In a
second uproar, produced by some fresh intrigues of the emperor against his
cousin, the soldiers became unmanageable, and they refused to pause until
they had massacred Heliogabalus, together with his mother, and raised his
cousin Alexander to the throne.
The reforms of this prince, who reigned under the name of Alexander
Severus, were extensive and searching; not only in his court, which he
purged of all notorious abuses, but throughout the economy of the army. He
cashiered, upon one occasion, an entire legion: he restored, as far as he
was able, the ancient discipline; and, above all, he liberated the
provinces from military spoliation. "Let the soldier," said he, "be
contented with his pay; and whatever more he wants, let him obtain it by
victory from the enemy, not by pillage from his fellow-subject." But
whatever might be the value or extent of his reforms in the marching
regiments, Alexander could not succeed in binding the praetorian guards to
his yoke. Under the guardianship of his mother Mammaea, the conduct of
state affairs had been submitted to a council of sixteen persons, at the
head of which stood the celebrated Ulpian.
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