Alexander Severus

Severus Alexander (Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus; 1 October 208 – 18 or 19 March 235) was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty years of civil wars, foreign invasion, and collapse of the monetary economy.

Alexander was the heir apparent to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered along with his mother by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river. He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and powerful Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Elagabalus' acclamation as emperor by the famous Third Gallic Legion. It was the rumor of Alexander's death that triggered the assassination of Elagabalus and his mother.

As emperor, Alexander's peace time reign was prosperous. Assessment of military conflict against the rising Sassanid Empire is mixed, though the Sassanid threat was checked. However, when campaigning against Germanic tribes of Germania, Alexander attempted to bring peace by engaging in diplomacy and bribery. This apparently alienated many in the legions and led to a conspiracy to assassinate and replace him.

Persian and German wars
On the whole, however, the reign of Alexander was prosperous until the rise, in the east, of the Sassanids. Of the war that followed there are various accounts. According to Herodian, the Roman armies suffered a number of humiliating setbacks and defeats, while according to the Historia Augusta as well as Alexander's own dispatch to the Roman Senate, he gained great victories. Making Antioch his base, he marched at the head of his troops towards Ctesiphon, but a second army was destroyed by the Persians, and further losses were incurred by the retreating Romans in Armenia.

Nevertheless, although the Sassanids were checked for the time, the conduct of the Roman army showed an extraordinary lack of discipline. In 232 there was a mutiny in the Syrian legion, who proclaimed Taurinus emperor. Alexander managed to suppress the uprising, and Taurinus drowned while attempting to flee across the Euphrates. The emperor returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph in 233.

The following year he was called to face German invaders in Gaul, who had breached the Rhine frontier in several places, destroying forts and over-running the countryside. Alexander mustered his forces, bringing legions from the eastern provinces, and crossed the Rhine into Germany on a pontoon bridge. Initially on the advice of his mother, he attempted to buy the German tribes off, so as to gain time.

Whether this was a wise policy or not, it caused the Roman legionaries to look down on their emperor as one who was prepared to commit unsoldierly conduct. Herodian says "in their opinion Alexander showed no honourable intention to pursue the war and preferred a life of ease, when he should have marched out to punish the Germans for their previous insolence". These circumstances drove the army to look for a new leader. They chose Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus, a Thracian soldier who had worked his way up through the ranks.

Death
Following the nomination of Maximinus as emperor, Alexander was assassinated (on either 18 or 19 March 235), together with his mother, in a mutiny of the Legio XXII Primigenia at Moguntiacum (Mainz) while at a meeting with his generals. These assassinations secured the throne for Maximinus.

The death of Alexander is sometimes seen as the end of the Principate system established by Augustus. Although the Principate continued in theory until the reign of Diocletian, Severus Alexander's death signalled the beginning of the chaotic period known as the Crisis of the Third Century which brought the empire to near collapse.

Legacy
Alexander was the last of the Syrian emperors. Under the influence of his mother, he did much to improve the morals and condition of the people, and to enhance the dignity of the state. His advisers were men like the famous jurist Ulpian, the historian Cassius Dio and a select board of sixteen senators; a municipal council of fourteen assisted the urban prefect in administering the affairs of the fourteen districts of Rome. Excessive luxury and extravagance at the imperial court were diminished.

Upon his accession he reduced the silver purity of the denarius from 46.5% to 43% — the actual silver weight dropping 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 respectively. 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. Also during his reign taxes were lightened; literature, art and science were encouraged; the lot of the soldiers was improved; and, for the convenience of the people, loan offices were instituted for lending money at a moderate rate of interest.

In religious matters Alexander preserved an open mind. It is said that he was desirous of erecting a temple to Jesus, but was dissuaded by the pagan priests. 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.

Marriage
Alexander was married three times. His most famous wife was Sallustia Orbiana, Augusta, whom he married in 225. He divorced and exiled her in 227, after her father, Seius Sallustius, was executed after being accused of attempting to assassinate the emperor. Another wife was Sulpicia Memmia. Her father was a man of consular rank; her grandfather's name was Catulus.

Primary

 * Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 80
 * Herodian, Roman History, Book 6
 * Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander
 * Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus
 * Joannes Zonaras, Compendium of History extract: Zonaras: Alexander Severus to Diocletian: 222–284
 * Zosimus, Historia Nova

Secondary

 * Birley, A.R., Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, Routledge, 2002
 * Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001
 * Benario, Herbert W., Alexander Severus (A.D. 222–235), De Imperatoribus Romanis (2001)
 * Gibbon. Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)
 * Gibbon. Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)


 * Attribution