Episode 7

{ "title": "The Crisis of the Third Century", "subtitle": "50 Years of Chaos that Nearly Destroyed Rome", "content": "## Prologue: Death of an Emperor The sun rose blood-red over Rome on March 20, 235 CE. In a military camp along the Rhine frontier, Emperor Alexander Severus emerged from his tent to address his restless legions. At just 26 years old, he had ruled the Roman Empire for 13 years, succeeding his cousin Elagabalus. But on this fateful morning, the soldiers had reached their breaking point. Frustrated by Alexander's cautious approach to Germanic tribes and influenced by his overbearing mother Julia Mamaea, the legions had lost faith in their young emperor. As Alexander began to speak, a group of soldiers surged forward with drawn swords. Within moments, both the emperor and his mother lay dead, their bodies left to rot in the mud of Germania. The assassins proclaimed their commander, Maximinus Thrax, as the new emperor. A giant of a man who had risen from peasa...