Severus Alexander

About Severus Alexander

Severus Alexander was the last Roman emperor of the Severan dynasty, reigning from 222 until his assassination in 235 CE. Though often regarded as a capable ruler who sought to moderate the excesses of his predecessors and favored the Senate, his reign ultimately marked the beginning of the tumultuous Crisis of the Third Century. His tenure included efforts to stabilize the frontiers and a reliance on diplomacy over constant warfare, which, while perhaps initially successful, ultimately led to his downfall when his troops murdered him after he was perceived as too deferential to his mother and advisors while facing incursions by the Sasanian Empire and Germanic tribes.

Despite his relatively high placement at \#482 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, reflecting his importance as a pivotal figure at the end of the Pax Romana, his modern internet visibility is comparatively low. In 2025, Severus Alexander garnered 329K Wikipedia pageviews, placing his Attention Gap at approximately 1x-meaning he receives about the attention expected for his historical rank. For contrast, Paul von Hindenburg, another politician with a lower importance ranking (\#912), attracted over three times the attention with 1.1M views last year.

Furthermore, the data suggests a current decline in engagement. His annualized pageviews showed a decrease of -10.5% year-over-year, and his 2025 Momentum, comparing Q1 to Q3, plunged by -54%, indicating that contemporary interest in the last Severan ruler is waning significantly.