Severus Alexander - Roman Emperor: 222-235 A.D. -
Silver Denarius 17mm (2.4 grams) Rome mint: 227 A.D.
Reference: RIC 64, S 7902, C 312
IMPCMAVRSEVALEXANDAVG - Laureate, draped bust right.
PMTRPVICOSIIPP - Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopia.
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æquitas is the nominative form of the Latin
æquitatem, meaning justice, equality, conformity, symmetry, or fairness, and
is the source of the modern word "equity".[1]
In
Roman mythology, Aequitas, also known as Aecetia, was the
minor goddess of
fair trade and
honest
merchants. Like
Abundantia, she is depicted with a
cornucopia, representing wealth from commerce. She is also shown holding a
balance, representing equity and fairness. During the
Roman Empire, Aequitas was sometimes worshipped as a quality or aspect of
the
emperor, under the name Aequitas
Augusti.
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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