The short reign of Macrinus was spent entirely in the East where he proved unable to maintain the influence gained in the region by the campaigns of Caracalla. He promoted his son, Diadumenian, as Caesar and later, as Augustus, to rule with him but events overtook them both. Macrinus was defeated in battle in June 218 by the forces of Elagabalus, a distant cousin of Caracalla, outside Antioch in Syria. Macrinus and Diadumenian were hunted down and killed by troops loyal to the new emperor.

Elagabalus, (official name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), took the name of the Syrian sun god of Emesa, Heliogabal. Elagabalus was the high priest of this god and he actively promoted his beliefs in Rome after becoming emperor. His mother, Julia Soaemias, was a niece of Septimius Severus and this family link made Elagabalus the ‘last of the Antonines’. Elagabalus was a sex-crazed pervert who repeatedly shocked Roman society with his depraved behaviour. He alienated both the senate and the army by his antics, finally being assassinated by the Praetorian Guard in March 222. Elagabalus and his mother were hacked to pieces and dragged through the streets of Rome, finally being thrown into the Tiber!

The Guards chose Alexander Severus, the 17-year old cousin of Elagabalus, as the next emperor. His mother, Julia Mamaea was a niece of Septimius Severus. Alexander’s mother and grandmother, Julia Maesa, in fact held the reigns of power for the young emperor who was regarded as a puppet-emperor by the army. Described as a ‘good’ man who tried to re-establish the rule of law, Alexander did try to re-introduce a sense of respect for the senate. However, he lived in chaotic times when the frontiers of the Empire were under permanent threat. Alexander had some success against the Germans and Persians. However, just before the launch of a Roman attack across the Rhine in 235, Alexander tried to come to terms with the Germans. The troops were furious and they short-sightedly murdered Alexander and his mother.

The three years from 235 to 238 witnessed no less than six emperors and several usurpers! The army rapidly promoted then destroyed a succession of contenders for the purple. Men such as Maximinus Thrax, Gordian I, Gordian II, Balbinus and Pupienus tried to uphold imperial authority in these chaotic times against a background of increasing anarchy and crisis. James R. Wadman B.A., M.A. [History and Archaeology] for Time Line Originals

Macrinus was born in Caesaria (modern Cherchell, Algeria) in the Roman province of Mauretania to a middle class equestrian family, Macrinus received an education which allowed him to ascend to the Roman political class. Over the years he earned a reputation as a skilled lawyer. Under the emperor Lucius Septimius Severus he became an important bureaucrat. Severus' successor Caracalla appointed him prefect of the Praetorian guard, the highest office which an equestrian could hold. The prefect was second in command to the emperor and responsible for the Praetorian cohorts, nominally the emperor's bodyguard and the only true military force permitted within the city of Rome. While Macrinus likely enjoyed the trust of Caracalla, this may have changed when, according to tradition, he was prophesied to depose and succeed the emperor. Rumors spread regarding Macrinus' alleged desire to take the throne for himself. Given Caracalla's tendency towards murdering political opponents, Macrinus probably feared for his own safety should the emperor become aware of this prophecy. According to Dio, Caracalla had already taken the step of re-assigning members of Macrinus' staff.

Marcus Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus or Diadumenian was the son of Roman Emperor Macrinus, who served his father briefly as Caesar from May, 217 to 218, and as Augustus in 218. Diadumenian had little time to enjoy his position or to learn anything from its opportunities because the legions of Syria revolted and declared Elagabalus ruler of the Roman Empire. When Macrinus was defeated on June 8, 218, at Antioch, Diadumenian followed his father's death. According to the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Diadumenian emulated Macrinus in tyranny. He called upon his father not to spare any who might oppose them or who made plots. His head was cut off and presented to Elagabalus as a trophy.

Elagabalus accession to the throne was the result of a revolt fomented by his grandmother Julia Maesa, sister-in-law of the emperor Septimius Severus and aunt of Caracalla. A successful military campaign and the backing of allies in the Senate assured the teenager's accession to power, and he slowly made his way to Rome. Elagabalus seemed to strive during his short reign to break every social and sexual taboo of Roman society. He refused to wear the traditional woolen garb of the Romans and appeared in barbaric silk dress. He introduced his mother to the Senate and later created a women's senate. Elagabulus himself behaved effeminately; and though he successively married five women, one of whom was a Vestal virgin, he remained childless. Eventually his excesses led to his murder by the Praetorians, who replaced him with his cousin Alexander. He was killed in latrines where he was found hiding, and his body was thrown in the Tiber River.

Julia Paula was the first wife of Elagabalus and daughter of the Praetorian Prefect Julius Paulus. They were married in July or August 219 A.D. and divorced about one year later.

Severus Alexander was a beloved cousin of Elagabalus. As his popularity grew, Elagabalus recognized in him the growing menace of a future rival and sought to oust him. But this only served to infuriate the army which by now had taken the young Caesar under its wings. Rather than let Elagabalus depose Alexander by civil or violent means they instead mutinied and murdered the emperor clearing the way for Alexander's accession. Alexander's mother, Julia Mamaea, was a constant embarrassment and irritation to the prevailing sensibilities of the army, the Senate and the rest of the Roman citizenry. Eventually they were corralled in a mutiny and massacred.

Sister of Julia Domna, and wife of Septimius Severus.

Julia Avita Mamaea was the younger daughter of Julia Maesa. With the rank of Augusta, she wielded enormous power. Julia and her son Alexander were murdered by their own troops after offering peace to the barbarians on the Rhine frontier.

Surely the largest man ever to hold imperial office, the Historia Augusta states him at 8 ft 6 in tall (2.6 metres), and so strong that he could pull an ox cart on his own. Extraordinarily brave and physically overwhelming he was the ideal soldier. Legendary physical prowess had him rise up the military ladder. By AD 232 he might have commanded a legion based in Egypt and played a leading role in the campaign against the Parthians by Alexander Severus. Then, in AD 235, he was on the Rhine in command of a force of recruits from Pannonia. The army revolted, killed Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Mamaea, and proclaimed the giant Maximinus emperor. After much political crisis, the senate, which had clearly supported the Gordians and which was determined to rid itself from the common soldier on the throne now pronounced no fewer than two new emperors, Pupienus and Balbinus, with the young Gordian III as Caesar. On 10 May AD 238 some of the troops, most of all those whose families were in territory held by the enemy(the Praetorians and the Legio II 'Parthica'), rose in revolt and killed Maximinus and his son Maximus. Their heads were severed and carried to Rome by a group of cavalrymen.

Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus born about 165, was jointly Roman Emperor with Pupienus between April and July of 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. He was a patrician from birth, and was the son (either by birth or adoption) of Caelius Calvinus, who was legate of Cappadocia in 184. He had been twice consul; his first consulate is not certainly known but is believed to have been about 203; he was consul for the second time in 213 as colleague of Caracalla, which suggests he enjoyed that emperor's favour. When the Gordians were proclaimed Emperors in Africa, the Senate appointed a committee of twenty men, including Balbinus, to co-ordinate operations against Maximinus Thrax. On the news of the Gordians' defeat, the Senate met in closed session in the Temple of Jupiter and voted Pupienus and Balbinus as co-emperors, though they were soon forced to co-opt the child Gordian III as a colleague.