Alexander Severus (222 - 235 AD)

Family and Background

The son of Gessius Marcianus and Julia Mamaea, grandson of Julia Maesa, the wife of Septimius Severus. He appears to have been born on October 1, 208 AD in Arca Caesarea. It was later rumored (for political purposes) that he was the bastard son of Caracalla, and this claim appears in an inscription of 222 AD. A similar claim had been made for Elagabalus before his proclamation in 218.
His original name appears to have been Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus, and he appears to have spent some portion of his youth in Emesa where it is said that he was, like his cousin, a priest of Elagabal. At the time of the rebellion that placed Elagabalus on the throne, he appears to have been regarded as little more than a genetic appendage: he was declared an enemy of the state in May/June 218, and rehabilitated after the defeat of Macrinus in June. He then accompanied his cousin to Rome, and is lost from sight until June 26, 221, when he received the toga virilis (marking his achievement of technical adulthood) and was adopted by his cousin with the name Marcus Aurelius Alexander. The change of name from Alexianus to Alexander may be a feature of contemporary obsession with Alexander the Great, an obsession particularly notable in the personal conduct of Caracalla.
As relations between Julia Mamaea and Julia Soaemias broke down, and Elagabalus increasingly alienated senior officials, Alexander became the focal point for conspiracies against his cousin. These reached a crisis point on March 11, 222 when a group of praetorian guardsmen, acting upon a rumor that Elagabalus had removed Alexander as Caesar demanded to see him. Elagabalus took Alexander with him to the praetorian camp in order to suppress the riot. The praetorians received Alexander with pleasure, and allegedly ignored Elagabalus, who remained at the camp that night. When Elagabalus tried to order the arrest of those responsible for the conduct of the guard, he was murdered. Alexander was proclaimed emperor by the guard on March 13, and by the senate on March 14.

Principal Events (Foriegn)

Principal Events (Domestic)

Outlines of Policy

The reign of Alexander Severus is presented in Latin sources as a sort of calm before the storm, a golden age of stability and prosperity before the chaotic years that follow. This view is certainly wrong. If anything the first eighth years of the reign are marked by administrative sclerosis and infighting. Ulpian, the greatest of all Roman jurists is presented as a guiding hand in these years, but he fell victim to a carefully orchestrated conspiracy within eighteen months of Alexander's accession, and the official responsible for the conspiracy had to be removed through an elaborate conspiracy which saw his promotion to high command in Egypt before he could be executed. The conspiracy of Seius Sallustius is a further indication of difficulty, as is the riot that saw Cassius Dio's ejection from the capitol.
The most serious problem was the utter failure to respond to events in Persia. Ardashir proved to be an extraordinarily able adversary, motivated by a desire to eliminate all important survivors of the Arsacid regime, many of whom fled to Roman territory, or tried to form alliances with Rome, leading to conflict. But the romans did not respond for five years, and then they seem to have been motivated by the chaos on their frontiers resulting from Ardashir's operations. The actual invasion was plainly mismanaged, resulting in the first serious Roman defeat on the eastern frontier since 161 AD.
Alexander himself appears to have been a rather weak character. His mother was the dominant figure in the last ten years of his reign, and her prominence was increasingly resented--she was as much a target of the mutineers in 235 as her son. It is hard to know what Julia was like, but the evidence suggests that she excelled at intrigue, while lacking any forceful vision of government. Tensions in the household are evident as early as 228 when Seius Sallustius rebelled, and the fact that Alexander did not remarry may suggest that Julia did not feel secure enough to allow any other rival into the household. All in all, a thirteen year reign is a long one by the standards of the Roman world, but in this case the length of the reign appears to have been a toupee covering serious structural weakness.

Further Reading

Cassius Dio, History of Rome, 80; Herodian, History of the Years after the Death of Marcus, 6; Historia Augusta, Life of Alexander (almost total fantasy); Millar, A Study of Cassius Dio; Syme, Emperors and Biography.