SEVERUS ALEXANDER 222AD Rare Ancient Roman Coin Legionary standards i22250

Item: i22250

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Severus Alexander – Roman Emperor: 222-235 A.D. –

Bronze 20mm (3.74 grams) from the Roman provincial city of Nicaea in Bithynia
222-235 A.D.
Reference: RecGen 617
M AVP CEVH AΛEΞANΔPOC AVΓ, laureate, draped bust right.
 NIKAIEΩN, between three legionary standards, with eagle on top of
center one.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

The place is said to have been colonized by

Bottiaeans
,

and to have originally borne the name of Ancore (Steph.

B. s. v.) or Helicore (Geogr. Min. p. 40, ed. Hudson); but it was

subsequently destroyed by the

Mysians
. A

few years after the death of

Alexander the Great

,

Macedonian

king

Antigonus

— who had taken control of much of

Asia Minor

upon the death of Alexander (under whom Antigonus had served as a

general) — probably after his victory over

Eumenes
, in

316 BC, rebuilt the town, and called it, after himself, Antigoneia (Greek:

Αντιγόνεια). (Steph. B. l. c.; Eustath. ad

Horn. II. ii. 863) Several other of Alexander’s generals (known together as the

Diadochi

(Latin; original Greek

DiadokhoiΔιάδοχοι/

“successors”)) later conspired to remove Antigonus, and after defeating him the

area was given to

Thessalian

general Lysimachus

(Lysimakhos) (circa 355 BC-281 BC) in 301 BC as his share

of the lands. He renamed it Nicaea (Greek:

Νίκαια

, also

transliterated

as Nikaia or Nicæa; see also

List of traditional Greek place names

), in tribute to his wife Nicaea, a

daughter of Antipater

. (Steph. B., Eustath., Strab., ll. cc.) According to another

account (Memnon, ap. Phot. Cod. 224. p. 233, ed. Bekker), Nicaea was founded by

men from

Nicaea

near

Thermopylae

, who had served in the army of Alexander the Great. The town was

built with great regularity, in the form of a square, measuring 16 stadia in

circumference; it had four gates, and all its streets intersected one another at

right angles, so that from a monument in the centre all the four gates could be

seen. (Strabo

xii. pp. 565 et seq.) This monument stood in the gymnasium, which was

destroyed by fire, but was restored with increased magnificence by the

younger Pliny

(Epist. x. 48), when he was governor of

Bithynia
.

The city was built on an important crossroads between

Galatia
and

Phrygia
, and

thus saw steady trade. Soon after the time of Lysimachus, Nicaea became a city

of great importance, and the kings of Bithynia, whose era begins in 288 BC with

Zipoetes

, often resided at Nicaea. It has already been mentioned that in the

time of Strabo it is called the metropolis of Bithynia, an honour which is also

assigned to it on some coins, though in later times it was enjoyed by

Nicomedia
.

The two cities, in fact, kept up a long and vehement dispute about the

precedence, and the 38th oration of

Dio

Chrysostomus
was expressly composed to settle the dispute. From this

oration, it appears that Nicomedia alone had a right to the title of metropolis,

but both were the first cities of the country.

The younger Pliny makes frequent mention of Nicaea and its public buildings,

which he undertook to restore when governor of Bithynia. (Epist. x. 40, 48,

etc.) It was the birthplace of the astronomer

Hipparchus

(ca. 194 BC), the mathematician and astronomer

Sporus

(ca. 240) and the historian

Dio Cassius

(ca. 165).^[1]

It was the death-place of the comedian

Philistion

. The numerous coins of Nicaea which still exist attest the

interest taken in the city by the emperors, as well as its attachment to the

rulers; many of them commemorate great festivals celebrated there in honour of

gods and emperors, as Olympia, Isthmia, Dionysia, Pythia, Commodia, Severia,

Philadelphia, etc. Throughout the imperial period, Nicaea remained an important

town; for its situation was particularly favourable, being only 40 km (25 mi)

distant from Prusa

(Pliny

v. 32), and 70 km (43 mi) from

Constantinople

. (It.

Ant. p. 141.) When Constantinople became the capital of the

Eastern Empire

, Nicaea did not lose in importance; for its present walls,

which were erected during the last period of the Empire, enclose a much greater

space than that ascribed to the place in the time of Strabo. Much of the

existing architecture and defensive works date to this time, early 300s.

Nicaea suffered much from earthquakes in 358, 362 and 368; after the last of

which, it was restored by the emperor

Valens
. During

the Middle Ages it was for a long time a strong bulwark of the

Byzantine

emperors against the

Turks

.

Aurelius Severus Alexander (October 1, 208–March 18, 235 AD), commonly

called Alexander Severus, was the last

Roman emperor

(11 March 222–235) of the

Severan dynasty

. Alexander Severus succeeded his cousin,

Elagabalus

upon the latter’s assassination in 222 AD, and was ultimately assassinated

himself, marking the

epoch event

for the

Crisis of the Third Century

—nearly fifty years of disorder, Roman civil

wars, economic chaos, regional rebellions, and external threats that brought the

Empire to near-collapse.

Alexander Severus was the

heir

apparent
to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered

along with his mother by his own guards—and 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

famed

Third Gallic Legion

.

A rumor of Alexander’s death circulated, triggering the assassination of

Elagabalus.

Alexander’s reign was marked by troubles. In military conflict against the

rising

Sassanid Empire

, there are mixed accounts, though the Sassanid threat was

checked. However, when campaigning against

Germanic tribes

of

Germania
,

Alexander Severus apparently alienated his legions by trying diplomacy and

bribery, and they assassinated him.

 Life

Alexander was born with the name Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus.

Alexander’s father,

Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus

was a Syrian

Promagistrate

. His mother

Julia Avita Mamaea

was the second daughter of

Julia

Maesa
and Syrian noble

Julius Avitus

and maternal aunt of Emperor

Elagabalus
.

He had an elder sister called Theoclia and little is known about her.

Alexander’s maternal great-aunt was empress

Julia

Domna
(also Maesa’s younger sister) and his great-uncle in marriage was

emperor Lucius

Septimius Severus

. Emperors

Caracalla

and

Publius Septimius Geta

, were his mother’s maternal cousins. In 221,

Alexander’s grandmother, Maesa, persuaded the emperor to adopt his cousin as

successor and make him

Caesar

and Bassianus changed his name to Alexander. In the following

year, on March 11, Elagabalus was murdered, and Alexander was proclaimed emperor

by the

Praetorians

and accepted by the Senate.

When Alexander became emperor, he was young, amiable, well-meaning, and

entirely under the dominion of his mother. Julia Mamaea was a woman of many

virtues, and she surrounded the young emperor with wise counsellors. She watched

over the development of her son’s character and improved the tone of the

administration. On the other hand, she was inordinately jealous. She also

alienated the army by extreme parsimony, and neither she nor her son were strong

enough to impose military discipline. Mutinies became frequent in all parts of

the empire; to one of them the life of the jurist and praetorian praefect

Ulpian
was

sacrificed; another compelled the retirement of

Cassius

Dio
from his command.

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. (Mommsen

leans to that which is least favourable to the Romans). According to Alexander’s

own dispatch to the senate, he gained great victories. At all events, though the

Sassanids were checked for the time, the conduct of the Roman army showed an

extraordinary lack of discipline. 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 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.

Following the nomination of Maximinus as emperor, Alexander was slain (on

either March 18 or March 19, 235), together with his mother, in a mutiny of the

Primigenia Legio XXII

. These assassinations secured the throne for

Maximinus.

The death of Alexander is considered as the end of the Principate

system established by

Augustus
.

Although the Principate continued in theory until the reign of

Diocletian
,

Alexander Severus’ death signalled the beginning of the chaotic period known as

the

Crisis of the Third Century

which weakened the empire considerably.

 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. 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 praefect in administering the affairs of the fourteen districts of Rome.

The luxury and extravagance that had formerly been so prevalent at the court

were put down; the standard of the coinage was raised; 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 the

founder of

Christianity
, but was dissuaded by the pagan priests.

 Marriage

Alexander was married three times. His most famous wife was

Sallustia Orbiana

,

, whom he married in 225. He divorced and exiled her in 227,

after her father,

Seius Sallustius

, was executed for attempting to assassinate the emperor.

Another wife was Sulpicia Memmia. Her father was a man of consular rank; her

grandfather’s name was Catulus.