Macrinus, in full Caesar Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus, original name Marcus Opellius Macrinus (born c.164, Caesarea, Mauretania [now Cherchell, Algeria]—diedJune 218, in Bithynia [now in Tur.]) Roman emperor in 217 and 218, the first man to rule the empire without having achieved senatorial status.
His skills as a lawyer helped him to rise rapidly in an equestrian career (a step below the senatorial career in status) until he became a praetorian prefect under the emperor Caracalla (reigned 211–217). Macrinus is alleged to have prompted the murder of Caracalla by an army officer in April 217, while the emperor was fighting the Parthians in what is now Iran. Three days after the assassination Macrinus was proclaimed emperor (augustus) by his army. He fought an inconclusive battle with the Parthians and then agreed to a peace that was unfavourable to Rome. The treaty was followed by pay cuts for the soldiers and by the decision to keep legions summoned from Europe for the Parthian war in Syria. At the same time, Julia Maesa spread the rumour that her grandson Bassianus (Elagabalus) was Caracalla’s natural son. The Gallic Third Legion, disgruntled at Macrinus’s policies, declared Elagabalus emperor in 218. With his remaining forces Macrinus fled toward Italy. He was overtaken, defeated in a battle near Antioch (modern Antakya, Tur.), and subsequently captured and executed.
It is a story that has been told countless times before - an emperor is assassinated leaving no heir or successor. On April 8, 217 CE Roman Emperor Caracalla was murdered, supposedly on the orders of the man who would eventually become his successor, Macrinus. This new emperor, during his 14-month reign, would have two major distinctions - he would never step foot in Rome as emperor, and he would be the first never to have served in the Senate.
EARLY LIFE OF MACRINUS
Marcus Opellius Macrinus was born at Caesarea in Mauretania (a province along the northern coast of Africa) in 164 CE (no exact date is known), supposedly of the equestrian class - a class that had at one time provided horses for Rome’s army. Historian Cassius Dio wrote,
Macrinus was a Moor by birth, from Caesarea, and the son of most obscure parents, so that he was very appropriately likened to the ass that was led up to the palace by the spirit; in particular, one of his ears had been bored in accordance with the custom followed by most of the Moors. Bur his integrity threw even this drawback into the shade.
Luckily for Macrinus, he would rise above his low class birth and receive training as a lawyer. In his Roman History Cassius Dio added, “As for his attitude toward law and precedent, his knowledge of them was not so accurate as his observance of them was faithful.” This latter comment gave indication of the future emperor’s actions.
MACRINUS & EMPEROR CARACALLA
Little else is known of Macrinus until the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (193 – 211 CE). Plautianus, the commander of the Praetorian Guard, named him as a steward. Later, in 212 CE under Emperor Caracalla, he would rise to become the Praetorian Guard commander himself. This position afforded him the opportunity to serve under Emperor Caracalla as second in command against the Parthians in the east. However, the sometimes moody and unpredictable emperor began to fear the ambitious Macrinus, having heard rumors that a soothsayer predicted that the commander would soon become the emperor. Realizing that his time as emperor was threatened, Caracalla allegedly ordered the execution of Macrinus. It was then that the commander decided he must either kill the emperor or be killed himself.
THROUGHOUT HIS ONE-YEAR REIGN, MACRINUS CONTINUALLY BATTLED THE MILITARY, ESPECIALLY AFTER HE HAD RETRACTED MANY OF THE BENEFITS AWARDED BY CARACALLA.
When the often disliked emperor travelled to visit the temple of the moon goddess Luna near Carrhae, Macrinus seized the opportunity. On April 8, 218 CE as Caracalla stopped along the roadside to relieve himself, one of his bodyguards came up behind him with sword in hand and stabbed the unsuspecting emperor. Macrinus returned to camp with the body of Caracalla, claiming he had already killed the emperor’s murderer. Caracalla’s ashes were sent to Rome and interred in the Mausoleum ofHadrian. According to the Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire, the Senate was elated:
…the cheering Senate voted Macrinus all the imperial honors, the fact is, however, that they rejoiced not so much at Macrinus’ succession as at their own deliverance from Caracalla. Every man…felt that he had escaped a sword suspended over his head.
MACRINUS AS EMPEROR
Immediately after assuming the throne - it would take three days before being proclaimed emperor -Macrinus went on a purge, replacing many of the provincial governors as well as executing anyone who appeared to threaten his claim to imperial power. However, during this purge, the new emperor angered many of those in the army who had been loyal to Caracalla. His actions also infuriated Septimius Severus’s second wife and Caracalla’s mother, Julia Domna, who had wished to maintain some influence on the throne. Sensing that she could be a threat to his authority, Macrinus ordered her to leave Antioch. She refused. Instead of acquiescing to the emperor’s orders, and while suffering the effects of breast cancer, she starved herself to death. Her sister Julia Maesa and two nieces, Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea, vowed to carry on her fight.
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