A Smaller History of Rome / from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire

by William Smith; Eugene Lawrence

Their discord, however, still continued, and they planned a division of the empire, a measure which was then distasteful to all the Romans, and which was only prevented from taking place by the tears and entreaties of their mother, Julia Domna. Geta, the younger son, who was of a gentle disposition, soon after, in A.D. 212, February 27th, was murdered by the cruel and relentless Caracalla. Twenty thousand of his friends are said to have been put to death at the same time, and his unhappy mother, Julia Domna, was forced to receive her guilty son with feigned smiles and words of approbation. Remorse, however, fastened upon Caracalla, and the shade of Geta haunted him wherever he went. His cruelties now redoubled. He put to death Papinian, the Prætorian Præfect, the splendid ornament of the Roman bar; and his massacres filled every part of the empire with mourning and terror. In A.D. 213 he left the city of Rome, and never returned thither again; the rest of his reign was passed in the provinces, and wherever he came he indulged himself in endless murders, confiscations, and acts of violence. "He was," says Gibbon, "the common enemy of mankind." He directed a general massacre of the people of Alexandria, who had lampooned him, and viewed the scene from a secure post in the Temple of Serapis. To retain the affections of his army, he lavished upon them immense sums, the plunder of his empire; and he was at length assassinated, March 8, A.D. 217, at the instigation of Macrinus, one of the Prætorian Præfects, who had discovered that the tyrant had planned his own death.

Macrinus, Præfect of the Prætorian Guard, was elected emperor March 11, A.D. 217, and the Senate and the provinces submitted without a murmur. But the new emperor was disliked by the nobles on account of his humble origin, and soon offended his army by endeavoring to reform their discipline. The Empress Julia now withdrew by a voluntary death from the sorrow which surrounded her, and the family of Severus became extinct. A rebellion broke out in the Syrian army, who proclaimed Bassianus, the grandson of Julia Mæsa, sister of the late empress, and who assumed the name of Antoninus. He pretended that he was the natural son of Caracalla. A battle took place, in which Macrinus was defeated, and soon after put to death; and Elagabalus, for that is the name under which this monster is commonly known, ascended the throne.

He at once plunged into every vice. The sun was worshiped at Emessa under the name of Elagabalus, from whence the new emperor derived his surname, having been a priest in the temple; and he now introduced the lascivious rites of the Syrian deity into the capital of the world. A magnificent temple of the god Elagabalus was raised on the Palatine Mount, and the grave and dignified nobles of Rome were forced to take part in the ceremonies, clothed in long Phœnician tunics.

It would be impossible to describe the vices of this wretched being, who seems to have sunk to the very extreme of depravity. His cousin, however, Alexander Severus, as if to show that human nature had not wholly declined, was amiable, virtuous, and learned. Elagabalus was murdered by the Prætorians March 10, A.D. 222, and Alexander placed upon the throne.

Alexander Severus seems to have inclined toward the Christian faith, which was now very widely extended throughout the empire. He revoked all former edicts against the Christians, and ordered the words "Do unto others as you would have them do to you" to be inscribed upon his palaces and other buildings. The Persian Empire was now arising in new strength under the house of the Sassanides, and a war having broken out with them, Alexander marched against the Persians, and gained a considerable victory. He returned to Rome in triumph, and entered the city in a chariot drawn by four elephants. Soon after, the Germans having invaded Gaul, he led his army to the defense of the frontier; but, while attempting to reform the discipline of the Gallic legions, he was assassinated by a band of discontented soldiers, and Maximin, a Thracian peasant of great personal strength, who had risen to a high command in the army, was raised to the throne.

Maximin, A.D. 235, began his reign by massacring many of the friends of the late emperor, and even all those who showed any regret for his death. He was a fierce, ignorant barbarian, but was very successful in his wars against the Germans, having ravaged their country, and sent great numbers of them to be sold as slaves in Italy. He also defeated the Dacians and Sarmatians. But his severities produced a revolt in Africa, where the legions proclaimed their proconsul Gordian emperor, then in the eightieth year of his age. The Senate now revolted against Maximin, and ordered all his friends in Rome to be put to death. Maximin now made peace with the barbarians, and marched toward Italy, while, in the mean time, Gordian and his son were defeated and slain in Africa. The Senate immediately elected Papianus and Balbinus emperors, to whom, in order to gratify the people, they joined the younger Gordian, then only twelve years of age. Maximin entered Italy and besieged Aquileia, but his soldiers, weary of the length of the siege, put him to death, A.D. 238. The Goths on the Danube and the Persians in the East now assailed the empire, and at the same time the Prætorian Guards murdered his two associates, leaving Gordian sole emperor of Rome. Gordian was married to the daughter of Misitheus, Præfect of the Prætorians, an excellent minister and commander. Together they marched to the East, and defeated the Persians under their king Sapor, in various engagements. Misitheus now died, and Gordian appointed the Arab Philip his prime minister. Sapor was again defeated; but the Arab conspired against Gordian, his benefactor, who was assassinated in A.D. 244.

Philip, having made peace with the Persians, returned to Rome, where he won the favor of the people by his mild conduct. In his reign the secular games were celebrated, it being reckoned one thousand years since the foundation of the city. Philip ruled with mildness, and was an enemy to persecution. In A.D. 249, however, the Illyrian army revolted, and proclaimed their commander, Trajanus Decius, emperor, who defeated Philip near Verona, and put him to death. His son, who had remained at Rome, was slain by the Prætorian Guards.

In A.D. 250 the Goths invaded the empire. These fierce barbarians came from the north of Europe, and were among the chief instruments of the fall of Rome. Decius, who does not seem to have wanted skill and courage, was finally defeated and slain by them, together with his son. Decius is remembered as one of the most cruel persecutors of the Christians. The innocent victims of his rage were subjected to torture, driven to hide in the wilderness among rocks and forests, and were glad to live among the wild beasts, more humane than man. The Bishop of Rome, Fabian, the bishops of Antioch and Alexandria, and many more eminent in the Church, suffered from the unrelenting severity of this persecutor.