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