Roman Imperial: Severus Alexander, as Augustus (AD 222-235). AR denarius (18mm, 11h). NGC AU....

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Severus Alexander, as Augustus (AD 222-235). AR denarius (18mm, 11h). NGC AU. Antioch. IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped bust of Severus Alexander right / VICTOR-I-A-AVG, Victory running right, wreath in outstretched right hand, palm over shoulder in left; star in right field. RIC IV.II 215.

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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