Gaius Julius Bassianus or Bassus, also known as Julius Bassianus (died 217) was a Syrian,^[1] who lived in the 2nd century and 3rd century. Bassianus was a high priest for the Temple of the Sun, which was adored in a shape of a black stone. The Aramaean Sun God in Aramaic is El-Gabal. Bassianus was a member of the Royal family of Emesa (modern Homs, Syria). The Royal Family was a part of the local Syrian Aramaean aristocracy and was a client kingdom of the Roman Empire. The beginning of his priesthood is unknown but by 187, he was a high priest at Emesa.

Future emperor Lucius Septimius Severus had visited Emesa, based on a promising horoscope that he would find his future wife in Syria. Bassianus introduced Severus to his two daughters. Bassianus' wife is unknown. His elder daughter Julia Maesa was married to a Syrian noble Julius Avitus and they had two daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia Avita Mamaea. His younger daughter Julia Domna was not married.

Severus and Domna, married not so long after. Domna bore Severus two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla, 4 April 188-8 April 217) and Publius Septimius Geta (7 March 189-19 December 211). Caracalla and Geta would became future Roman Emperors and heirs to their father.

Julia Maesa prevailed upon her grandson, the emperor Elagabalus to adopt another grandson, the son of Julia Avita Mamaea, who took the name Alexander Severus and eventually became emperor. Bassianus could be a possible descendant of princess Drusilla of Mauretania and possible ancestor to Syrian Queen Zenobia of Palmyra.

References[link]

1. ^ Shahid, Irfan (1984). Rome and The Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 0-88402-115-7. OCLC 9532710. 

Sources[link]

• Cleopatra Selene of Mauretania, Internet Archive
• http://www.livius.org/jo-jz/julia/julia_maesa.html
• http://www.roman-emperors.org/sevjulia.htm
• http://www.livius.org/ei-er/emperors/emperors03.html
• http://www.roman-emperors.org/sepsev.htm

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2010)

Roman imperial dynasties
Severan dynasty
Chronology
Septimius Severus		193 – 198
-with Caracalla		198 – 209
-with Caracalla and Geta		209 – 211
Caracalla and Geta		211 – 211
Caracalla		211 – 217
Interlude: Macrinus		217 – 218
Elagabalus		218 – 222
Alexander Severus		222 – 235
Dynasty
Severan dynasty family tree Category:Severan dynasty
Succession
Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors		Followed by Crisis of the Third Century

Julia Domna (170–217) was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Geta and Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire.

Family background[link]

Julia was from a Syrian family, thought to be of Arab descent, of the city of Emesa.^[1] She was the youngest daughter of the high-priest Gaius Julius Bassianus and her eldest sister was Julia Maesa. Her ancestors were Priest Kings of the famous temple of Baʿal. The family had enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy.

Reign[link]

In the late 180s, Julia married future Emperor Septimius Severus, usually considered to be of Punic background. The marriage proved to be a happy one and Severus cherished his wife and her political opinions, since she was very well read and keen on philosophy. Together, they had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla) in 188 and Publius Septimius Geta in 189.

Civil War[link]

When Severus became emperor in 193 he had a civil war waiting for him, against rivals such as Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Julia accompanied him in his campaigns in the East, an uncommon event in a time when women were expected to wait in Rome for their husbands. Nevertheless, she remained with the emperor and among the several proofs of affection and favour are the minting of coins with her portrait and the title mater castrorum (mother of the camp).

Controversy and transition of power[link]

As empress, Julia was often involved in intrigues and had plenty of political enemies who accused her of treason and adultery. None of these accusations were proven, Severus continued to favour his wife and insisted on her company in the campaign against the Britons that started in 208. When Severus died, in 211 in York, Julia became the mediator between their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who were to rule as joint emperors, according to their father's wishes expressed in his will. But the two young men were never fond of each other and quarrelled frequently. Geta was murdered by Caracalla's soldiers in the same year.

Caracalla was now sole emperor, but his relations with his mother were difficult, as attested by several sources, probably due to his involvement in Geta's murder. Nevertheless, Julia accompanied Caracalla in his campaign against the Parthian empire in 217. During this trip, Caracalla was assassinated and succeeded (briefly) by Macrinus. On hearing about the rebellion, Julia chose to commit suicide. Her body was brought to Rome and placed in the Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris (perhaps a separate chamber in the Mausoleum of Augustus). Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were transferred by her sister Julia Maesa to the Mausoleum of Hadrian.^[2] She was later deified.

Apollonius[link]

If not for Julia, we would have very little information today about the legendary Apollonius of Tyana. It was at the behest of Julia that Philostratus wrote his now famous Life of Apollonius, which comes to us in full form almost two thousand years later.^[3] Julia took her own life before Philostratus could finish his work of eight volumes.^[4]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Julia Domna

• Severan dynasty family tree
• Women in Rome

References[link]

Roman imperial dynasties
Severan dynasty
Julia Maesa on a coin from Sidon. On the reverse, Astarte.
Chronology
Septimius Severus		193 – 198
-with Caracalla		198 – 209
-with Caracalla and Geta		209 – 211
Caracalla and Geta		211 – 211
Caracalla		211 – 217
Interlude: Macrinus		217 – 218
Elagabalus		218 – 222
Alexander Severus		222 – 235
Dynasty
Severan dynasty family tree Category:Severan dynasty
Succession
Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors		Followed by Crisis of the Third Century

Julia Maesa (ca. 7 May 165 –ca. 3 August 224) was a Roman citizen^[1] and daughter of Julius Bassianus, priest of the sun god Heliogabalus, the patron god of Emesa (modern Homs) in the Roman province of Syria. Grandmother of both the Roman emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus, she figured prominently in the ascension of each to the title at the age of fourteen.

Saved Severan rule[link]

Like her younger sister Julia Domna, she was among the most important women to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman empire. Following the death of Caracalla, Julia Maesa rescued the Severan Dynasty from the usurper Macrinus.^[2]

Julia Maesa was married to Syrian noble Julius Avitus and had two daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia Avita Mamaea each one mother of an emperor. Following the accession to the throne of her brother in law Septimius Severus, Julia Maesa moved to Rome to live with her sister. After the murder of her nephew, the emperor Caracalla, and the suicide of Julia Domna, she was compelled to return to Syria. But the new emperor Macrinus did not proscribe her and allowed her to keep her money.

Once back in Syria and possessed of ample funds, Maesa engaged in a plot to overthrow Macrinus and place one of her grandsons, Elagabalus son of Julia Soaemias, in his place. In order to legitimise this pretension, mother and daughter fomented the rumor that the 14 year old boy was Caracalla's illegitimate son. The two Julias were successful, mainly because Macrinus was of an obscure origin without the proper political connections, and Elagabalus became emperor.

Chose Alexander Severus[link]

For her loyalty and support, Elagabalus honored Julia Maesa with the title Augusta avia Augusti (Augusta, grandmother of Augustus). The teenager proved to be a disaster as emperor, scorning Roman values with both religious and sexual scandals. He took the liberty of marrying a Vestal virgin. She was one of a rumored five wives during his brief four years reign), Julia Maesa decided to promote instead her fourteen year-old grandson Alexander Severus.

She convinced Elagabalus to adopt Alexander as his heir. Elagabulus was murdered shortly afterwards by the Praetorian Guard alongside his mother. Both were thrown into the Tiber river in contempt after being dragged from the palace through the streets. This event followed a rumor that Alexander had died.

Death and reverence[link]

Julia Maesa died on an uncertain date around 226. Like her sister Domna before her, she was deified.

See also[link]

• Women in Rome
• Severan dynasty family tree

References[link]

1. ^ Shahid, Irfan (1984). Rome and The Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs
2. ^ I, Claudia 2,Volume 2, Diana E.E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson, University of Texas Press, 2000, pg. 23

External links[link]

• Livius.org: Julia Maesa

Media related to Julia Maesa at Wikimedia Commons

Alexander Severus
26th Emperor of the Roman Empire
Bust of Severus Alexander
Reign	11 March 222 – 18/19 March 235
Full name	Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus (from birth to adoption); Caesar Marcus Aurelius Alexander (from adoption to accession); Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus (as emperor)
Born	(208-10-01)1 October 208
Birthplace	Arca Caesarea, Syria Phoenicia Province (modern Akkar, Lebanon)
Died	18 or 19 March 235 (aged 26)
Place of death	Moguntiacum, Germania Superior
Predecessor	Elagabalus
Successor	Maximinus Thrax
Consort to	Sallustia Orbiana Sulpicia Memmia
Royal House	Severan
Father	Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus
Mother	Julia Mamaea

Roman imperial dynasties
Severan dynasty
The Severan Tondo
Chronology
Septimius Severus		193 – 198
-with Caracalla		198 – 209
-with Caracalla and Geta		209 – 211
Caracalla and Geta		211 – 211
Caracalla		211 – 217
Interlude: Macrinus		217 – 218
Elagabalus		218 – 222
Alexander Severus		222 – 235
Dynasty
Severan dynasty family tree Category:Severan dynasty
Succession
Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors		Followed by Crisis of the Third Century

Severus Alexander (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus;^[1] 1 October 208 – 18 or 19 March 235) was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty years of civil wars, foreign invasion, and collapse of the monetary economy.

Alexander was the heir apparent to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered along with his mother by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river.^[2] He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and powerful Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Elagabalus' acclamation as emperor by the famed Third Gallic Legion. It was the rumor of Alexander's death that triggered the assassination of Elagabalus and his mother .^[3]

As emperor, Alexander's peace time reign was prosperous. In military conflict against the rising Sassanid Empire, there are mixed accounts, though the Sassanid threat was checked; however, when campaigning against Germanic tribes of Germania, Alexander apparently alienated his legions by engaging in diplomacy and bribery, and they assassinated him.

Early Reign[link]

Alexander was born at Arca Caesarea^[4] on 1 October, 208, with the name Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus.^[5] Alexander's father, Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus was a Syrian Promagistrate.^[6] His mother Julia Avita Mamaea was the second daughter of Julia Maesa and Syrian noble Julius Avitus and maternal aunt of Emperor Elagabalus.^[7] He had an elder sister called Theoclia and little is known about her. Alexander's maternal great-aunt was empress Julia Domna (also Maesa's younger sister) and his great-uncle in marriage was emperor Lucius Septimius Severus. Emperors Caracalla and Publius Septimius Geta, were his mother's maternal cousins.^[8] In 221, Alexander's grandmother, Maesa, persuaded the Emperor to adopt his cousin as successor and make him Caesar and Bassianus changed his name to Alexander.^[9] In the following year, on 11 March, Elagabalus was murdered, and Alexander was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorians and accepted by the Senate.^[10]

When Alexander became emperor, he was young, amiable, well-meaning, and entirely under the dominion of his mother.^[11] Julia Mamaea was a woman of many virtues, and she surrounded the young emperor with wise counsellors,^[12] under the administration of the jurist and praetorian praefect Ulpian.^[13] She watched over the development of her son's character and improved the tone of the administration.^[14] On the other hand, she was inordinately jealous.^[15] She arranged for Alexander to marry Sallustia Orbiana, the daughter of a noble Patrician family, but grew so jealous of Sallustia’s influence over her son that she had her banished from court.^[16] She also alienated the army by extreme parsimony,^[17] and neither she nor her son were strong enough to impose military discipline.^[8]

Mutinies became frequent in all parts of the Empire; in Rome, the Praetorian Guard became infuriated by the actions of the praetorian praefect Ulpian.^[18] A three day riot broke out in Rome between the people and the Praetorians, and it only ended with the death of Ulpian, who was hunted down and killed at the feet of the Emperor.^[16] Another mutiny forced the retirement of Cassius Dio from his command.^[19] In the provinces of the Empire, in Illyricum, in Mauritania, in Armenia, in Mesopotamia and in Germania, fresh mutinies perpetually broke out, as his officers were murdered and his authority was disregarded.^[16]

Alexander’s reign contained some of the last major building works constructed in Rome before the reign of Diocletian. He built the last aqueduct of ancient Rome, the 22 km long Aqua Alexandrina to supply his enlargement of the Thermae of Nero which have been renamed after the emperor (Thermae Alexandrinae).^[20]

Persian and German wars[link]

On the whole, however, the reign of Alexander was prosperous until the rise, in the east, of the Sassanids.^[12] Of the war that followed there are various accounts. According to Herodian, the Roman armies suffered a number of humiliating setbacks and defeats,^[21] while according to the Historia Augusta^[22] as well as Alexander's own dispatch to the Roman Senate, he gained great victories.^[23] Making Antioch his base, he marched at the head of his troops towards Ctesiphon,^[12] but a second army was destroyed by the Persians,^[24] and further losses were incurred by the retreating Romans in Armenia.^[25] Nevertheless, although the Sassanids were checked for the time,^[23] the conduct of the Roman army showed an extraordinary lack of discipline.^[17] In 232 there was a mutiny in the Syrian legion, who proclaimed Taurinus emperor.^[26] Alexander managed to suppress the uprising, and Taurinus drowned while attempting to flee across the Euphrates.^[27] The emperor returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph in 233.^[23]

The following year he was called to face German invaders in Gaul, who had breached the Rhine frontier in several places, destroying forts and over-running the countryside.^[28] Alexander mustered his forces, bringing legions from the eastern provinces, and crossed the Rhine into Germany on a pontoon bridge.^[29] Initially on the advice of his mother, he attempted to buy the German tribes off, so as to gain time.^[17] Whether this was a wise policy or not, it caused the Roman legionaries to look down on their emperor as one who was prepared to commit unsoldierly conduct.^[30] Herodian says "in their opinion Alexander showed no honourable intention to pursue the war and preferred a life of ease, when he should have marched out to punish the Germans for their previous insolence".^[31] These circumstances drove the army to look for a new leader. They chose Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus, a Thracian soldier who had worked his way up through the ranks.^[32]

Following the nomination of Maximinus as emperor, Alexander was assassinated (on either 18 or 19 March 235), together with his mother, in a mutiny of the Legio XXII Primigenia at Moguntiacum.^[32] These assassinations secured the throne for Maximinus^[8]

The death of Alexander is considered as the end of the Principate system established by Augustus.^[17] Although the Principate continued in theory until the reign of Diocletian, Severus Alexander's death signalled the beginning of the chaotic period known as the Crisis of the Third Century which brought the empire to near collapse.^[17]

Legacy[link]

Alexander was the last of the Syrian emperors. Under the influence of his mother, he did much to improve the morals and condition of the people, and to enhance the dignity of the state.^[8] His advisers were men like the famous jurist Ulpian, the historian Cassius Dio and a select board of sixteen senators;^[18] a municipal council of fourteen assisted the urban prefect in administering the affairs of the fourteen districts of Rome.^[33] Excessive luxury and extravagance at the imperial court were diminished.^[34] Upon his accession he reduced the silver purity of the denarius from 46.5% to 43% — the actual silver weight dropping from 1.41 grams to 1.30 grams; however, in 229 he revalued the denarius, increasing the silver purity and weight to 45% and 1.46 grams respectively. The following year he decreased the amount of base metal in the denarius while adding more silver – raising the silver purity and weight again to 50.5% and 1.50 grams.^[35] Also during his reign taxes were lightened; literature, art and science were encouraged; the lot of the soldiers was improved;^[36] and, for the convenience of the people, loan offices were instituted for lending money at a moderate rate of interest.^[37]

In religious matters Alexander preserved an open mind. It is said that he was desirous of erecting a temple to Jesus, but was dissuaded by the pagan priests.^[38] He allowed a synagogue to be built in Rome, and he gave as a gift to this synagogue a scroll of the Torah known as the Severus Scroll.^[39]

Marriage[link]

Alexander was married three times. His most famous wife was Sallustia Orbiana, Augusta, whom he married in 225.^[8] He divorced and exiled her in 227, after her father, Seius Sallustius, was executed after being accused of attempting to assassinate the emperor.^[27] Another wife was Sulpicia Memmia. Her father was a man of consular rank; her grandfather's name was Catulus.^[40]

See also[link]

• Severan dynasty family tree

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Alexander Severus

Media related to Severus Alexander at Wikimedia Commons

•  "Alexander Severus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Alexander a site devoted to this emperor
• Severus Alexander on NumisWiki
• Coins of Severus Alexander

Sources[link]

Primary Sources[link]

• Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 80
• Herodian, Roman History, Book 6
• Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander
• Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus
• Joannes Zonaras, Compendium of History extract: Zonaras: Alexander Severus to Diocletian: 222–284
• Zosimus, Historia Nova

Secondary Sources[link]

• Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001
• Benario, Herbert W., Alexander Severus (A.D. 222–235), De Imperatoribus Romanis (2001)
• Canduci, Alexander (2010), Triumph & Tragedy: The Rise and Fall of Rome's Immortal Emperors, Pier 9, ISBN 978-1-74196-598-8 
• Gibbon. Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.