The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire (44 page)

Elagabalus's grandmother persuaded him to adopt her other grandson, Gessius Bassianus Alexianus, as heir. This led to a power struggle between the mother of Elagabalus, Soaemias, and the mother of Alexianus, Maesa. Public and military opinion shifted rapidly toward Alexianus. The praetorians mutinied against Elagabalus,
discovered him and Soaemias hiding in a latrine, and killed them. Their bodies were dragged around the city, loaded with weights, and thrown into the Tibur river.

Alexianus was only 13 when he became the emperor Alexander Severus. He ruled for 13 years, or rather, his mother, Julia Mamaea, did. Cleopatra's ambitions were realized at last.

Mamaea ruled both Rome and her son—she even banished his wife out of jealousy while Alexander could only wring his hands. There were continual disruptions in Rome with the praetorians and abroad with the legions, and many, such as Mamaea's close advisor, the famous Roman jurist and writer Domitius Ulpianus (Ulpian), lost their lives in the literal cut and thrust of politics.

Alexander made a well-advised attack upon the growing power of Persia, but the attack was poorly carried out and ended in a stalemate that was bad for morale. Later, Alexander went to quell Germanic invasions along the Rhine, but instead of attacking the Germans, he bought them off. This angered his legions. Under their commander, Maximius, they rebelled. They found Alexander in his mother's tent, clinging to her while he berated her handling of things. His inner child never got that chance to grow up; the soldiers killed both him and Maesa, and made Maximius Thrax (“the Thracian”) emperor. Maximius was the first of a long line to rise through the ranks to (ostensibly) rule Rome.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Maximius was the first enlisted man to become emperor. His chief credentials were his size and strength. Reputed to be a gigantic 8-feet-plus tall, he could pull around fully loaded carts by himself! (Always a good thing to look for in an emperor.) His shoes were so big that they spawned the expression “ Maximius's boot” to refer to a tall person.

For the next 50 years, things, quite literally, went to pieces. Plagues swept across the Empire, earthquakes leveled whole regions, and legions promoted their own emperors (the so-called “Barracks” emperors) and assassinated them in turn. There were at least 25 emperors, 16 from 244 to 260, and few died naturally. Under such stress, the provinces began to break away from the powerless core, and it began to look like the Roman Empire would split into several kingdoms just as Alexander's empire had done. But a series of Illyrian emperors helped to bring things back together just in time for Diocletian to stitch it together, temporarily, again.

The Roman Empire was besieged during this period from every side but along the Sahara. Franks, Jutes, and Germanic Alemanni invaded across the Rhine river, and
Vandals and Goths across the Danube river. The Emperor Decius (249–251) was killed fighting against them at Abrittus, the first emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy. Decius was also the first emperor to institute systematic persecutions of the Christians (for more see Chapter 20, “(Un)Protected Sects: Religions, Tolerance, and Persecutions”), so his early demise was welcome in some quarters.

In the east, the Persian empire began to encroach. The emperor Valerian (253–260) tried to recapture the eastern Empire from the Persians, but he was captured by the Persian king, Shapur, while trying to negotiate terms. A gruesome tradition has it that Valerian ended his days as a movable footstool (he had to bend down so that Shapur could step on him to mount his horse), and that when he died, Shapur dyed his skin green and hung it in a temple as a warning to future visitors. This may only be inspired from a Persian relief (sculpture carved into stone) that shows Valerian kneeling before a mounted Shapur. Nevertheless, news of the emperor's capture was hushed up, but it leaked out. This precipitated the provinces of Gaul breaking away, and the rise of the Palmyrene empire in the east.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Rome's invaders at this time left a lasting imprint upon our modern world. The Franks settled into France (which bears their name), and there, great Frankish dynasties developed. The greatest of these was headed by Charles the Great (Charlemagne), who became the first Holy Roman Emperor. The Alemanni echo in the Franks' name for Germany (Alamands). The Vandals became a synonym for a destroyer, and the Goths live in all things Gothic.

I'll mention two major developments you should know about and a couple of the emperors who might interest you.

With all the turmoil and without an emperor, provincial areas began to split off to fend for themselves. The largest and longest lasting of these splits was the Gallic empire established by Postumus, the governor of Lower Germany. When Valerian's capture was made known, Postumus, supported by legions of Britain and Spain, formed a breakaway empire against Valerian's son, Gallienus. This empire, whose capital was Trier, survived until 274 when Aurelian defeated the Gallic emperor Tetricus's forces at Châlon-sur-Marne and reabsorbed France, Spain, and Britain back into the Empire.

Palmyra was an ancient trading city between Syria and Mesopotamia. After Valerius's capture, the Palmyrene king, Odaenathus, stopped Persian encroachment into the
region. Odaenathus was proclaimed the guardian of the east by the Roman emperor Gallienus, who had the breakaway Gallic provinces to deal with. Odaenathus went on to conquer much of the region. His wife, Zenobia, who in turn became a powerful and famous queen, succeeded him. She ruled the area and broke with Rome in an attempt to control Egypt. She proclaimed her son emperor, but was eventually captured by Aurelian in 274. Aurelian reportedly exhibited her in his triumph at Rome and put her in house arrest at Tivoli until her death.

 
Lend Me Your Ears
Gallienus was a literary figure as well as emperor. Several speeches and poems survive. Here's a translation of a poem he wrote for a family wedding:

“Okay, kids, go on and together work every part of you into sweat, and don't let the doves outdo your murmurs, the ivy your arms, or the sea-shells your kisses. Go on and play! But don't put out the lamps that keep watch through the night. At night lamps see everything, but at tomorrow's light remember nothing.”

 
Roamin' the Romans
The ruins of Palmyra in Syria show the grand, but ephemeral, power of this city that rose to prominence after Valerian and then fell into obscurity after Aurelian's forces sacked it in 272. Some of the grandest parts of the city remained unfinished after Zenobia's capture in 274.

It was a series of valiant Illyrian emperors that gradually conquered the Goths, stabilized the center of the Empire, and reunited the eastern and western portions that had broken away. The most famous of these were Claudius III “Gothicus” (268–270) and Aurelian (270–275). Claudius's short reign was marked by important victories over the Goths (who were able to penetrate into Greece and sack Athens) in 268 and 269, but he fell victim to the plague and died. Aurelian, after abandoning Dacia and calming what remained of the northern borders, was able to capture Zenobia and bring the Palymrene empire back under control and, in the same year (274), defeat the Gallic empire in the west. He is also remembered for constructing a massive defensive wall around Rome that bears his name to this day.

Aurelian also recognized the need for a cohesive element to the Empire. He tried religion by instituting a new religious cult of the Unconquered Sun, Lord of the Roman Empire, and by presenting himself, the emperor, as the divinely appointed representative. Thus, the emperor finally passed from a human office to one achieved through divine will and sanction. This concept reappeared with Diocletian and continued to influence the office once the Empire was Christianized. Aurelian did not live long enough to consolidate and stabilize his achievements, however. He was murdered by a conspiracy of his own men.

 
Roamin' the Romans
The invasions of the Alemanni and Juthungi into Italy in 271 compelled Aurelian to recognize the vulnerability of Rome. He constructed a massive defensive wall around the city. The Aurelian Wall is about 12 miles in length and originally contained 18 gates. You can find its remains all around Rome, often as a part of later refortification and buildings. The wall marks the decline of Rome from an imperial capital with a wall of legions to a medieval city vulnerable to invasion and pillage.

Following the assassination of Aurelian, the Empire remained united, but the imperial palace on the Palatine resembled a combination of residence and mortuary with a revolving door: From 275 to 285, Rome was ruled by six emperors, all thrust into place by the armies, and all meeting unnatural deaths, mostly at the hands of those who put them in power in the first place. The last of these were the emperors Carinus (283–285), in the west, and Numerian (283–284), in the east. Numerian was assassinated and succeeded by Diocletian, who defeated Carinus in 285 to bring this period to an end.

• The period from Commodus to Aurelian is one of the most complicated in Roman history.
  
• The Severan dynasty resulted in an eastern monarchy ruling the Roman Empire.
  
• The chaos following the Severans, northern invasions, and plagues nearly shattered the Empire.
  
• During the period of the “barracks” emperors, a Gallic empire in the west and a Palmyrene empire in the east temporarily broke away from Rome.
  
• The Illyrian emperors (such as Aurelian) were able to defeat the Goths and regain both the eastern and western Empire.