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Severus Alexander
–
Roman Emperor
: 222-235 A.D.
Bronze 21mm (9.26 grams) of Roman Provincial mint
Laureate, draped bust right.
She-wolf of Rome, sucking Romulus and Remus.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Remus and
Romulus are Rome’s twin
founders
in its traditional
foundation myth
. They are descendants of the
Trojan prince and refugee
Aeneas
, and are fathered by the god
Mars
or the demi-god
Hercules
on a royal
Vestal Virgin
,
Rhea Silvia
, whose uncle exposes them to die in
the wild. They are found by a she-wolf who suckles and cares for them. The twins
are eventually restored to their regal birthright, acquire many followers and
decide to found a new city.
Romulus
wishes to build the new city on the Palatine Hill; Remus prefers the Aventine
Hill. They agree to determine the site through augury. Romulus appears to
receive the more favourable signs but each claims the results in his favour. In
the disputes that follow, Remus is killed.
Ovid has Romulus invent the festival of
Lemuria
to appease Remus’ resentful ghost.
Romulus names the new city
Rome, after himself, and goes on to create the
Roman Legions
and the
Roman Senate
. He adds citizens to his new city
by abducting the women of the neighboring
Sabine
tribes, which results in the combination
of Sabines and Romans as one Roman people. Rome rapidly expands to become a
dominant force, due to divine favour and the inspired administrative, military
and political leadership of Romulus. In later life Romulus becomes increasingly
autocratic, disappears in mysterious circumstances and is deified as the god
Quirinus
, the divine persona of the Roman
people.
The legend of Romulus and Remus encapsulates Rome’s ideas of itself, its
origins, moral values and purpose: it has also been described as one of the most
problematic of all foundation myths. Romulus’ name is thought to be a
back-formation
from the name Rome; Remus’ is a
matter for ancient and modern speculation. The main sources for the legend
approach it as history and offer an implausibly exact chronology: Roman
historians dated the city’s foundation variously from 758 to 728 BC. Plutarch
says Romulus was fifty-three at his death; which reckoning gives the twins’
birth year as c. 771 BC. Possible historical bases for the broad mythological
narrative remain unclear and much disputed. Romulus and Remus are eminent among
the
feral children of ancient mythography
.
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
 Augustus:
A.D. 222-235
Caesar: A.D. 221-222 under Elagabalus
Son of Julia Mamaea
Husband of Orbiana
Grandson of Julia Maesa
Nephew of Julia Soaemias
Cousin of Elagabalus
Second-cousin of Caracalla and Geta
Great-newphew of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna
Marcus
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
,
Augusta
, 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.
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