Category: Roman history
Elagabalus: The Year 218
On 1 January, Macrinus and Marcus Oclatinius Adventus began their respective consulships. Macrinus now made a series of mistakes which cost him his popularity and ultimately his head. First, after many diplomatic attempts, he managed to make peace with the Parthians. This was not a bad move as such, but…
Elagabalus: The Years 219-220
Elagabalus: The Years 221-222
Severus Alexander: The Years 222-230
Thanks in large part to his capable advisors, Severus Alexander’s reign was exemplary and benevolent. As Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus, he held his second consulship in 226 and his third in 229, together with the noted historian Cassius Dio. Of his principal advisors, his grandmother Julia Maesa…
Severus Alexander: The Years 230-232
In 230, Ardashir (Artaxerxes) felt confident enough to invade Roman Mesopotamia. He laid waste to the country and threatened Syria, though he failed to take Nisibis. The Persian invasion may have been just a probing attack instead of a full-scale assault, but it was serious enough to draw the emperor…