Philip the Arab

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Philip the Arab

Marcus Julius Philippus or Philippus I Arabs (c. 204 - 249), known in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
as Philip the Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
or formerly (prior to World War II) in English as Philip the Arabian, was a Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
from 244 to 249.

le is known about Philip's early life and political career. He was born in Shahba

Shahba

Shahba , known in Late Antiquity as Philippopolis, is a city located 87 km south of Damascus in the Jabal el Druze in As-Suwayda Governorate of Syria, but formerly in the Roman Empire province of Arabia Petraea....
, about 55 miles southeast of Damascus

Damascus

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is List of oldest continuously inhabited cities and its current population is estimated at about 4,000,000....
, in the Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
of Syria

Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
. Philip has the nickname "the Arab" because he had family who had originated in the Arabian peninsula

Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. The area is an important part of the Middle East and plays a critically important geopolitics role because of its vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas....
, believed to be distant descendants of the prestigious Baleed family of Aleppo

Aleppo

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Marcus Julius Philippus or Philippus I Arabs (c. 204 - 249), known in English

English language

Roman Emperor

Early life

Little is known about Philip's early life and political career. He was born in Shahba

Shahba

Damascus

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is List of oldest continuously inhabited cities and its current population is estimated at about 4,000,000....
, in the Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
of Syria

Syria (Roman province)

Arabian Peninsula

Aleppo

Aleppo is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate; the Governorate extends around the city for over 16,000 km? and has a population of 4,393,000, making it the largest Governorate in Syria by population....
. Philip was the son of a Julius Marinus, a local Roman citizen, possibly of some importance. Many historians agree that he was of Arab descent who gained Roman citizenship

Roman citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged social status afforded to certain individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.It is hard to offer meaningful generalities across the entire Roman period, as the nature and availability of citizenship was affected by legislation, for example, the Lex Iulia....
through his father, a man of considerable influence. Many citizens from the provinces took Roman names upon acquiring citizenship. This makes tracing his Arabic blood line difficult. However, it is documented that Rome used the Ghassan tribe from the Azd

Azd

The Azd or Al Azd, are an Arabian tribe. They were a branch of the Kahlan tribe, which was one of the two branches of Qahtanite the other being Himyar....
of Yemen

Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
as vassals to keep the neighboring northern Arabs in check.

The name of Philip's mother is unknown, but sources refer to a brother, Gaius Julius Priscus

Gaius Julius Priscus

Gaius Julius Priscus was military man and member of the Praetorian guard in the reign of Gordian III.Priscus was born in the Roman province of Syria , possibly in Damascus, son of a Julius Marinus a local Roman citizen, possibly of some importance....
, a member of the Praetorian guard

Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
under Gordian III

Gordian III

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius , known in English language as Gordian III, was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and his father was an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238....
(238–244). In 234, Philip married Marcia Otacilia Severa

Marcia Otacilia Severa

Marcia Otacilia Severa or Otacilia Severa was the Empress of Rome and wife of Roman Emperor Marcus Julius Philippus or Philip the Arab who reigned over the Roman Empire from 244 to 249....
, daughter of a Roman Governor. They had two children: a son named Marcus Julius Philippus Severus (Philippus II

Philippus II

File:Portrait Bust of Philip the Younger.pngFile:076 Philippus II.jpgMarcus Julius Philippus Severus, also known as Philippus II, Philip II and Philip the Younger was the son and heir of the Roman Emperor Philip the Arab by his wife Roman Empress Marcia Otacilia Severa....
) in 238 and according to numismatic evidence they had a daughter called Julia Severa or Severina, whom the ancient Roman sources don't mention.

Philip became a member of the Pretorian Guard during the reign of the emperor Alexander Severus

Alexander Severus

Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, commonly called Alexander Severus, was the last Roman Emperors of the Severan dynasty, having succeeded, as heir apparent, his despised cousin, the eighteen year old Elagabalus who had been murdered along with his mother by his own guards—and as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into...
, who was a Syrian. In ancient Rome the Pretorian Guard was closely associated with the emperor, serving among other things as the emperor's bodyguard.

Political career

In 243, during Gordian III

Gordian III

Shapur I

Shapur I was the second Sassanid King of the Sassanid Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 241 - 272, but it is likely that he also reigned as co-regent prior to his father's death in 241....
of Persia, the Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect was the constant title of a high office in the Roman Empire state that changed fundamentally in nature.The praetorian prefect was commander of the Praetorian Guard until Constantine I abolished the guard in 314....
Timesitheus

Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus

Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus was a Roman knight who lived in the 3rd century and was the most important advisor to Roman Emperor Gordian III....
died under unclear circumstances. At the suggestion of his brother Priscus, Philip became the new Praetorian prefect, with the intention that the two brothers would control the young Emperor and rule the Roman world as unofficial regents. Following a military defeat, Gordian III died in 244 under circumstances that are still debated. While some claim that Philip conspired in his murder, other accounts (including one coming from the Persian point of view) state that Gordian died in battle. Whatever the case, Philip assumed the purple following Gordian's death. According to Edward Gibbon:

His rise from so obscure a station to the first dignities of the empire seems to prove that he was a bold and able leader. But his boldness prompted him to aspire to the throne, and his abilities were employed to supplant, not to serve, his indulgent master.

Philip was not willing to repeat the mistakes of previous claimants, and was aware that he had to return to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
in order to secure his position with the senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
. He thus travelled west, after concluding a peace treaty with Shapur I, and left his brother Priscus as extraordinary ruler of the Eastern provinces. In Rome he was confirmed Augustus, and nominated his young son Caesar
Caesar (title)

Caesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of emperor character. It derives from the Roman naming convention#Cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator....
and heir.

Philip's rule started with yet another Germanic incursion on the provinces of Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
and the Goths

Goths

The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy....
invaded Moesia

Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the areas of modern Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania along the south bank of the Danube River....
(modern-day Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country in Central Europe and Balkans Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans....
and Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....
) in the Danube

Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
frontier. They were finally defeated in the year 248, but the legions

Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
were not satisfied with the result, probably due to a low share of the plunder, if any. Rebellion soon arose and Tiberius Claudius Pacatianus

Pacatianus

Tiberius Claudius Marinus Pacatianus was an usurper in the Danube area of the Roman Empire during the time of Philip the Arab.He is known from coins, and from mentions in Zosimus and Zonaras, who say that he was an officer in one of the Danube Roman legions....
was proclaimed emperor by the troops. The uprising was crushed and Philip nominated Gaius Messius Quintus Decius

Decius

Gaius Messius Quintus Decius was the Roman Emperors from 249 - 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until both of them were killed in the Battle of Abrittus....
as governor of the province. Future events would prove this to be a mistake. Pacatianus' revolt was not the only threat to his rule: in the East, Marcus Jotapianus

Jotapianus

Marcus Fulvius Rufus Jotapianus or Jotapian, he was also known as Iotapianus or Iotapian. Jotapianus was an Roman usurper in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Philip the Arab, around 249....
led another uprising in response to the oppressive rule of Priscus

Gaius Julius Priscus

Silbannacus

Mar. Silbannacus is a mysterious figure believed to have been an Roman usurper in the Roman Empire during the time of Philip the Arab , or between the fall of Aemilianus and the rise to power of Valerian ....
and Sponsianus

Sponsianus

Sponsianus is believed to have been an usurper in the Roman Empire during the time of Philip the Arab. He is known from aurei found in Transylvania in 1713, but there is evidence that the coins are modern forgeries, so even Sponsianus' existence remains doubtful....
, are reported to have started rebellions without much success.

In April 248, Philip had the honour of leading the celebrations of the one thousandth birthday of Rome, which according to tradition was founded

Founding of Rome

The founding of Rome is reported by many legends, which in recent times are beginning to be supplemented by more scientific reconstructions.Virgil's Aeneid is an important source for information about those early times or, at least, the myth-historical events current in the Augustan period....
in 753 BC by Romulus

Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus are the traditional Founding Fathers of Rome, appearing in Roman mythology as the twin sons of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia, fathered by the god of war, Mars ....
. He combined the anniversary with the celebration of Rome's alleged tenth saeculum

Saeculum

A saeculum is a length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a person or the equivalent of the complete renewal of a human population....
. According to contemporary accounts, the festivities were magnificent and included spectacular games, ludi saeculares

Secular games

The Secular Games were a religious celebration, involving sacrifices and theatre of ancient Rome performances, held in ancient Rome for three days and nights to mark the end of a saeculum and the beginning of the next....
, and theatrical presentations throughout the city. In the coliseum, more than 1,000 gladiators were killed along with hundreds of exotic animals including hippos, leopards, lions, giraffes, and one rhinoceros. The events were also celebrated in literature, with several publications, including Asinius Quadratus

Asinius Quadratus

Gaius Asinius Quadratus was a Roman Empire Historian in 200. His works are now lost, surviving only as a few fragments. He wrote a Thousand-Year History, celebrating the millennium of the foundation of Rome....
's History of a Thousand Years, specially prepared for the anniversary.

Despite the festive atmosphere, discontent in the legions was growing. Decius

Decius

Gaius Messius Quintus Decius was the Roman Emperors from 249 - 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until both of them were killed in the Battle of Abrittus....
(249–251) was proclaimed Emperor by the Danubian armies in the spring of 249 and immediately marched to Rome. Philip's army met the usurper near modern Verona that summer. Decius won the battle and Philip was killed, either in the fighting or assassinated by his own soldiers who were eager to please the new ruler. When the news of Decius' success reached Rome, Philip's eleven-year-old son and heir was also murdered.

Religious beliefs

Some later traditions, first mentioned in the historian Eusebius

Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima c 314. He is often referred to as the Father of Church History because of his work in recording the history of the early Christianity church, especially Chronicon and Church_History_....
in his Ecclesiastical History

Church History (Eusebius)

The Church History of Eusebius of Caesarea was a fourth-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Christianity from the first century....
, held that Philip was the first Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
Roman emperor. This tradition seems to be based on reports in Eusebius that Philip allegedly had once entered a Christian service on Easter, after having been required by a bishop to confess his sins. Later versions located this event in Antioch.

However, historians generally identify the later Emperor Constantine, baptised on his deathbed, as the first Christian emperor, and generally describe Philip's adherence to Christianity as dubious, because non-Christian writers do not mention the fact, and because throughout his reign, Philip to all appearances (coinage, etc.) continued to follow the state religion

Roman religion

The term Roman religion may refer to:*Religion in ancient Rome*religions of the Roman Empire period **Imperial cult *** Sol Invictus**Mithraism...
. Critics ascribe Eusebius' claim as probably due to the tolerance Philip showed towards Christians. Saint Quirinus of Rome

Saint Quirinus of Rome

Saint Quirinus of Rome, or Quirinus of Tegernsee, is venerated as a martyr and saint of the third century.According to one tradition, he was beheaded during the reign of Claudius Gothicus ....
was, according to a legendary account, the son of Philip the Arab.

Philip the Arab

Early life

Political career

Religious beliefs

External links