in
the provinces, and wherever he came he indulged himself in endless
murders, confiscations, and acts of violence. "He was," says Gibbon,
"the common enemy of mankind." He directed a general massacre of the
people of Alexandria, who had lampooned him, and viewed the scene from
a secure post in the Temple of Serapis. To retain the affections of his
army, he lavished upon them immense sums, the plunder of his empire; and
he was at length assassinated, March 8, A.D. 217, at the instigation of
Macrinus, one of the Praetorian Praefects, who had discovered that the
tyrant had planned his own death.

Macrinus, Praefect of the Praetorian Guard, was elected emperor March 11,
A.D. 217, and the Senate and the provinces submitted without a murmur.
But the new emperor was disliked by the nobles on account of his humble
origin, and soon offended his army by endeavoring to reform their
discipline. The Empress Julia now withdrew by a voluntary death from the
sorrow which surrounded her, and the family of Severus became extinct. A
rebellion broke out in the Syrian army, who proclaimed Bassianus, the
grandson of Julia Maesa, sister of the late empress, and who assumed the
name of Antoninus. He pretended that he was the natural son of
Caracalla. A battle took place, in which Macrinus was defeated, and soon
after put to death; and Elagabalus, for that is the name under which
this monster is commonly known, ascended the throne.

He at once plunged into every vice. The sun was worshiped at Emessa
under the name of Elagabalus, from whence the new emperor derived his
surname, having been a priest in the temple; and he now introduced the
lascivious rites of the Syrian deity into the capital of the world. A
magnificent temple of the god Elagabalus was raised on the Palatine
Mount, and the grave and dignified nobles of Rome were forced to take
part in the ceremonies, clothed in long Phoenician tunics.

It would be impossible to describe the vices of this wretched being, who
seems to have sunk to the very extreme of depravity. His cousin,
however, Alexander Severus, as if to show that human nature had not
wholly declined, was amiable, virtuous, and learned. Elagabalus was
murdered by the Praetorians March 10, A.D. 222, and Alexander placed upon
the throne.

Alexander Severus seems to have inclined toward the Christian faith,
which was now very widely extended throughout the empire. He revoked all
former edicts against the Christians, and orde