The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born at Arce, in Phœnicia, A.D. 205-208. Died in Gaul, A.D. 235.] Elected Emperor on the death of Elagabalus, in A.D. 222. His reign was marked by a gradual improvement in religion, morality, and politics. In A.D. 232, he drove the Persians under Artaxerxes, in defeat across the Tigris. He was about to advance against the Germans, then ravaging Gaul, when he was murdered, together with his mother Julia Mamæa, by a band of mutinous soldiers, instigated by the ferocious Maximinus, who seized the crown. His life was simple and pure; his government considerate and just. His death caused general regret. [From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]