SEVERUS ALEXANDER
AD 222-235
AR Denarius. 2.16g, 19.6mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 228-231
REF: RIC 193a
OBVERSE: IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate bust right.
REVERSE: FIDES MILITVM, Fides seated left holding standard on both hands. 
 
Notes: 
Well-centered with a well-detailed obverse. Lightweight and porous; small edge chip and minor gouge marks visible on reverse. 
 
Historical Notes:
Following the violent ending of Elagabalus's bizarre rule, Rome breathed a sigh of relief when his younger cousin, Severus Alexander, took to the throne with a council of respected senators and advisors assisting him in the rule of the empire. His rule was generally marked by economic prosperity, peace, and legal and religious tolerance. 
 
From 230, however, Alexander began to lose popularity with the army as he proved unable to lead them to a decisive victory against the Sasanian Empire. He was seen to be too keen to seek diplomatic solutions to military conflicts, and disaffected soldiers would soon be calling him a coward, held under the sway of his domineering mother. In 235, at the age of 26, he and his mother were both murdered at Moguntiacum by mutinous soldiers of the Legio XXII Primigenia. His death would spell the end of the Severan Dynasty, ushering in a period of great turmoil for the Roman Empire known as the Crisis of the 3rd Century.