Battle of Antioch (218)

Battle of Antioch
A 20th Century Map of Roman Syria with the ancient sites of Antioch, Emesa, and Zeugma shown, among others
Date 8 June 218 Location near Antioch, Syria (now Turkey) Result Elagabalus victory
Belligerents
Macrinus	Elagabalus
Commanders and leaders
Macrinus	Gannys
Strength
elements of Praetorian Guard	Legio III Gallica Legio II Parthica Other rebels

The Battle of Antioch (June, 8 218) took place between the two Roman armies of the Emperor Macrinus and his contender Elagabalus, whose troops were commanded by General Gannys. The battle itself is not so notable for the actual fighting that took place there, even the ancient scholars, Dio and Herodian, only briefly consider the events of the battle. Rather the importance of the event is in the precursors, beginning sometime during the reign of Caracalla and ending with the end of Elagabalus' reign. This tumultuous period is marked by the death of Caracalla, rise of Macrinus and subsequent revolts by the Roman armies which would climax at Antioch and resulted in Elagabalus being instated as Emperor of Rome by the army, much to the dismay of the Senate. After a period of little improvement, Elagabalus would himself be plotted against before being dispatched after a short reign of only four years. The end of this period led to a time of short term stability.

Background

Death of Caracalla and Rise of Macrinus

Roman denarius depicting Macrinus and his son, Diadumenianus

Macrinus' predecessor Caracalla was murdered by Justin Martialus while traveling to visit a temple, during a period of war with the Parthians.^[1] It is believed that Macrinus, a Praetorian prefect at the time, was involved in the assassination.^[2] The reason for Macrinus to plot against Caracalla may have been because of fear for his life.^[3][4] However, an alternate explanation is also provided alongside this; Macrinus would commonly read dispatches sent to Caracalla for him, on one such occasion a dispatch was delivered from Materianus, a friend of Caracalla, detailing a prophecy, that may possibly have been fabricated, that Caracalla was being plotted against by Macrinus and that Macrinus would be destined to become the next emperor.^[5] Dio believes that this letter may have caused Macrinus to believe that it was his fate to become the next emperor of Rome and that this was the reason for Macrinus to plot again Caracalla.^[6]

In the immediate aftermath of Caracalla's death, Adventus was first selected to serve as emperor, however, he declined the position due to his old age.^[7] The army then set their eyes on Macrinus, hailing him Augustus, on his approach. Thus Macrinus was proclaimed emperor three days after the death of Caracalla.^[8] As the newly crowned emperor, Macrinus would have to deal with the major threat of the Parthians, with whom Rome was currently at war. An indecisive battle at Nisibis fought between Macrinus and the Parthians is cited as being a reason for peace negotiations.^[9] Peace negotiations may have been favourable for both sides, Rome being threatened by Armenia and Dacia and the Parthians being far from home and low on supplies.^[10] The settlement however was viewed by many people as being unfavourable to Rome, Dio quotes that a payout of 200 million Sesterces was paid to the Parthians in exchange for peace.^[11] The merits of this sum have been called into question however due to the sheer enormity of the price tag and because Dio is not known for being unreliable when discussing finances.^[12] Regardless, the general opinion on the negotiations was one of contempt, with Macrinus being accused of being cowardly and weak.^[11][13]

The final straw was drawn when Macrinus took measures to reduce the expenditures of Rome, he reinstated the fiscal policies of Severus, including a reduction in pay and benefits for Legionnaires. These policies would only apply to new recruits, despite this, the soldiers were only further aggravated by this thus allowing Macrinus' opposition to take advantage of the situation.^[14]

Rise of Elagabalus

An ancient Roman denarius depicting Elagabalus

Following the death of Caracalla, Macrinus allowed Caracalla's mother, Julia Domna, and his aunt Julia Maesa, to settle in their home town of Emesa. Julia Domna who was at Antioch at the time of Caracalla's death attempted suicide, eventually succeeding by starving herself.^[15] Julia Maesa however returned to Emesa with her finances intact, her suspicions regarding Macrinus' involvement in the death of Caracalla led to her championing the case of her grandson, Elagabalus, as son of Caracalla and heir to the Empire of Rome.^[16] At the time Elagabalus was the chief priest of the Phoenician god Elagabal in Emesa, and may have been observed performing ritual rites by soldiers stationed there.^[17] Simultaneously, Julia Maesa may have seen the opportunity to use her family's wealth and prestige to set in motion her plot.^[16] Thus on the night of 15 May 218, Elagabalus was taken, by either Julia Maesa^[18] or Gannys,^[19] to the camp of the Legio III Gallica at Raphanaea and presented to the soldiers stationed there.^[20] Some accounts claim that upon being presented to them, that Elagabalus was immediately hailed Antoninus, after Caracalla.^[21] Enhanced by the monetary contributions of Julia Maesa.^[22] In return the legion proclaimed Elagabalus emperor on 16 May 218.^[23]

Rebellion

Now that Elagabalus had the support of an entire legion, other legionnaires moved to join Elagabalus' ranks prompted by discontent over pay. In response, Macrinus sent a cavalry force led by Ulpinus Julianus to regain control of the rebels, however the cavalry killed Ulpinus and joined Elagabalus.^[24] Following these events Macrinus traveled to Apamea to ensure the loyalty of Legio II Parthica before setting off to march against Emesa.^[22] In an attempt to achieve this, Macrinus appointed his son Diadumenian Imperator and promised the soldiers 20,000 Sesterces each, with 4,000 of these to be paid on the spot.^[25] Further, Macrinus held a dinner for the residents of Apamea in honor of Diadumenian.^[25] At the dinner, Macrinus was presented with the head of Ulpinus Julianus who had been killed by his defecting soldiers.^[26] This forced Macrinus to leave, either in retreat^[27] or attack.^[22]

Macrinus' and Elagabalus' troops met somewhere near the border of Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice, his efforts here however were in vain and the whole legion defected to the challenger and desertions and mutinies made his situation so bad that he had to retire to Antioch.^[22] These events allowed Elagabus to take the offensive and march onward to Antioch.^[22]

Senatorial Response

During and after Caracalla's reign the position of the Senate had been considerably weakened. The shift of power had been transferred from the Senate to the army, as such the emperor of Rome was decided by the soldier while the Senate existed solely to officiate the affairs without any real authority.^[28] Thus both Macrinus and later Elagabalus would attempt to secure the favour of the military while relatively disregarding the opinion of the Senate. Macrinus now in dire circumstances would have no choice but to turn to the Senate. Thus, while at Antioch, Macrinus would make one more attempt at securing support, this time from Rome. However a combination of distrust from the Senate, the impeding approach of Elagabalus's legions and insufficient funds meant that Macrinus would have to face the approaching Elagabalus with only his praetorian guard. Had time been available Marius Maximus, prefect of Rome, would have been able to muster troops and send reinforcements to Macrinus.^[29] Despite all of this, the Senate would still declare war against the usurper and his family, regardless of their relative powerlessness.^[30]

Battle

The battle took place on 8 June 218 at a defile outside of a village, believed to be Immae, approximately twenty-four miles or so by road between Antioch and Boroea.^[22] Herodian challenges this assertion, suggesting that the battle took place closer to the border at Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice, possibly near Emesa.^[31] This conclusion is likely erroneous, caused by confusion due to a previous battle that is believed to have taken place at the border.

The armies of Elagabalus, led by Gannys, a novice but determined commander,^[32] met against the Praetorian Guard of Macrinus in a narrowly-fought pitched battle. Prior to battle Macrinus had the Praetorian Guard set aside their scaled armour breastplates and grooved shields in favour of lighter oval shields, thus making them lighter and more manoeuvrable and also negating the advantage of light Parthian lancers (lanciarii).^[33] Despite the numerical superiority of Gannys' army, at least two full legions, faced with what levies Macrinus was able to accrue, the engagement had begun in Macrinus' favour with the soldiers led by Gannys turning to flee.^[34] At some point during the retreat, Julia Maesa and Soaemias Bassiana (Elagabalus' mother) joined the fray rallying the forces while Gannys, who was on horseback, charged headlong at the enemy thus ending the retreat and renewing the assault.^[35] At this point Macrinus fearing defeat, fled back to the city of Antioch.^[36][37]

Beyond this details regarding the engagement are vague, the primary sources of the time, Dio, Herodian, and Historia Augusta, merely gloss over the battle with little detail beyond that a battle was fought and that due to his cowardliness, Macrinus fled from battle.^[36][38][39]

Aftermath

Having been defeated in battle, Macrinus sent his son, along with attendants, to Artabanus V of Parthia, while he himself returned to Antioch proclaiming victory over Elagabalus in battle.^[40] News of Macrinus' defeat broke out as many civilians in the city and on the roads were slain because they had favoured Macrinus. He, shaving off his beard and hair to disguise himself as a member of the military police, fled the city at night on horseback.^[41] He reached Cilicia along with a few companions, while masquerading as a courier for the military he successfully secured a carriage which he subsequently drove to Eribolon, near Nicomedia, before setting sail for Chalcedon.^[42][43] There, Macrinus was arrested after a request to a Procurator for money revealed his whereabouts.^[44] While being transported "like the commonest criminal" back to Antioch, he was beheaded in Cappadocia, shortly after injuring himself in an escape attempt, by the Centurion Marcianus Taurus.^[45] His body remained unburied until Elagabalus had the chance to inspect it. His son Diadumenian faced a similar fate, after being captured, at Zeugma by the centurion Cladius Pollio.^[46] Dio concludes that the man, Macrinus, might have been praised for his deeds, rather than ridiculed and later slain, had he shown temperance and passed the title of emperor onto somebody else. Further, he, concludes that Macrinus was the master of his own demise which he felt was truly deserved.^[47]

In the interim period between the battle and the capture of Macrinus, Elagabalus declared himself emperor with the support of the military though he would not return to Rome for several months.^[48] This news, upon reaching Rome, was met with dismay by both the Senate and the Roman people though both submitted through necessity.^[48][49] His reputation would not improve during his reign, his worship of Elagabal and the sacrilegious performance of religious rituals would generate anger among the Romans.^[50] In an attempt to prevent disaster, his cousin would be elevated to the position of caesar, co-ruler.^[51] This appeased the Romans for a time, however envy caused further problems culminating in the death of Elagabalus and a period of short term stability for Rome.^[52][53]

Citations

References

• Dio, Cassius. (n.d.) Roman History.
• Downey, Glanville. (1961). History of Antioch in Syria: from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest. Literary Licensing LLC. ISBN 1-258-48665-2
• _______. Historia Augusta.
• of Antioch, Herodian. (n.d.). History of the Roman Empire.
• Scott, Andrew. (2008). Change and Discontinuity Within the Severan Dynasty: The Case of Macrinus. ISBN 0-549-89041-6

External links

• Roman Empire Net article on Macrinus
• Roman Empire Net article on Elagabalus

Coordinates: 36°12′00″N 36°09′00″E / 36.2000°N 36.1500°E / 36.2000; 36.1500