamaea was the main motive behind the homicide. However, Lampridius makes it clear that he is more supportive of an alternative theory, that Alexander was murdered in Sicilia (located in Britain).<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 59:6</ref>
This theory has it that, in an open tent after his lunch, Alexander was consulting with his insubordinate troops, who compared him to his cousin Elagabalus, the divisive and unpopular Emperor whose own assassination paved the way for Alexander's reign. A Germanic servant entered the tent and initiated the call for Alexander's assassination, at which point many of the troops joined in the attack. Alexander's attendants fought against the other troops but could not hold off the combined might of those seeking the Emperor's assassination. Within minutes, Alexander was dead. His mother, Julia Mamaea, was in the same tent with Alexander and soon fell victim to the same group of assassins.<ref name="Valentine Nind Hopkins 240"/>
Alexander's body is traditionally believed to have been buried together with the body of his mother, Julia Mamaea, in a mausoleum in Rome. The mausoleum, called Template:Ill, is the third largest in Rome after those of Hadrian and Augustus. A large sarcophagus was found inside the tomb in the 16th century, now in the Palazzo dei Conservatori Museum in Rome, was traditionally thought to contain the emperor's remains but this has been disputed<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and is today considered groundless.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LegacyEdit
Alexander's death marked the end of the Severan dynasty. He was the last of the Syrian emperors and the first emperor to be overthrown by military discontent on a wide scale.Template:Sfn After his death his economic policies were completely discarded, and the Roman currency was devalued; this signaled the beginning of the chaotic period known as the Crisis of the Third Century, which brought the empire to the brink of collapse.<ref name="The Saylor Foundation"/>
Alexander's death at the hands of his troops can also be seen as the heralding of a new role for Roman emperors. Though they were not yet expected to personally fight in battle during Alexander's time, emperors were increasingly expected to display general competence in military affairs.Template:Sfn Thus, Alexander's taking of his mother's advice to not get involved in battle, his dishonorable and unsoldierly methods of dealing with the Germanic threat, and the relative failure of his military campaign against the Persians were all deemed highly unacceptable by the soldiers.Template:Sfn Indeed, Maximinus was able to overthrow Alexander by "harping on his own military excellence in contrast to that feeble coward".Template:Sfn Yet by arrogating the power to dethrone their emperor, the legions paved the way for a half-century of widespread chaos and instability.
Alexander was deified after the death of Maximinus in 238.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Portland VaseEdit
Perhaps his most tangible legacy was the emergence in the 16th century of the cameo glass Portland Vase (or "Barberini Vase"), dated to around the reign of Augustus. This was allegedly found at the mausoleum of the emperor and his family at Monte Del Grano. The discovery of the vase is described by Pietro Santi Bartoli.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Pietro Bartoli indicates that the vase contained the ashes of Severus Alexander. However, there is no definitive proof that it was found at Alexander's sarcophagus<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the interpretations of the scenes depicted are the source of many disputed theories. The vase passed through the hands of Sir William Hamilton Ambassador to the Royal Court in Naples, and in 1784 was sold to the Duchess of Portland, and has subsequently been known as the Portland Vase.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After an attack by a disturbed man in the British Museum in 1845 smashed it into many fragments, the vase has been reconstructed three times. In 1786 the Portland vase had been borrowed from the 3rd Duke of Portland and copied in black Jasperware pottery by Josiah Wedgwood for his firm Wedgwood. He appears to have added some drapery to cover nudity, but his replicas were useful in the reconstructions.
Personal lifeEdit
According to the Historia Augusta, Alexander's "chief amusement consisted in having young dogs play with little pigs."<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 41:5</ref> Herodian portrays him as a mother's boy.
FamilyEdit
Alexander's only known wife was Sallustia Orbiana, Augusta, whom he married in 225 when she was 16 years old. Their marriage was arranged by Alexander's mother, Mamaea.<ref name="Alexander Severus"/> According to historian Herodian, however, as soon as Orbiana received the title of Augusta, Mamaea became increasingly jealous and resentful of Alexander's wife due to Mamaea's excessive desire of all regal female titles.Template:Sfn Alexander divorced and exiled Orbiana in 227, after her father, Seius Sallustius, was executed after being accused of treason.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
According to Historia Augusta, a late Roman work containing biographies of emperors and others, and considered by scholars to be a work of dubious historical reliability,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Alexander was also at some point married to Sulpicia Memmia, a member of one of the most ancient Patrician families in Rome and a daughter to a man of consular rank; her grandfather's name was Catulus. She is mentioned as his wife only in this later text, thus the marriage has been questioned.<ref>Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander, 20:3</ref><ref>Kosmetatou, Elizabeth, The Public Image of Julia Mamaea. An Epigraphic and Numismatic Inquiry, in Latomus 61, 2002, pp. 409 note 38</ref>
The ancient historian Zosimus claimed that Alexander was married three times.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A man named Varius Macrinus may have been Alexander's father-in-law, but it is uncertain if he was the same man as Seius Sallustius, the father of Memmia or the father of an entirely unknown third wife.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Alexander is not known to have fathered any children.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
ChristianityEdit
He was extremely tolerant of Jews and Christians alike. He continued all privileges towards Jews during his reign.<ref name=jew>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Historia Augusta, a source considered to be generally unreliable, relates that Alexander placed images of Abraham and Jesus in his oratory, along with other Roman deities and classical figures such as deified emperors, Orpheus and Apollonius of Tyana, and prayed there every morning.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Severan dynasty family treeEdit
Template:Severan dynasty family tree
See alsoEdit
- Severan dynasty family tree
- Sassanid campaign of Severus Alexander
- Mesopotamian campaigns of Ardashir I
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
BibliographyEdit
Ancient sourcesEdit
- Cassius Dio (Template:Circa 230), Roman History, Book 80
- Herodian (Template:Circa 240), Roman History, Book 6
- Aurelius Victor att. (Template:Circa 400), Epitome de Caesaribus
- Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander
- Zosimus (Template:Circa 500), Historia Nova
- Joannes Zonaras (Template:Circa 1120), Compendium of History
Modern sourcesEdit
- Template:Citation
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Wikicite
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
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Further readingEdit
- Heller, André (2022). Kommentar zur Vita Alexandri Severi der Historia Augusta. Bonn: Habelt, Template:ISBN.
- Nasti, Fara (2006). L’attività normativa di Severo Alessandro 1: Politica di governo, riforme amministrative e giudiziarie. Napoli: Satura, Template:ISBN.
- Städtler, Domenic (2021). Münzen und Denkmäler von und für Severus Alexander. Konstruktion eines Herrscherbildes. Hamburg: Dr. Kovač, Template:ISBN.
External linksEdit
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