#severus alexander

[corporialus]

Severus Alexander

[kamaandhallie]

Decided to try out that Viltrumite panel meme with Roman emperors

[lionofchaeronea]

Medallion (copper and orichalcum) of the Roman emperor Severus Alexander, whose reign began on 13 March 222 AD/CE, when he was acclaimed imperator, and lasted until March 235. On the obverse, the laureate bust of Alexander, depicting his youthfulness (he was only 14 years old at his accession). On the reverse, the Flavian Amphitheater, better known as the Colosseum.

Severus Alexander was the last of the Severan dynasty, which had ruled the Roman world since 193 (with a brief interruption in 217/18 by the usurper Macrinus). He came to the throne through the machinations of his grandmother Julia Maesa, who arranged for the assassination of her other grandson Elagabalus once it became clear that Elagabalus's religious reforms and hedonistic personal life had cost him the support of the Roman people. Due to his youth, Alexander was guided in his reign by his grandmother (who died in 224) and his mother Julia Mamaea, continuing the trend of strong women that had defined the dynasty since Septimius Severus's wife Julia Domna.

The anonymous author of the Historia Augusta wrote a laudatory biography of Alexander, comparing him favorably in all respects to his predecessor. According to this author, Alexander was gentle and temperate, as well as eclectic in his religious tastes -- his lararium (household shrine) included an image of Jesus, and he supposedly wished to erect a Christian church in Rome, though historians doubt the truth of this last item (the Historia Augusta is notoriously unreliable). He also allowed the construction of a new synagogue in Rome, to which he gifted a scroll of the Torah.

In the end, Alexander's pacifistic tendencies were his undoing. He and his mother preferred to deal with external threats through bribery rather than force, and when they struck a deal to buy off Germanic tribes threatening the empire's borders, the army revolted, killing both Alexander and Mamaea. He was succeeded by a career soldier, Maximinus Thrax, whose reign marks the beginning of the so-called Third Century Crisis -- a fifty-year period of foreign invasions, civil wars, and rampant inflation, ending only with Diocletian's accession in 284.

Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic

[twofielder]

Coin of the Day #496 (9/12/2025)

A big bronze…

Roman Province - Mesopotamia

AE30 - 13.92g

Severus Alexander 222-235 AD

Edessa Mint

Obverse ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ Μ ΑΥ CΕ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟC

Bust of Severus Alexander right, laureate, draped, cuirassed, from behind

Reverse ΜΗ ΚΟ ΕΔΕCCΗΝWΝ

Tyche seated on rock left, holding corn ears, altar left, swimming river god below, stars left and right

RPC VI 7797

[inspofromancientworld]

The Crisis of the Third Century

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_the_Third_Century#Timeline

Beginning with the assassination of Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander on 22 March 235 CE, the Roman Empire endured about 49 years of instability with civil wars, peasant uprisings, barbarian invasions and migrations, and political instability with usurpers fighting for the throne. It continued until Diocletian took the throne on 20 November 286. During this time, more than 50 people would claim the throne of the empire, though only about half of them were 'legitimate' and recognized by the Senate, with a few setting up a chain of succession resulting in small dynasties.

As with most crises, the origin of the Crisis of the Third Century go back further in time. Part of the problem was that Septimus Severus, who was emperor from 193-211, kept the loyalty of the army by giving them a pay raise and substantial donatives, or gifts of money, at various times. This led to problems for his heirs as they took the throne as it resulted in huge military spending as the bribes had to increase over time. During this time, the Roman Empire was beset by marauding and civil war, turning their military efforts from expanding the empire, which was profitable, to fighting on multiple fronts and struggling to find replacement bodies for those killed in action. Corruption at multiple levels, from the 'bread and circuses' distraction campaigns to corrupt tax collection and poor budgeting led to a financial crisis. This led to the donatives given to the army becoming fewer and smaller as time went on as well as emperors confiscating any assets they could to help somehow plug the holes in the growing deficit.

By 235, the situation was dire. Rome faced a major defeat against the Germanic peoples, partially because Severus Alexander had focused on the Sasanian Empire, where he was when presented with the situation along the Roman Empire's northern border and he decided to accept tribute from the Germanic chieftains instead of authorizing military conquest. This act 'cost Severus Alexander the respect of his troops, who may have felt that more severe punishment was required for the tribes that had intruded on Rome's territory'. This led to Severus Alexander's assassination and the army declaring Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus 'Thrax' emperor, the first of what came to be known as 'barracks emperors' for their military position but lack of political experience, political support, or hereditary claim to the throne. They tended to try to run the empire as if it were an army, or that they focused on military campaigns to the exclusion of anything else. The Senate disliked having a peasant over them as Emperor, which didn't help the situation at all. This led to the Year of the Six Emperors in 238 where there was a scrabble to claim the throne and at least six claimants rose.

historicair , CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6044672

While the rest of the period wasn't quite as chaotic as the Year of the Six Emperors, with various Roman generals fighting against each other, Germanic peoples raiding across the Rhine and Danube, a shift in the climate that led to flooding in what is now the Low Countries, pushing people to migrate into what were Roman lands, and the Plague of Cyprian in 251, which severely weakened the empire. Lacking a central authority, the empire split into three with Gaul, Britain, and Hispania becoming the Gallic Empire in 260, and the eastern provinces of Syria, Palestine, and Aegyptus forming the Palmyrene Empire in 267. The rest remained under the authority of Rome.

The three parts of the Roman Empire fought against each other and were also attacked by the Goths and Sasanians. What became known as the turning point of the Crisis was the defeat of the Goths who were invading Greece after they'd been displaced from their home around the Black Sea in 268 or 269 under Claudius II Gothicus. After this, while there was a rather frequent change of emperor and they still were from the military, they began to exercise central authority. Following Claudius Gothicus' death of the plague in 270, Aurelian was able to restore the empire as well as continued Claudius Gothicus' victories against external enemies. Aurelian was assassinated in 275, which led to another series of short-reigned emperors for the next 10 years until Diocletian took the throne in 285 and would remain on it until he stepped down in 305.

In the wake of this chaos, several once-thriving cities in the Western Empire were left in ruins, their populations either dead or dispersed and no money available for them to be rebuilt. Trade networks were broken, further crippling the economy which was also struggling under the debasement of the currency. The chain of imperial succession still hadn't been clarified, which led to on-going civil wars as various factions put forward candidates. The sheer size of the empire made it practically impossible for one person to rule over it. Diocletian addressed many of these concerns by setting up the Tetrachy, or four emperors who would co-rule the empire, creating a set chain of succession. He also discontinued using the title 'princeps', or 'leading citizen', as Augustus had used when creating an imperial government that looked like it was still a republic and that Senate had a role in the confirmation of an emperor, and began using the title 'domini' or 'lord', showing his mastery over the empire and ending the time of Roman history known as the Principate.

[pianopadawan]

Incorrect Severan Dynasty Quotes (that are still probably more accurate than the Historia Augusta)

Septimius Severus: [*trying to teach young Caracalla and Geta math*] Okay, so let's say I give you 20 Denarii and tell you to share it evenly amongst each other. How many do you each get? Caracalla: 20 Denarii and a dead body. Geta: ... 17? [*Later*] Septimius Severus: I'm worried about our son. Julia Domna: Why? Septimius Severus: Because Geta just told me that 20 divided by 2 is 17, and he really shouldn't be this bad at math at age 7. --- Julia Maesa: Alright, let's review the safety lesson we went over so that you don't get assassinated like most of the young men in our family. You see a sketchy looking Praetorian guard offering you a very cute puppy if you go into the alley with him. What do you do? Severus Alexander: I go back to the palace and fetch a cute piglet to play with the puppy in the alley. Julia Maesa: That's it. Our dynasty is screwed. I give up. --- Julia Domna: Your sons just had a wild chariot race, and Caracalla broke five bones. Aren't you even a little concerned about this? Septimius Severus: Of course, I talked to them about it. Julia Domna: What did you tell them? Septimius Severus: I told Geta that we don't support losers in this house. So, next time if his brother crashes, he needs to not let that distract him. --- Herodian: [*narrating the story*] Geta and Caracalla's followers also constantly found new vices to bring pleasure to their favorite and chagrin to his brother... Geta: [*talking to soldier*] So, all you have to do is knock on my brother's door and run away before he answers it and stabs you. Soldier: You're seriously going to pay me 500 Denarii for this? Geta: I mean my dad's rich as fuck, and I've got nothing better to do with my time than bring chagrin to my brother. [*Later*] Caracalla: MOM! DAD! HE DID IT AGAIN!!! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! Julia Domna, from the other room: Geta, please stop taunting your murderously inclined brother! Septimius Severus: Exactly what your mother said! --- Caracalla: Dad, can I feed Geta to the tiger in the Colosseum? Septimius Severus: [*busy with emperor things with any fatherly duties entirely on autopilot*] Go ask your mother. Caracalla: I already did. She said yes. Septimius Severus: Okay, that's great. [*later*] Julia Domna: [*comforting a very shaken Geta*] I left the house for FIVE MINUTES, Severus! Septimius Severus: Ah, yes. Did you boys have fun seeing the tiger or whatever it was you were going to do?

[grayjoy15]

Day 10: Julia Mamaea, mother of Severus Alexander. After the murder of her sister Soaemias and the emperor Elagabalus, Mamaea was able to win the favor of the Praetorian Guard and establish her own son Alexander as emperor. Mamaea (and her mother) managed the empire on behalf of her son and even accompanied him on campaigns as he grew up. Her influence over Alexander ultimately caused the army to turn on him, and they were both assassinated.

[facesofthepast]

Bust of Severus Alexander, Musei Capitolini, Rome