210-229 Six Roman Emperors!

In this twenty year period there were six Roman Emperors, one of which was the colorful Syrian, Elagabalus (pictured), who was murdered by his aunt.

The period started with the rule of the Roman Emperor Severus, an aristocrac from the Punic city of Lepcis Magna in Africa, who died in York in 211 while restoring military order in the north of England. He was succeeded by his sons Antoninus and Geta; then by the usurpers Macrinas and Elagabalus in 217; and then finally Alexander in 221.

Antoninus had Geta murdered in 212. He preferred the life of the common soldier to one of leisure and likened himself to Alexander the Great. He took up residence in Antioch, Syria, then Alexandria in Egypt (where he sacked the city because of imagined slights and then returned to Syria resolved to conquer the Parthian Empire.

He marched his troops beyond the Tigris, met no enemy, lost prestige among his men and a conspiracy of officers assassinated him in 217

Antoninus left a legacy for the Empire by issuing an edict by which all free inhabitants of the Empire were entitled to become Roman citizens.

Macrinas was a lawyer, he made peace with the Parthians by paying them off, but was executed following the proclamation in Syria that Antoninus had a son by the niece of Severus' Syrian wife.

It was a lie, but the priestly Syrian family of Severus' deceased wife was fabulously wealthy and accordingly influential, and as they had acquired Roman citizenship the boy, Elagabalus became Emperor in 217, arriving in Rome in 219 wearing the colorful robes of his priestly office, building a temple for the god that bears his name, marrying the Chief of the Vestal Virgins to create a divine marriage, naming his cousin as successor, and filling the administration with Syrians.

His cousin, Alexander, was better accepted by the Romans and as such Alexander's mother engineered in 221 the death of Elagabalus and his mother - her sister - and installed her son as emperor with her pulling the strings.

150-169 Parthians, Plague, Germanic Tribes & Rapturists

In this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Antonius (pictured) died in 161, after a 24-year peaceful rule, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius who co-ruled with his adoptive brother Lucius Verus.

In 165, the King of Parthia replaced the Roman approved King of Armenia with his choice, and the Roman legion in the area was wiped out. Marcus sent Lucius to quell the situation but he dawdled, and in the meantime the Parthians had marched on, invading Media across the northern Tigris.

Plague broke out among Lucius' troops, spread throughout the Empire, then there was pressure from the Germanic tribes in 167 crossing the Alps, besieging Northern Italy.

In desperation Marcus auctioned his valuable possessions to raise funds for war as the plague had made tax collecting impossible.

During the pontificate of Soter, Bishop of Rome from 166-174, another heretic leader, Montanus, and his followers caused concern. Under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit they went into religious raptures during which they spoke in strange tongues and uttered prophecies - the purpose of which was to return the church to simplicity. They gained popularity in both the eastern and western empire -- but ridicule from non-Christians.

Marcus Aurelius was not well-disposed towards Christians, calling them "miracle-mongers, magicians and exorcisers" and to avoid persecution and ridicule the Church tried hard to stamp out the crazy Christian cults, imposing order and centralized control.

130-149 The Jewish Diaspora & Gnosticism

During this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Hadrian (pictured) died in AD 137 and was succeeded by Antonius.

Hadrian's Wall in Britain was finished the year before and in AD 131 there was a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem led by Simon Bar Kokhba against Hadrian's rule.

The Jewish revolt was brutally ended four years later, in 135, as a result of which the Jews were then forbidden to enter Jerusalem.

The Jewish Diaspora started around 132.

Around this time, Gnosticism began to be preached by newcomers to Rome. Led by Valentinus, they claimed superior knowledge of spiritual things and worshipped a Mother Goddess. They wanted to join the church, but the Bishop of Rome, Hyginus 138-142, was suspicious of their theology.

Pius I, who succeeded Hyginus as Bishop of Rome, and ruled over the church from 142-155, also had trouble with the Gnostic Valentinus - along with other new arrivals.

One new arrival was Cerdo, a Syrian, who taught about two equal gods, one good one bad, Jesus being the son of the former; and another new arrival was Marcion who believed the church was wrong to pay attention to the Old Testament, or even the new, and that Jesus was not the Messiah.