Severus Alexander - Roman Emperor: 222-235 A.D. -
Silver Denarius 19mm (2.9 grams) Rome mint: 230 A.D.
Reference: RIC 221, C 580
IMPSEVALEXANDAVG - Laureate head right.
VIRTVSAVG - Roma seated left, holding branch and scepter.
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In
Roman mythology, Virtus was the deity of bravery and military
strength, the personification of the Roman virtue of
virtus. He/she was one of the
di
indigetes. The
Greek equivalent deity was
Arete.
He/she was identified with the Roman god
Honos
(personification of honour), and was often honoured together with him. As
reported in
Valerius Maximus[1],
this joint cult led to plans in
210 BC by
Marcus Claudius Marcellus to erect a joint temple for them both.[2]
This led to objections from the
pontifical college that, if a miracle should occur in such a temple, the
priests would not know to which of the two gods to offer the sacrifice in thanks
for it. Marcellus therefore erected a temple for Virtus alone which was the only
way in to a separate temple of Honos, financing them both with the loot from his
sacking of
Syracuse and defeats of the Gauls. This temple was at the
porta
Capena, and later renovated by
Vespasian.
This deity was represented in a variety of ways - for example, on the coins
of Tetricus,
it can appear as a matron, an old man, or a young man, with a
javelin or
only clothed in a cape.
Marcus
Aurelius Severus Alexander (October 1, 208–March 18, 235 AD), commonly
called Alexander Severus, was the last
Roman emperor (11 March 222–235) of the
Severan dynasty. Alexander Severus succeeded his cousin,
Elagabalus
upon the latter's assassination in 222 AD, and was ultimately assassinated
himself, marking the
epoch event for the
Crisis of the Third Century—nearly fifty years of disorder, Roman civil
wars, economic chaos, regional rebellions, and external threats that brought the
Empire to near-collapse.
Alexander Severus was the
heir
apparent to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered
along with his mother by his own guards—and as a mark of contempt, had their
remains cast into the
Tiber river. He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and
powerful
Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Elagabalus' acclamation as Emperor by the
famed
Third Gallic Legion.
A rumor of Alexander's death circulated, triggering the assassination of
Elagabalus.
Alexander's reign was marked by troubles. In military conflict against the
rising
Sassanid Empire, there are mixed accounts, though the Sassanid threat was
checked. However, when campaigning against
Germanic tribes of
Germania,
Alexander Severus apparently alienated his legions by trying diplomacy and
bribery, and they assassinated him.
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