The New Student's Reference Work/Severus, Alexander

Severus (sē̇-vē′rŭs), Alexander, a Roman emperor, was born about 205 A. D. He was the adopted son of Emperor Heliogabalus, who, in his jealousy of the young man's popularity, vainly tried to kill him. Severus became emperor in 222. His first nine years were peaceful, but in 231 he began a war with the Persians, in which he was successful. In 235 he began a campaign against the Germans on the Rhine, in which he lost his life, not at the hands of the enemy, but at those of his own soldiers.