THE BARRACKS EMPERORS 3

The End of the Severans

Back in Rome was . . . the Imperial Cult 

Augustus Caesar as Pontifax Maximus 

The Chief Deity of Rome was Jupiter and the upon accession the Emperor automatically became the Pontifex Maximus or chief high priest of the Cult. 

But it was also customary for Military and political leaders to adopt their own Patron God so importing a new religion was not unheard of in Rome. 

Helios galloping across the Heavens in his fiery Chariot

The Sun God

Everyday, the sun god would drive his golden chariot across the sky, therefore representing the rising and eventual setting of the sun. He is depicted in his Quadric a four-horse chariot first driven by the Titan god, Helios, who was later replaced by the Olympian Apollo. 

Worship of Helios was imported to Rome under the new guise of Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun) and was gaining in popularity at this time. So in true Roman Syncretistic fashion the Syrian deity Agabalus was assimilated into the Pantheon as the Roman sun God.

Depiction of Sol Invictus 

The God Elagabal 

Related to Baal a generic name for the Canaanite supreme God worshipped in various Guises in the middle east. El ( El - Baal) also a term well known in this area and in the Hebrew Scriptures, for God usually a prefix in the Hebrew texts eg. El Elyon (God-Most high) or El Shaddai (God-Almighty). Also 'Gabal' relates to the Arabic 'Jabal' meaning mountain therefore 'God of the Mountain'. ( El-Jah-Baal) Perhaps with a mixture of 'Ra'? or even Jah from Jahweh.

 In Rome there was an even earlier deification of the sun in the God 'Sol' which apparently faded before Imperial times. There may have been a Roman connection to the God Apollo or Helios (there seems to be some dispute about whether Apollo was combined with the worship of the sun since Helios was already the sun God) riding across the Heavens in his solar chariot exactly as depictions were made for Sol Invictus in Rome. Later it was felt to have been introduced through Mithraism. Sol Invictus as the chief religious deity was instituted later by Aurelian in 275 AD.

Elagabalus had a Temple constructed on the Palatine Hill which housed a meteorite (which was venerated since it obviously fell from heaven.)

Meteorites falling from the sky are pretty common objects in 

religions . . . as well shall see. . . 

 Herodian wrote "this stone is worshipped as though it were sent from heaven; on it there are some small projecting pieces and markings that are pointed out, which the people would like to believe are a rough picture of the sun, because this is how they see them".

Before the construction of the temple Elagabalus placed this meteor next to the statue of Jupiter. After he built the temple he then placed all the most sacred religious artefacts of Rome into the temple so that nobody could give obeisance to another God without first acknowledging Egalabal. 

The Roman populace did not appreciate this departure from tradition they could accept a new patron God but a usurper of Jupiter might be a little hard to swallow. But perhaps this could have been tolerated had not Elagabalus caused a great many other offences as well which was to cause his downfall.

So it would seem for the moment,  the Severan's were back in business, the pretender to the throne had been dealt with and at last Julia Maesa could relax and enjoy her hard earned victory.

But it was not long before cracks began to show.

Elagabalus the Weird

We have established that Julia Maesa was the decision maker in the new administration, but the title and privileges that went with it were being throughly enjoyed by the still (very) young Elagabalus. He had some strange personal tendencies which soon began to surface to the ever growing alarm of the court of Severus.   

Bronze statue of an aristocratic boy 27BC - 14AD

He had strange cross dressing tendencies together with some rather unorthodox religious practices. He married more than 5 times and had numerous alleged relationships with male courtiers just for starters. . .

Elagabalus tried to have his presumed lover, the charioteer Hierocles, declared Caesar,while another alleged lover, the athlete Aurelius Zoticus, was appointed to the non-administrative but influential position of Master of the Chamber, or Cubicularius. He stirred further discontent when he himself married the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa, claiming the marriage would produce "godlike children".

A Vestal Virgin 

In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome. A Vestal virgin could only be chosen from an aristocratic family and it was certainly regarded as a high honour for a young girl. 

Vow of Chastity

They were required to take a vow of chastity and service for 30 years, and were tasked with protecting the sacred fire of Vesta and making preparations for rituals in her temple, and as such, their role was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome. 

Along with these noble tasks came a number of privileges not afforded to other women. A Vestal’s person was sacrosanct, and the penalty for injuring one of Vesta’s priestesses was death. 

Punishments for breaking the Oath

However, if any Vestal was found to violate her oath of Celibacy, she would be condemned to burial alive or more accurately holed up in an enclosed space where she died of starvation. 

This painting, which depicts a Vestal Virgin condemned to death for breaking her vow of chastity, appears to be the preliminary study for a similar version by Pietro Saja (1779-1833) that hangs in the Palazzo Reale in Caserta, near Naples 

For Elagabalus to marry a Vestal virgin was a flagrant disregard for a very sacred Roman tradition. 

In Ancient Rome it was not unusual for emperors to have homosexual lovers, this was not the issue but rather the effect on the troops having to see their emperor dressing up like a girl, This was going too far and  totally unacceptable in a militaristic world where leaders had to be able to demonstrate their toughness. 

Cassius Dio reported that Elagabalus would "paint his eyes, epilate his hair and wear wigs before prostituting himself in taverns, brothels, and even in the imperial palace". According to Cassius Dio, his most stable relationship seems to have been with his chariot driver, a blond slave from Caria named Hierocles, whom he referred to as his husband.

There was the very real danger of losing the support of the Praetorian guard which any Emperor depended totally upon for their physical protection. In the vipers nest of roman political machinations nobody could afford this. 

The Roses of Elagabalus Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadeema 1888

The Roses of Elagabalus

Taken from the "Augustan History" a compilation of 'apocryphal' works by six different authors (collectively known as the Scriptores Historiae Augustae), written in the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I.

The true authorship of the work, its actual date, and its purpose, have long been matters for controversy. 

In this Painting Alma-Tadema depicts a story in which Elagabalus plays an ironic and deadly prank on his unsuspecting guests smothering them with a huge barrage of rose petals released from a false ceiling, the delicate and sweet smelling roses overcome them and slowly crush and asphyxiate them.  

The original reference is this: In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his parasites in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top. 

It is unknown whether this is a true event or not although it would appear that Elagabalus was quite capable of such bizarre and cruel behaviour. 

Plan B

Perhaps he had been warned, maybe several times, and one can easily picture an exasperated Julia Maesa trying to talk sense into an out of control adolescent refusing to listen. 

The stakes are very high and Julia must have seen her great plan of restoration evaporating in front of her eyes. She had to formulate a desperate plan, and soon, before the incensed Praetorian guard took the law in their own hands. If her family was going to survive, she needed Elagabalus out of the way, but who would rule in his stead?

Fortunately she had another daughter who also had a son so a new plot was hatched this time against her own family. Her second daughter Julia Mamaea also had a son. . . Severus Alexander who was getting older. . .

First she made sure that Elagabalus named his cousin Severus as his heir. He was younger than Elagabalus but had by now turned 14 which was the age his cousin was when he took the throne. That was good enough for Julia Maesa. 

Elagabalus not being a complete idiot, suspected something was up, and tried to have Severus removed several times, eventually a confrontation took place in which the Praetorian guard knowing Julia Maesa had already given her consent murdered Elagabalus with his mother Julia Soaemias in 222 AD.

The Assassination of Caligula by the Praetorian Guard.

Cassius Dio reports . . ."So he made an attempt to flee, and would have got away somewhere by being placed in a chest, had he not been discovered and slain, at the age of 18. His mother, who embraced him and clung tightly to him, perished with him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, then the mother's body was cast aside somewhere or other while his was thrown into the Tiber."

Julia Maesa's work was largely done and she died in 226 AD it is hard to imagine if she died confident in the future consolidation of the Severan dynasty, it seems that Alexander was doomed from the start. Which certainly is a pity because he was quite different in character and behaviour to his deranged cousin in every possible way. 

Julia Mamaea 

His Mother was Julia Mamaea and she stepped confidently into the shoes of her mother as de facto ruler of the empire.  

Severus Alexander becomes emperor at age 14

 His education had been carefully conducted by Mamaea at Antioch, and it is reported that she invited sometime in 228 AD, from the Egyptian School, the great Scholar Origen to educate her and her son.  

Eusebius relates (Church History VI.21-28) that she was "a very religious woman", and that Origen remained some time with her, "instructing her in all that could serve to glorify the Lord and confirm His Divine teachings." 

The Historian Lampridius gives a record of Alexander's very favourable dealings with Christianity. 

"He placed in his private oratory (lararium) images of Abraham and Christ before those of other renowned persons, like Orpheus and Apollonius of Tyana (Vita Alex., xxix); he tolerated the free exercise of the Christian faith ("Christianos esse passus est", ibid., xxii); he recommended in the appointment of imperial governors the prudence and solicitude of the Christians in the selection of their bishops (ibid., xiv);" He even went so far as to suggest the building of a temple to Jesus Christ but his advisors persuaded him against the idea. 

whilst Severus it seems had the makings of a good Emperor, his mother went everywhere with him and as he got older perhaps this could have been instrumental in the decisions made that eventually led to both her and her son’s demise. 

Severus was a well educated and enlightened man it would seem and apparently surrounded himself with wise and prudent advisors.

The Military 

The problem was the relationship between the ruling class and the military who had by now already tasted power and was quite conscious of their collective ability to appoint and depose rulers as and when they chose to.  

Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Severus was simply living in an impossible situation in which trying bringing the military to heel was inviting one’s own demise.

Which is exactly what happened 

234AD -The 'barbarians' crossed the Rhine and Danube in hordes that even caused panic at the gates of Rome. Roman troops had only just managed to contain a resurgent Parthian invasion in the east.

Alexander tried to negotiate with the invading Germans perhaps trying to avoid a bloody battle after the tremendous cost of the Persian wars. His troops were unimpressed with this decision and probably it made Alexander look weak in their eyes.

They had by this time already nominated their choice of leader in the person of Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus who had worked his way through the ranks through sheer determination and strength, demonstrating the kind of qualities much admired by the legionaries.

Predictably and tragically Alexander was murdered together with his mother in 235 by his own troops on the Rhine. 

This is NOW officially the end of the Severan Dynasty 

THE BARRACKS EMPERORS 2

The Fall of the Severan Dynasty 

The God Mother

Julia Domna the widowed mother of Emperor Septimius Severus had a difficult time trying to play peacemaker between her two antagonistic sons. Caracalla forbade her to grieve over the death of Geta and she was forced to support him when he went on campaign to Syria against the Parthians. 


After Macrinus had murdered Caracalla and seized the throne, he sent her away from Antioch after it was reported that Julia was inciting troops to rebel against him. 

At this time, she was believed to be about fifty years old and was suffering from a painful illness, probably cancer of the breast. Rather than face exile and the humiliation of being reduced to the status of a private citizen, she elected to commit suicide by starving herself.

This was effectively the end of the Severan Dynasty 

But . . .

She had a sister, Julia Maesa 

Lawrence Alma-Tadema -  silver favourites 1903 -
Julia Maesa and her two daughters 

Julia Maesa

Having been evicted from the imperial palace and ordered to return home to their ancestral home in Emesa Syria. Almost upon arrival the Julia Measa began a plot with her advisor and Elagabalus' tutor Gannys to place another Severan on the imperial throne. 

 Julia Maesa had been married to Syrian noble Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus. They had two daughters Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia Avita Mamaea. (Her husband had been sent by Caracalla to Cyprus early in 217 as an emissary and died on the way there, of natural causes.) This left Julia Maesa heading up a family alone.

It was this trio of mother and two daughters that became the chief protagonists in the revolt against usurper Macrinus.   

Her Oldest daughter was  Julia Soaemias

 Statue of Iulia Soaemias ( 3rd century AD )

As members of the imperial Roman family of the Severan dynasty, they lived in Rome. Julia Soaemias, was a cousin of emperor Caracalla


She also was a widower her husband Marcellus dying in c.215, during his time as Roman governor in Numidia. Julia bore Marcellus two children: one son whose name is unknown and another son called Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, who was to become the Roman emperor Elagabalus. 

Our attention is now fixed upon her son who we now know as Elagabalus, (as he was derisively named posthumously).

The Plot 

As we have established, in order to overthrow Macrinus they needed a male Emperor to promote as the champion for the throne. Elagabalus was only 14 but he was the the oldest male available and accordingly was  groomed for the role.

Bronze statue of an aristocratic boy Roman Augustan period 27 BCE-14 CE

loyalty of the Troops

In order to legitimise this, mother and daughter fomented the rumor that he was Caracalla's illegitimate son. (This would firstly lay a 'legitimate' claim to the loyalties of Roman soldiers and senators who had sworn allegiance to Caracalla.)

Loyalty of the people of Syria

He was then trained in the Imperial cult of Emesa which was the worship of Elagabal (seems this was a variation on the Canaanite God, Baal (El-aga-Baal) This would ensure the loyalty and by extension the continued financial support of the people of Emesa in Syria.

Loyalty of the Roman Legion in Syria

Next Julia bribed the third Legion at Raphana and they swore allegiance to Elagabalus. At sunrise on 16 May 218, Publius Valerius Comazon, commander of the legion, declared him emperor.

The City of Emesa - (Red flag) Modern day Homs

Loyalty of the Senate 

The senate was next and they were pacified with letters of reconciliation and obedience to the law but a condemnation of the usurper Macrinus, the senate agreed and proceeded to condemn Macrinus.

Cicero attacks Catiline, from a 19th-century fresco in Palazzo Madama, Rome, house of the Italian Senate.

Caracalla and Julia Domna were deified and both Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias were elevated to the rank of Augustae.

Meanwhile back in Rome. . .

How was Macrinus working out as Emperor? 

He inherited a troubled Empire, frankly not a job anybody should have put their hands up for. But he did the best he could and had he survived he seemed to be as good an emperor as any.

The conflict with the Parthians, thanks to Caracalla, was far from being resolved and Macrinus was forced into a confrontation with the Parthians in the summer of 217, It ended in an unsatisfactory and costly draw near the town of Niseis. 

This is an artist's illustration of how Parthian camel cataphracts may have looked like in combat against Roman legionaries.

The Romans were forced to enter negotiations and were obliged to pay the enormous indemnity of 200 million sesterces to the Parthian ruler Artabanus V in return for peace. This was not the Roman way and a humiliation for any Emperor. 

Adding to his list of offences, Macrinus never went to Rome, which was also seen by the citizens and senate as an act of disrespect.

Macrinus' reluctance to engage in warfare, and his failure to gain victory over the Parthians caused considerable resentment among the soldiers. 

In order to save the crumbling economy he also began cutting back on privileges enjoyed by the military as well as payments, which certainly did not help his popularity stakes.

None of these were as a result of poor judgement and he certainly was not exhibiting any of the megalomaniac behaviour of Caracalla and other demented rulers, Macrinus by all accounts was a fair and just ruler. The political climate of Rome was already poisoned at the root and no amount of efforts could right the ailing empire, Macrinus was doomed from the start. . .

The fall of Macrinus

To add to all his troubles Macrinus must have begun to regret sending the Severan ladies back to Syria. The plans of Julia Maesa were growing from strength to strength and what possibly appeared as a small rebellion at first had grown to an alarming threat, he had to face and deal with as soon as possible.

So a contingent of troops was dispatched to crush the rebellion but it was already too late, many of the troops simply switched loyalties and joined Elagabalus.

Things began to look very bad for Macrinus, his next move was to try and get the blessing of the senate and strengthen his position in Rome. But in spite of the support of the senate, lucrative bribes and propaganda had lost him the support of the army and a much weakened Macrinus set off to confront Julia and her rebellion. 

A force under Elagabalus's tutor Gannys marched on Antioch and engaged a force under Macrinus on June 8, 218. 
Macrinus was deserted by his disloyal soldiers and was forced to flee after being routed in Battle. He was captured near Chalcedon and later executed in Cappadocia. His son Diadumenian, tried to escape to Parthia but was captured and also executed. 


In his death at the hands of his own troops, Macrinus reinforces the notion of the soldiers as the true brokers of power in the third-century empire and highlighted the importance of maintaining the support of this vital faction. 

Roman Legion Wallpaper | King Pyrrhus invades Italy.

Could Julia Soaemias and her son Elagabalus do any better? 

You just can't make this stuff up! 
Next:
The sordid tale of Elagabalus and the final curtain on the Severan Dynasty 

THE BARRACKS EMPERORS 1

The Fall of the Severan Dynasty

The Pretender  

The Dynasty began with the reign of Septimius Severus who was a member of a leading native family of Leptis Magna in North Africa who allied himself with a prominent Syrian family by his marriage to Julia Domna.

Julia Domna married Septimus on the strength of a reading from her horoscope when it indicated that she would be the wife of a "sovereign prince". When she became empress, she surrounded herself with an intellectual elite and she became known as "Julia the Philosopher". Her Life ended tragically after the death of her son Caracalla. But her sister Julia Maesa was to shortly rise to the occasion.

Caracalla (Emperor from AD 211 to 217)

The eldest son of  Emperor Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. 

He was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Gaul. "Caracalla" was a nickname referring to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore.

Here's a beautiful somewhat Romanticised painting depicting the Severan Boys at the Coliseum by Lawrence Alma-Tadema in 1907.  The two boys (Caracalla and his brother Geta) are shown with their mother enjoying the privileges of wealth and power, but we can see that trouble looms, with a portentous expression on the brooding face of Caracalla (leaning on a pillar wearing a white toga) looking malevolently at his brother.

The Murderous Brothers

After what appears to be the result of several attempts by each of these brothers to finish the other off and claim sole control of the Empire Caracalla emerges the victor. But it seems he was never able to enjoy his victory, since, it is so often when one is conniving and cruel, his reign was filled with paranoia and fear.  

Caracalla, according to Cassius Dio had already tried to murder his father whilst campaigning in Britain, there is a fascinating attempt to depict this by an ambitious french painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze (died 1805) who tried to gain the attention of the french art salon with a rather obscure story in the "history" tradition of classical painting, one of the academic themes in the 19th Century. 

This painting has problems but the story depicts Septimus Severus admonishing Caracalla for trying to kill him. I guess what's so odd about it is his strange reaction. 

Although it was unsuccessful, Severus admonished his son, leaving a sword within his son’s reach challenging him to finish the job that he botched earlier (Dio 77.14.1-7). Caracalla backed down, but according to Herodian, was constantly trying to convince Severus’ doctors to hasten the dying emperor’s demise (3.15.2). In any case, the emperor died at Ebaracum in February 211 CE. Severus’ last advice to both Caracalla and Geta was to ‘Be good to each other, enrich the army, and damn the rest’ (Dio 77.15.2).Taken from http://www.ancient.eu/Caracalla/ 

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Septimius Severus and Caracalla, 1769 (Musee du Louvre, Paris)

The Citizenship is Granted to all Free Men

In 212 Caracalla granted roman citizenship to virtually all free men throughout the empire. According to Cassius Dio this was not so much a philanthropic move towards equal rights so much as a ploy to extend the tax rolls. It seems all considered, it was a smart move, since citizenship would have been a coveted title for any aspiring person in those times and not to be taken for granted. One is reminded of the story of Paul the Apostle in the Bible in Acts 22 the commander who arrested Paul informs him that he paid (a high price) for his citizenship and yet Paul informs him that he was "born a citizen", the change in the Commanders attitude is clearly indicative of the prestige that would accompany this status.

The famous Baths 

Seeking to secure his own legacy, Caracalla also commissioned one of Rome's last major architectural achievements, the Baths of Caracalla, the second largest public baths ever built in ancient Rome. The main room of the baths was larger than St. Peter's Basilica, and could easily accommodate over 2,000 Roman citizens at one time. The bath house opened in 216, complete with libraries, private rooms and outdoor tracks. Internally it was lavishly decorated with gold-trimmed marble floors, columns, mosaics and colossal statuary. Taken from Wikipedia

The New Alexander

He had developed an obsession with Alexander even using the outdated Macedonian Phalanx as an army tactic against the old foe the eastern Persians. He dreamed of an eastern conquest against Persia thereby uniting the two empires, but this never materialised. 

The Reality

The true character of Caracalla is clearly illustrated whilst he visited Alexandria in 215 to pay homage to his hero. He arranged a murderous massacre of the inhabitants because they had mocked him after his attempt to blame the death of his brother on 'self defence'. Also they had criticised his Alexander obsession and failure to live up to his boastful claims. He arrived at the tomb of Alexander where he left a votive offering, he then assembled the citizenry and ordered his soldiers to surround them and attack whilst watching from the safety of the temple of Serapis. 

Assassination 

In spite of this and other crimes he was still deified by the Senate after his assassination which took place in 217 when Caracalla was murdered by by Julius Martialis, a disgruntled officer of his personal bodyguard. It was perhaps a befitting end for an unscrupulous murderer but there is more to the story. . .

He was succeeded by the head of his Praetorian guard Macrinus who according to Herodian, was responsible for instigating the assassination.

Marcus Opellius Macrinus was born in AD 164 in Caesarea, a harbour town in Mauretania. 

pre-emptive strike?

There is reason to believe that the murder of Caracalla could have been a pre-emptive strike since, according to the Historian cassius Dio Macrinus had been given a prophecy that he would depose the emperor and take over the leadership. 

Caracalla may have gotten wind of this because there were rumours  of a "staff reshuffle". Given Caracalla’s murderous track record this did not bode well for Macrinus.  
So if we go along with this account Macrinus was possibly a somewhat reluctant usurper.


There were no obvious heirs to Caracalla and after three days Macrinus was offered the job. The senate did not object, only too pleased to see the demise of the unpredictable and violent Caracalla.

The Baths of Caracalla by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadeeqma.
The Severan Ladies: Julia Domna and her daughters Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia Avita Mamaea.

Lesson one for Usurpers - Kill everybody remotely connected to your predecessor 

The female survivors of the Severan dynasty were to become the downfall of Macrinus 

In hindsight Macrinus should have had them discretely disposed of but maybe he  thought women were harmless enough and he sent them far away to what he hoped was a safe distance.  He ordered to return to their  home near Emesa in Syria.

Never underestimate the fairer sex in the tough and  violent world of Roman politics.

Next 

A Woman Scorned . . .