In 217, the emperor Caracalla was assassinated and replaced by his Praetorian prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.

Macrinus now sent letters to the Senate denouncing Elagabalus as the False Antoninus and claiming he was insane.

Macrinus fled toward Italy, disguised as a courier, but was later intercepted near Chalcedon and executed in Cappadocia.

Caracalla and Julia Domna were both deified by the Senate, both Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias were elevated to the rank of Augustae, and the memory of both Macrinus and Diadumenianus was condemned by the Senate.

The book is dedicated to a Macrinus, who may have been the emperor who reigned 217-218, but that name was not uncommon, and it seems more likely he was simply a young man with a thirst for universal knowledge, which the book was compiled to satisfy.

Opelius Macrinus was born in 164 at Caesarea.

Three days later, Macrinus was declared Augustus.

Macrinus managed to escape ito Chalcedon but his authority was lost: he was betrayed and executed after a short reign of just 14 months.

M. Opelius Diadumenianus was the son of Macrinus, born in 208.

This revolt spread to the entire Syrian army ( which, at the time, was swollen with troops raised by the Emperor Caracalla, and not fully loyal to Macrinus ), and eventually they were to win the short struggle that followed by defeating Macrinus at a battle just outside Antioch.

At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macrinus and Celsus ( or, less frequently, year 917 Ab urbe condita ).

Caracalla was succeeded by his Praetorian Guard Prefect, Macrinus, who ( according to Herodian ) was most probably responsible for having the emperor assassinated.

Mauretania gave to the empire one emperor, the equestrian Macrinus, who seized power after the assassination of Caracalla in 217 but was himself defeated and executed by Elagabalus the next year.

Centuries later, the emperor Caracalla was murdered here at the instigation of Macrinus ( 217 ).

According to sources, the downfall of Plautianus was largely due to suspicion of Severus ' son Caracalla, who was himself later murdered and replaced by his Praetorian prefect Marcus Opellius Macrinus.

* Marcius Agrippa, a slave of the 3rd century who was eventually elevated to senatorial rank by Macrinus

This initially unexpected and humiliating defeat for Rome was followed by numerous campaigns over the next two centuries entailing many notable engagements such as: the Battle of Cilician Gates, Mount Gindarus, Mark Antony's Parthian Campaign and finally culminating in the bloody Battle of Nisibis in 217 AD, which resulted in a slight Parthian victory and Emperor Macrinus being forced to concede peace with Parthia.

In 218, during Macrinus reign, Julia Maesa went to Raphana, Syria, where the legion was based under the command of P. Valerius Comazon Eutychianus.

Macrinus and his son, weakened by the desertion of the Second Legion due to bribes and promises circulated by Julia Maesa, were defeated on 8 June 218 at the Battle of Antioch by troops commanded by Gannys.

* Summer – Battle of Nisibis: The Roman army under command of Macrinus, is defeated in a three days battle by the Parthians at Nisibis ( southern Turkey ).

On June 8, 218 near Antioch, Gannys, Elagabalus ' tutor, defeated Macrinus and his son, with the help of the III Gallica and the other legions of the East.

When Macrinus was defeated on 8 June 218, at Antioch, Diadumenian's death followed his father's.

* In the Battle of Antioch ( 218 ), Elagabalus defeated Macrinus and become Roman emperor.

Caracalla's successor, the Praetorian Prefect of the Guard Macrinus, was defeated at Nisibis and concluded a peace with Artabanus, in which he gave up all the Roman conquests, restored the booty, and paid a heavy contribution to the Parthians.

General Gannys, the Commander of Elagabalus's forces, marched against him and Macrinus was decisively defeated just outside Antioch on 8 June 218, with most of his forces abandoning him.

* 218 – Macrinus deposed and executed, Elagabalus is installed on the throne

The biography of Macrinus is notoriously unreliable, and after a partial reversion to reliability in the Elagabalus, the life of Alexander Severus, one of the longest biographies in the entire work, develops into a kind of exemplary and rhetorical fable on the theme of the wise philosopher king.

The fictional character of general Maximus Decimus Meridius ( played by Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator ) was partially based on Narcissus alongside being based on Marcus Aurelius's general Marcus Nonius Macrinus, Spartacus, Cincinnatus and Maximus of Hispania.

Macrinus was recognised by a centurion at Chalcedon on the Bospurus, taken back to Antioch and killed.

* Roman Empire Net article on Macrinus

* June 8 – Battle of Antioch: Elagabalus defeats with support of the Syrian legions the forces of Macrinus.

The Battle of Antioch ( June 8, 218 ) took place between two Roman armies of the Roman Emperor Macrinus and his contender Elagabalus, whose troops were commanded by general Gannys.

* Macrinus, June, 217

* 218 – Battle of Antioch: Elagabalus defeats with support of the Syrian legions the forces of emperor Macrinus.

* 218 – Julia Maesa, aunt of the assassinated Caracalla, is banished to her home in Syria by the self-proclaimed emperor Macrinus and declares her 14-year old grandson Elagabalus, emperor of Rome.

In 218 Macrinus was killed and Bassianus became emperor with the name of Elagabalus.

Diadumenian () ( 14 / 19 September 208 – 218 ), was the son of the Roman Emperor Macrinus, and served his father briefly as Caesar ( May 217 – 218 ) and as Augustus ( in 218 ).

* 218, Execution of Emperor Macrinus and his son by Praetorian Guard.

Augustus "; b. M. Opellius Macrinus ), 217 – 218

When the emperor Macrinus came to power, he suppressed the threat against his reign by the family of his assassinated predecessor, Caracalla, by exiling them — Julia Maesa, her two daughters, and her eldest grandson Elagabalus — to their estate at Emesa in Syria.

* Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus, escapes to the Parthian court, but is captured at Zeugma and also put to death.