21/22 March 235 (aged 26) Moguntiacum, Germania Superior (Mainz, Germany)
Burial
Monte del Grano [it]
Spouses
Sallustia Orbiana Sulpicia Memmia
Names
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander
Regnal name
Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus
Dynasty
Severan
Father
Uncertain, possibly Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus
Mother
Julia Avita Mamaea
Religion
Syncretism of pagan, Orphic and Christian beliefs
Roman imperial dynasties
Bust of Julia Mamaea, Alexander's mother
Severan dynasty
Chronology
Septimius Severus
193–211
with Caracalla
198–211
with Geta
209–211
Caracalla
211–217
Geta
211
Macrinus' usurpation
217–218
with Diadumenian
218
Elagabalus
218–222
Severus Alexander
222–235
Dynasty
Severan dynasty family tree
All biographies
Succession
Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors
Followed by Crisis of the Third Century
v
t
e
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander[1] (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235), also known as Alexander Severus,[2] was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. The last emperor from the Severan dynasty, he succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222, at the age of 13. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.
Alexander was the heir to his cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus. The latter had been murdered along with his mother Julia Soaemias by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river.[3] Alexander and his cousin were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, who was the sister of empress Julia Domna and had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion.
Alexander's 13-year reign was the longest reign of a sole emperor since Antoninus Pius.[4] He was also the second youngest sole Roman emperor of a united empire, after Gordian III. Alexander's peacetime reign was prosperous. However, Rome was militarily confronted with the rising Sassanid Empire and growing incursions from the tribes of Germania. He managed to check the threat of the Sassanids. But when campaigning against Germanic tribes, Alexander attempted to bring peace by engaging in diplomacy and bribery. This alienated many in the Roman army, leading to a conspiracy that resulted in the assassination of Alexander, his mother Julia Avita Mamaea, and his advisors. After their deaths, the accession of Maximinus Thrax followed. Alexander's death marked the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century.
^Cooley, p. 496.
^Cite error: The named reference Alexander Severus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Dio, 60:20:2
^A handful of emperors since Antoninus Pius reigned for longer than 13 years, but for some or most of their reign they were co-emperors with others and therefore they were sole emperor for less time.
Marcus Aurelius SeverusAlexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235), also known as AlexanderSeverus, was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. The last emperor...
themselves assumed power by raising Elagabalus (r. 218–222) and then SeverusAlexander (r. 222–235) to the imperial office. The dynasty's control over the...
the Roman Empire who was the grandmother of emperors Elagabalus and SeverusAlexander, elder sister of empress Julia Domna, and mother of Julia Soaemias...
holding high command in the army of the Rhine under Emperor SeverusAlexander. After Severus was murdered in 235, he was proclaimed emperor by the army...
Septimius Severus. Other relatives included Elagabalus's aunt Julia Avita Mamaea and uncle Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus and their son SeverusAlexander. Elagabalus's...
that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus...
member of the Severan dynasty. She was the mother of Roman emperor AlexanderSeverus and remained one of his chief advisors throughout his reign. She was...
218), and which had had in Septimius Severus its progenitor, was now in the hands of a young emperor, SeverusAlexander, who a few years later was killed...
as Severus I.) Severus Caracalla (188–217), Roman emperor from 198 to 217 SeverusAlexander (208–235), Roman emperor from 222 to 235 Valerius Severus, Roman...
a total of six rulers of the Empire. Galerius and Severus campaigned against them in Italy. Severus was killed under command of Maxentius on September...
campaign of AlexanderSeverus was an episode of the Roman–Sasanian Wars (224-363) that saw the Roman Empire ruled by Emperor AlexanderSeverus (222-235)...
and a family division led to her son's replacement by her nephew SeverusAlexander. Julia Soaemias was killed along with her son by the Praetorian Guard...
father's cognomen, Severus, and assumed the chief priesthood as pontifex maximus. His name became Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius...
been known as "Marcus Annius Catilius Severus", at birth or some point in his youth, or "Marcus Catilius Severus Annius Verus". Upon his adoption by Antoninus...
Flavius Valerius Severus (died September 307), also called Severus II, was a Roman emperor from 306 to 307. After failing to besiege Rome, he fled to...
of History extract: Zonaras: AlexanderSeverus to Diocletian: 222–284 12:16 Southern, Pat The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001...
said to have taken Alexander's breastplate from the tomb for his own use. Around AD 200, Emperor Septimius Severus closed Alexander's tomb to the public...
proconsular governorship of Asia. In 234, during the last years of SeverusAlexander's reign, he was installed as consul for the second time. In that same...
The Bust of SeverusAlexander is a Roman marble sculpture of the emperor SeverusAlexander aged around 18. Now in the Uffizi in Florence, it is 70 cm tall...
Septimius Severus; he became a suffect consul in approximately the year 205. Dio was also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia. SeverusAlexander held Dio...
(forever faithful, loyal and pious). In 231, the legion fought under AlexanderSeverus against the Sassanid Empire, and returned with the emperor to the...
by a soldier in the palace and succeeded by Severus. Julianus was born to Quintus Petronius Didius Severus and Aemilia Clara. His father came from a prominent...
Retrieved 2020-03-26. AlexanderSeverus (A.D. 222–235) - De Imperatoribus Romanis by H.W. Benario Robert Lee Cleve: SeverusAlexander and the Severan Women...
The Arch of AlexanderSeverus is a Roman triumphal arch in the ancient civitas of Thugga, located in Dougga, Béja, Tunisia. It was dedicated to the Roman...
of the Roman Emperor from the Death of Nero in A.D. 68 to That of AlexanderSeverus in A.D. 235". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 24: 61–133...
3 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Sulpicius Severus says Nero killed Peter and Paul, Sulpicius Severus, Chronica II.28–29 "The Sibylline Oracles 5.361–76...
AlexanderSeverus. Alexander and Severus share the same cognomen, Alexander. The name Alexander, is a dynastic name in the Emesani dynasty. Alexander...
as the wife of SeverusAlexander from AD 225 to 227. The emperor married her in late 225, following the death of his grandmother. Severus was around sixteen...
saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor SeverusAlexander in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian...
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