Macrinus biography template

One tells of him being from a poor family and, as a young man, having made his living as a hunter, a courier — even a gladiator at times. The other describes him as a son of an equestrian family who studied law. The latter is perhaps more likely. When he moved to Rome, he gained a reputation as a lawyer. Such was the reputation he achieved that he became the legal adviser to Plautianus, the praetorian prefect of Septimius Severuswho died in AD In AD Caracalla made him praetorian prefect.

In ADMacrinus accompanied his emperor on a campaign against the Parthians, and in ADwhile still campaigning, he received consular rank consular status without office: ornamenta consularia. Macrinus is described as a stern character. As a lawyer, though not a great expert in law, he was conscientious and thorough. As praetorian prefect, he is said to have had good judgment whenever he sought to macrinus biography template.

But in private, he is also reported to have been impossibly strict, frequently flogging his servants for the slightest of mistakes. If only to save his own life from the vengeance of the bloodthirsty emperor, Macrinus needed to act. He quickly found a possible assassin in Julius Martialis. One by the historian Cassius Dio points out that the emperor had refused to promote him to the centurion.

I would assume that the latter of the two versions sounds more credible to most. This meant there was no witness to link Macrinus with the murder. Caracalla, though, had died without a son. There was no obvious heir. But he decided that he was too old to hold such office. He was hailed emperor by the soldiers on 11 April AD Macrinus must have been close to the ruler and it is likely that he accompanied Septimius Severus on his campaign in Scotland.

Until now, Macrinus had pursued the normal, equestrian career for a man who did not belong the senatorial elite, although he had been spectacularly successful. When Septimius Severus died in Februaryhis sons and successors Caracalla and Geta chose the Mauretanian to take care of the finances of the imperial family procurator rei privatae.

He was now one of the most important courtiers and must have known macrinus biography template that happened in the imperial palace, including the details of the bloody murder of Geta by Caracalla in December Almost immediately after this shocking incident, Caracalla appointed Macrinus as praetorian prefect, the highest office that a non-senator could dream of.

It is not known whether this was a reward for a tactical silence, or that Caracalla needed to boost his prestige by promoting a generally respected man to an influential position. After the fall of the powerful Plautianus, there were two praetorian prefects, to prevent new concentrations of power. Plautianus' colleague was the aged Oclatinius Adventus.

Macrinus now commanded the emperor's personal guard, had juridical duties, and was a member of the consilium principis the emperor's advisory board. He must have been among those who backed the Constitutio Antoninianain which full citizen rights were given to all freeborn men in the Roman empire. The praetorian prefect also commanded the Second Legion Parthicawhich was garrisoned in Alba near Rome and was the empire's strategic reserve.

It is likely, but not certain, that Macrinus accompanied Caracalla to the Rhine provinces, where the emperor defeated the Alamanni in September InCaracalla opened the famous baths that are called after him was Macrinus present? The emperor visited the provinces of the Lower DanubeBithynia, Asia, and arrived in Antioch in the summer of The winter was spent in Alexandria in Egypt, and in MayCaracalla launched a campaign against the Parthian Empire.

Macrinus and the Second legion Parthica were certainly present, but it is not known whether the praetorian perfect also accompanied the emperor during his tour.

Macrinus biography template

The Parthian war had been in the air for some time. Two Parthian kings, Vologases VI and Artabanus IVhad opposed each other in a civil war since and the Romans had been watching this conflict with selfish considerations. Caracalla had ordered the annexation of two buffer states, Edessa and Armeniato improve the Roman positions in Mesopotamia before the war was to start.

The Armenians had refused to come to terms, but Edessa had surrendered and was to offer hospitality to the emperor. Caracalla and his advisers preferred diplomacy to create an even better situation: the emperor proposed Artabanus to marry his daughter. In the official propaganda, Caracalla wanted to unite the two civilized empires of the world. Stop Impersonating.

Biography of Macrinus. Web-based Resource. Grade Levels. Course, Subject. History, World Languages. Options Printer Friendly Version Email. Related Academic Standards. For two or three days, Rome remained without an emperor. Despite his equestrian background, Macrinus was accepted by the Senate for two reasons: for the removal of Caracalla, and for having received the loyalty of the army.

Their opinion of him was reduced by his decisions to appoint to high offices men who were of similarly undistinguished background. Macrinus had several issues that he needed to deal with at the time of his accession, which had been left behind by his predecessor. As Caracalla had a tendency towards military belligerence, rather than diplomacy, this left several conflicts for Macrinus to resolve.

Macrinus was at first occupied by the threat of the Parthians, with whom Rome had been at war since the reign of Caracalla. Macrinus settled a macrinus biography template deal with the Parthians after fighting an indecisive battle at Nisibis in Caracalla instead installed a new Roman governor to rule over Armenia. These actions angered the Armenian people and they soon rebelled against Rome.

Macrinus began to overturn Caracalla's fiscal policies and moved closer towards those that had been set forth by Septimius Severus. The soldiers that were already enlisted during Caracalla's reign enjoyed exorbitant payments which were impossible for Macrinus to reduce without risking a potential rebellion. Instead, Macrinus allowed the enlisted soldiers to retain their higher payments, but he reduced the pay of new recruits to the level which had been set by Severus.

By this time, the strength of the military was too great and by enacting his reforms he angered the veteran soldiers, who viewed his actions in reducing the pay of new recruits as a foreshadowing of eventual reductions in their own privileges and pay. This significantly reduced Macrinus' popularity with the legions that had declared him emperor.

Caracalla's mother Julia Domna was initially left in peace when Macrinus became emperor. This changed when Macrinus discovered that she was conspiring against him and had her placed under house arrest in Antioch. By this time Julia Domna was suffering from a presumed advanced stage of breast cancer and she soon died in Antioch after starving herself.

Julia Maesa had retired to her home town of Emesa with an immense fortune, which she had accrued over the course of twenty years. Macrinus realised that his life was in danger but struggled to decide upon a course of action and remained at Antioch. This failure further strengthened Elagabalus' macrinus biography template. Macrinus and his son Diadumenian were declared hostesenemies of the state, by the Senate immediately after news had arrived of their deaths and as part of an official declaration of support for the usurper Elagabalus, who was recognized in the Senate as the new Emperor.

The declaration of hostes led to two actions being taken against the images of the former Emperors. First, their portraits were destroyed and their names were stricken from inscriptions and papyri. The second action, taken by the Roman soldiers who had rebelled against Macrinus in favour of Elagabalus, was to destroy all of the works and possessions of Macrinus.

The damnatio memoriae against Macrinus is among the earliest of such sanctions enacted by the Senate. Many of the marble busts of Macrinus that exist were defaced and mutilated as a response to the damnatio memoriae and many of the coins depicting Macrinus and Diadumenianus were also destroyed. These actions against Macrinus are evidence of his unpopularity in Rome.

In the film Gladiator IIDenzel Washington portrays the character "Macrinus", who is loosely inspired by the historical figure. This historical revisionism erases North African identities to impose a simplistic and incorrect vision of history". Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version.

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