Hello and welcome to the history of Rome, episode 105, The Last Princess.

The reign of Alexander Severus was the calm before the storm.

The clouds had begun to gather with the death of Marcus Aurelius and they had only grown

darker and more ominous as the empire endured first commonest than a succession of imperial

assassinations, then a three-way civil war, then a humorless military dictatorship run

by Septimius Severus, and then finally the cruel debauchery of his heirs.

When Elegabolus was killed by the Praetorian Guard in 222, it seemed like the lightning

and the thunder and the rain was about to start.

But then a curious thing happened.

The dark clouds just sort of hung there in suspended animation.

No thunder, no lightning, no rain, not yet anyway.

For thirteen years the Roman Empire was granted a state of execution, the provinces flourished,

the rule of law prevailed, and the burdens of life were eased.

But in the end it was just a state of execution, not a full pardon, and when Alexander Severus

was assassinated in 235, the thunder and the lightning and the rain finally arrived.

When discussing the very worst emperors in Roman history, it is common to point out that

the most striking similarity between Caligula and Nero and Comedis and Caracalla and Elegabolus

was how young they all were.

The old man of that group is Caligula who was all of 25 when he came to power.

In fact, when you go back through the roles there are basically no examples of a Roman

leader under the age of 30 being anything but a train wreck.

The exception that proves the role was of course Skibio Afro-Connist and he appears to

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