Roman Provincial : MOESIA INFERIOR. Marcianopolis. Severus Alexander (AD 222-235). AE (25mm, 9.92 gm, 11h). NGC XF 5/5 - 2/5, scratches....

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MOESIA INFERIOR. Marcianopolis. Severus Alexander (AD 222-235). AE (25mm, 9.92 gm, 11h). NGC XF 5/5 - 2/5, scratches. AV K M AYΡ CEVH-AΛEZANΔΡOC, laureate head of Severus Alexander right, seen from behind / YΠ IOYΛI ΓET-MAPKIANOΠO (stamp tear through I and Γ), Homonoia or Concordia standing facing, head left, sacrificing over lit altar at feet to left from patera in outstretched right hand, cornucopia cradled in left arm; ΛITΩ below. AMNG I/I 993. Its eye-catching golden patina highlights the uniqueness of this type.

From the Merrill A. Gibson Collection of Ancient Coins.

The reign of Severus Alexander presents the last relatively tranquil interlude before the mid-third century storm swept away the Pax Romana. He was born Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus, in AD 208, into a clan of Syrian nobility from the caravan city of Emesa. His maternal grand-aunt, Julia Domna, was married to the Emperor Septimius Severus, making him part of an Imperial family that was largely dominated by a clique of strong-minded and clever women, all named Julia. His grandmother, Julia Maesa, engineered the Severan dynasty's return to power in AD 218, by fomenting the military coup that placed Alexander's cousin Varius Avitus, known to history as Elagabalus, on the throne. Once ensconced in Rome, however, Elagabalus' behavior grew ever more erratic and outrageous. In AD 222, fearing for the dynasty's future, Maesa engineered the murder of Elagabalus and his replacement by her other, more docile grandson, Alexander. Handsome and affable, the youth was really never more than a figurehead ruler, first for Maesa and then, after her death in AD 225/6, for his mother Julia Mamaea.

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