Severus Alexander
Severus Alexander (Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander),Roman emperor AD 222–35. Son of Julia Avita Mamaea by her second husband, the procurator Gessius Marcianus of Arca Caesarea in Syria, b. c. AD 209, his names were Gessius Alexianus Bassianus until his adoption in 221 by his cousin Elagabalus, when he became Marcus Aurelius Alexander Caesar. Made emperor on Elagabalus' murder in March 222, he took the further name Severus and was called ‘son of the deified Antoninus’ (Caracalla). His mother, under whose influence he remained throughout his reign, set out to recreate a ‘senatorial regime’, with a council of sixteen. Elderly senators such as Marius Maximus and Cassius Dio were prominent. The jurist Ulpian became praetorian prefect but, at latest in early 224, was killed by the guard; Dio was obliged to hold his second consulship (229) outside Rome to avoid the same fate and expressed concern...
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