Middle Roman Empire, Severan Dynasty, 22*Caracalla, 23*Gela: Alamanni and Goths, Caracalla’s Parthian War [5/5]

Alamanni and Goths (213-214)

At the Danube frontier, Caracalla beat off the attacks of two Germanic tribes, the Alamanni (213) and the Goths (214),that were to become persistent enemies of Rome. The Alamanni were a tribal confederacy that had emerged in the territory formerly inhabited by the Suebi; the Goths were a confederacy that had gathered north and northwest of the Black Sea in a region known to the Romans as Scythia.

Caracalla’s Parthian War (215-217) [5/5]

Caracalla returned to Rome and in preparation for an Eastern campaign he summoned Abgar IX (r.212-214), the king of Osroene, and his son to the capital, murdered them and took direct rule of the enlarged Osroene province for Rome.

Following in the footsteps of Alexander (32; r.336-323 BC), who he much admired, Caracalla crossed the Hellespont, marched through Asia Minor and established his headquarters at Antioch. Leaving the Parthian campaign to his general Theocritus, Caracalla went on to Egypt with the intention of visiting Alexander’s tomb in Alexandria. At first he was well received but when a large number of people began to jeer him he ordered their execution (December 215).

In 208 Artabanus V (r.c.208-224) rebelled against the king of Parthia, his brother Vologases VI (r.208-228), and soon gained the upper hand although Vologases maintained himself in a part of Babylonia until 228. Caracalla, returning to Antioch to find that Theocritus’ campaign had been a disaster, took advantage of the split between the two brothers by proposing a marriage alliance with Artabanus’ daughter. When his offer was rebuffed, Caracalla used it as a pretext to launch an expedition against Parthia the following year.

In 216 he marched across Adiabene and invaded Media. After sacking several fortified palaces he retired to winter quarters at Edessa (=Urfa) in Osroene. On 8 April 217, while returning from paying his devotions at the temple of the Moon god Sin near Carrhae, he was stabbed to death by a soldier named ³⁴Julius Martialis, probably at the instigation of the praetorian prefect ⁰¹Opellius Macrinus, who perhaps feared for his own life. After three days of feigned reluctance, Macrinus allowed the troops to declare him emperor.