W38:D1- Ancient Rome - Crisis in the Third Century - The Adventure Box Podcast

The Last Days of Severus Alexander A Young Emperor on a Fragile Throne I was never meant to rule an empire. My name was Severus Alexander, born into the Severan Dynasty, thrust into the purple robes of power at just fourteen years old after the assassination of my cousin, Emperor Elagabalus. Rome needed stability. The Senate and the people hoped I would bring it. For a time, I did. Under the guiding hand of my mother, Julia Mamaea, I tried to restore dignity and order. We lowered taxes, promoted education, and encouraged the old Roman values that had long been slipping away. But I was no soldier. I was no conqueror. And in the eyes of the legions, that would be my undoing. The Enemy at the Rhine In the year 235 AD, news reached us that Germanic tribes were once again crossing the Rhine frontier. As emperor, it was my duty to respond. We marched north, and I stood before my army near Mainz. But rather than giving them a war cry, I offered something they could not accept—diplomacy. I believed that peace could be brokered, that money and negotiation could avoid bloodshed. My mother stood by my side, whispering counsel, always the voice behind the throne. The soldiers did not see peace. They saw cowardice. They did not see reason. They saw weakness. The Rise of Maximinus Thrax Among the legions, a towering man had risen—Maximinus Thrax, a Thracian shepherd turned soldier. Hardened, brutal, and fearless, he was everything I was not. The army admired him. They whispered his name in their tents at night. And then, without warning, they acted. My own soldiers, the very ones I had paid and led, turned on me. They broke into my tent, ignoring the imperial banners, the dignity of Rome. They killed my guards, my mother, and then me. There was no trial. No last words. Just blood on the cold ground of Germania. The Empire Unravels With my death, a new age began—one not of glory, but of chaos. Maximinus Thrax was hailed emperor, the first of many soldiers who would seize power by force in the years to come. But his rule was not built on loyalty, only fear. Civil war erupted again and again as generals murdered emperors and declared themselves rulers. The currency collapsed. Plagues spread. Frontiers fell. Cities burned. For fifty years, Rome would know no peace. My assassination had not merely ended a life—it had broken the dam holding back the storm. The Turning Point of Rome And so, history would look back and see 235 AD not simply as the year an emperor died, but as the moment Rome slipped off the edge. The lynchpin was pulled. The machinery of empire shuddered and cracked. The Crisis of the Third Century had begun. And Rome, once eternal, began to tremble. The Barracks Emperors: Rulers Made by the Sword A New Kind of Emperor The third century was not an age of elegant senatorial debate or peaceful succession. It was the age of the Barracks Emperors—men raised to the throne by the army, not by bloodline, Senate approval, or public acclamation. These emperors, usually high-ranking military officers, were often chosen on the battlefield by soldiers who sought strong leadership and immediate rewards. Loyalty was fleeting, legitimacy was thin, and nearly every emperor ruled with one eye on the front lines and the other on the men ready to betray him. In a span of just fifty years, the Roman Empire saw more than two dozen emperors rise and fall, many within months. The Main Barracks Emperors The first and most defining of these emperors was Maximinus Thrax (r. 235–238), a Thracian of humble origins and enormous strength. Elevated by the Rhine legions after the murder of Severus Alexander, Maximinus never even entered Rome and ruled solely through the support of his army. He was eventually assassinated by his own troops during a siege. Gordian I and Gordian II briefly ruled in 238 during a revolt in Africa but were killed within weeks. Their successor, Pupienus and Balbinus, were appointed by the Senate and immediately faced resistance from the Praetorian Guard, who murdered them shortly thereafter. Philip the Arab (r. 244–249) tried to return some stability and even celebrated the 1,000th anniversary of Rome, but he was killed in battle by his successor, Decius (r. 249–251), who became the first emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy. His death opened the gates to the Gothic invasions. Valerian (r. 253–260) was notable for being captured alive by the Sassanid Persians, a humiliation Rome had never suffered before. His son, Gallienus (r. 253–268), co-ruled and then ruled alone, instituting reforms and fending off multiple threats but ultimately fell to an assassin’s blade. One of the most important military emperors was Aurelian (r. 270–275), who earned the title Restitutor Orbis (Restorer of the World) by defeating the breakaway Gallic and Palmyrene Empires and reuniting the empire. Even so, he was murdered by his own officers in a conspiracy fueled by fear and misinformation. ...