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Of Thraco-Roman origin, Maximinus Thrax (173-238 CE) was a child of low birth, and was seen by the Senate as a barbarian and not a true Roman, despite Caracalla's Antonine Constitution granting citizenship to all freeborn citizens of the Empire. A career soldier, Maximinus rose through the ranks until he commanded a legion himself. He was one of the soldiers who were angered by Emperor Severus Alexander's payments to the Germanic tribes for peace, and plotted with them to assasinate the emperor in 235 CE.<br/><br/> The Praetorian Guard declared Maximinus emperor after the act, a choice that was only grudgingly confirmed by the Senate, who were disgusted at the idea of a peasant becoming emperor. Maximinus despised the nobility, and was heavy-handed in dealing with anyone suspected of plotting against him. In 238 CE, revolt arose in the province of Africa during his reign, with the governor Gordian I and his son, Gordian II, declared co-emperors. The Roman Senate quickly switched allegiance and acknowledged the claim of the Gordians. Maximinus immediately marched on Rome to deal with the Senatorial uprising.<br/><br/> The Gordians were swiftly defeated and died after less than a month of being co-emperors, with the Senate becoming divided on how to act, some preferring Gordian's grandson, Gordian III, while others elected two of their own, Pupienus and Balbinus, as co-emperors. Rome became engulfed in severe riots and street fighting. Maximinus died before he reached Rome, assassinated by his own soldiers during the siege of Aquileia. Pupienus and Balbinus became undisputed co-emperors. Maximinus' reign is often seen as the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century, which would see the Roman Empire almost collapse from internal unrest, economic disaster and foreign invasions.
Of Thraco-Roman origin, Maximinus Thrax (173-238 CE) was a child of low birth, and was seen by the Senate as a barbarian and not a true Roman, despite Caracalla's Antonine Constitution granting citizenship to all freeborn citizens of the Empire. A career soldier, Maximinus rose through the ranks until he commanded a legion himself. He was one of the soldiers who were angered by Emperor Severus Alexander's payments to the Germanic tribes for peace, and plotted with them to assasinate the emperor in 235 CE.<br/><br/> The Praetorian Guard declared Maximinus emperor after the act, a choice that was only grudgingly confirmed by the Senate, who were disgusted at the idea of a peasant becoming emperor. Maximinus despised the nobility, and was heavy-handed in dealing with anyone suspected of plotting against him. In 238 CE, revolt arose in the province of Africa during his reign, with the governor Gordian I and his son, Gordian II, declared co-emperors. The Roman Senate quickly switched allegiance and acknowledged the claim of the Gordians. Maximinus immediately marched on Rome to deal with the Senatorial uprising.<br/><br/> The Gordians were swiftly defeated and died after less than a month of being co-emperors, with the Senate becoming divided on how to act, some preferring Gordian's grandson, Gordian III, while others elected two of their own, Pupienus and Balbinus, as co-emperors. Rome became engulfed in severe riots and street fighting. Maximinus died before he reached Rome, assassinated by his own soldiers during the siege of Aquileia. Pupienus and Balbinus became undisputed co-emperors. Maximinus' reign is often seen as the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century, which would see the Roman Empire almost collapse from internal unrest, economic disaster and foreign invasions.
Severus Alexander (208-235 CE) was cousin to Emperor Elagabalus, and his heir apparent. When Elagabalus was assassinated in 222 CE, the fourteen-year-old became emperor, under the auspice of his grandmother Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Alexander's accession just as she had done with Elagabalus before him.<br/><br/> Alexander quickly did much to correct the domestic troubles Elagabalus had caused, cleaning up the image of the imperial throne and improving the morals and dignity of the state. His reign was considered prosperous, but militarily, the Empire was faced against the rising threat of the Sassanid Empire in the east, as well as the tribes of Germania. It was during his campaign against the latter that Alexander would meet his end. His attempts to negotiate peace with the Germanic tribes through bribery and diplomacy alienated many in the Roman Army, and ultimately led to his assassination in 235 CE.<br/><br/> His death saw the end of the Severan dynasty and marked the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century, which resulted in nearly 50 years of civil wars, foreign invasions and economic collapse throughout the Empire.
Geta (189-211 CE) was the younger son of Emperor Septimius Severus, born in Rome during the reign of Emperor Commodus. Geta fought often with his older brother Caracalla, and would require the mediation of their mother Julia Domna. Septimius Severus named Geta 'Augustus' in 209, making him a co-emperor alongside Caracalla, who had been named co-emperor over 10 years ago, in 198 CE.<br/><br/> Septimius Severus died in early 211 CE, with Geta and Caracalla declared joint emperors and ordered back to Rome. Their hatred and rivalry of one another did not abate though, and there were even talks about splitting the empire in two halves so that they could rule peacefully, before their mother talked them out of it. The situation became so hostile that Carcalla tried to unsuccessfully murder Geta once, before finally succeeding a second time when he had his mother arrange a peace meeting and having his centurions murder Geta in his mother's arms.<br/><br/> After Geta's death, Caracalla had him declared 'damnatio memoriae', with every statue, portrait or painting of him destroyed, and his very name was banned from being spoken or written. Over 20,000 people were killed on Caracalla's orders after he attempted to remove any political enemies and those he considered allies of Geta.
Born as Lucius Septimius Bassianus (188-217 CE) but renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus after his father's union with the families of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, he gained his agnomen Caracalla from a Gallic hooded tunic which he often wore. Eldest son of Emperor Septimius Severus, he reigned jointly with his father from 198 CE until his father's death in 211 CE. He then became joint emperor with his younger brother Geta, but he quickly murdered his brother less than a year into their joint rule.<br/><br/> Caracalla's reign was marked by continued assaults from the Germanic peoples as well as constant domestic instability. Caracalla was famed for enacting the Edict of Caracalla, also known as the Antonine Constitution, which granted Roman citizenship to almost all the freemen living throughout the Empire. He was also known for his establishment of a new Roman currency, the <i>antoninianus</i>, as well as building the Baths of Caracalla, the second largest in Rome. In terms of infamy, Caracalla was known for his massacres against the Roman people and other citizens of the Empire.<br/><br/> Caracalla's reign ended in 217 CE, after he had instigated a new campaign against the Parthian Empire. Caracalla had stopped briefly to urinate when a soldier approached him and stabbed him to death, incensed by Caracalla's refusal to grant him the position of Centurion. Caracalla would be posthumously known for his savage cruelty and treachery, as well as for murdering his own brother and his brother's supporters.
Third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, Domitian (51-96 CE) was the youngest son of Vespasian and most of his youth was spent in the shadow of his more accomplished brother Titus, who earned his renown during the First Jewish-Roman War. When his father became emperor at the end of the Year of the Four Emperors in 69 CE, Titus was given a great many offices while Domitian held honours but no responsibilities. This would go on for many years, until his brother, succeeding his father in 79 CE, himself died unexpectedly from illness in 81 CE. Domitian was suddenly declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard.<br/><br/> During his reign, Domitian strengthened the Roman economy, expanded the Empire's border defenses and initiated a massive building program to restore a debilitated Rome. Further wars were fought in Britain. Domitian ruled more autocratically than previous emperors, seeing himself as the new Augustus, and formed a cult of personality around himself, making him popular with the people but considered tyrannical by the Senate.<br/><br/> After 15 years in power, longer than any emperor since Tiberius, Domitian was assassinated in 96 CE by court officials. His death ended the Flavian dynasty and he was succeeded by his advisor Nerva, his memory condemned to oblivion by the Senate.
Buddhism in the Maldives was the predominant religion at least until the 12th century CE. It is not clear how Buddhism was introduced into the islands although there are a number of competing theories. The predominant view is that it was introduced with the expansion of the Sinhalese people from neighboring Sri Lanka who are primarily Buddhist.<br/><br/> In February 2012, a group of Islamic extremists forced their way into the National Museum in Male and attacked the museum's collection of pre-Islamic sculptures, destroying or severely damaging nearly the entire collection about thirty Hindu and Buddhist sculptures dating from the 6th to 12th centuries.<br/><br/> Museum staff indicated that as the sculptures were made from very brittle coral or limestone it would be impossible to repair most of them, and only two or three pieces were in a repairable condition.
Elagabalus (203-222 CE), also known as Heliogabalus, was a Syrian and a member of the Severan dynasty. Elagabalus was the grandson of Julia Maesa and cousin to Emperor Caracalla. When Caracalla was assassinated in 217 CE, Julia Maesa instigated a revolt against his killer and successor, Macrinus, championing Elagabalus as emperor. Macrinus was defeated and executed in 218 CE, and Elagabalus was proclaimed emperor at barely 14 years old.<br/><br/> His reign was notorious for its numerous religious controversies and sex scandals, with Elagabalus showing a marked disregard for traditional Roman religious and sexual values. He was said to have had been married as many as five times, had many male lovers, and was even reported to have prostituted himself in the imperial palace. He developed a reputation for extreme decadence, eccentricity and zealotry to the god he was named after, Elagabalus, and whom he declared the new head of the Roman pantheon.<br/><br/> His actions and behaviour estranged both commoner and Praetorian Guard, and after four years of rule, Elagabalus was assassinated in 222 CE at the age of 18. The plot was orchestrated by Julia Maesa, the same grandmother that had placed him on the throne, and carried out by the Praetorian Guard, with his cousin Severus Alexander replacing him as emperor. Elagabalus developed one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors in history.
Claudius was the first Roman emperor to be born outside of Italy, and he was ostracised and exempted from public office for much of his life due to slight deafness and being afflicted with a limp. It was his infirmity that would save him from the noble purges that occurred during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula, as he was not seen as a serious threat.<br/><br/> Due to being the last surviving man of the Julio-Claudian family, Claudius was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after their assassination of Caligula. Despite his only previous experience being sharing a consulship with his nephew Caligula in 37 CE, he proved to be a capable administrator, as well as an ambitious builder across the Empire. The conquest of Britain began under his reign, and his seeming vulnerability meant that Claudius often had to shore up his position, usually through the deaths of rival senators and nobles.<br/><br/> He was succeeded after his death in 54 CE by his adopted son, Nero.
South Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman. The frontiers of South Arabia as linguistically conceived would include the historic peoples speaking the related South Arabian languages as well as neighboring dialects of Arabic, and their descendants. Anciently there was a South Arabian alphabet, which was borrowed by Ethiopia. South Arabia as generally conceived would include the lands inhabited by peoples partaking of its distinctive traditions and culture, which overlap recently demarcated political boundaries.<br/><br/> Yemen or al-yaman means 'the south'. One etymology derives Yemen from yamin the 'right side' as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise; yet this etymology is considered suspect. Another derives Yemen from yumn meaning 'felicity' as the region is fertile; indeed the Romans called it Arabia Felix. In an ancient, traditional Arabian genealogy, the people of the peninsula are divided between north and south, those of the north descending from Ishmael and Adnan (from whom Muhammad descended), and those of South Arabia being the descendants of Qahtan or Joktan (Yoqtan) and Jokshan.