Editing Philip the Arab (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Portrait head possibly of Empress Otacilia Severa, wife of Emperor Philip the Arab 250-300 CE MH.jpg|thumb|Possible bust of [[Marcia Otacilia Severa|Otacilia Severa]], wife of Philip.|293x293px]]

Little is known about Philip's early life and political career. He was born in what is today [[Shahba]], [[Syria]], about {{convert|90|km|mi}} southeast of [[Damascus]], in [[Trachonitis]].{{sfn |Bowman |Cameron |Garnsey |2005 |p=36}} His birth city, later renamed Philippopolis, lay within [[Hauran|Aurantis]], an Arab district which at the time was part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Arabia Petraea]].{{sfn |Bowersock |1983 |p=122}} Most historians accept that Philip was, indeed, an ethnic [[Arabs|Arab]].{{sfn |Bowersock |1983 |p=122}}{{sfn |Ball |2000 |p=418}}{{sfn |Shahîd |1984 |p=36}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Philip {{!}} Roman emperor|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philip-Roman-emperor|access-date=2020-07-15|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>Perry Anderson, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism (London: NLB, 1974), 87–88.</ref> He was the son of a local citizen, [[Julius Marinus]], possibly of some importance.{{sfn |Meckler |1999}} Allegations from later Roman sources (''[[Augustan History|Historia Augusta]]'' and ''[[Epitome de Caesaribus]]'') that Philip had a very humble origin or even that his father was a leader of brigands are not accepted by modern historians.{{sfn |Bowersock |1983 |pp=123–124}} His birth date is not recorded by contemporary sources, but the 7th-century ''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'' records that he died at the age of 45.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=N3AGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA503 ''Chronicon Paschale'', Olympiad 257.]</ref>

While the name of Philip's mother is unknown, he did have a brother, [[Gaius Julius Priscus]], an [[Equestrian class|equestrian]] and a member of the [[Praetorian Guard]] under [[Gordian III]] (238–244).{{sfn |Potter |2004 |p=232}} Philip was married to [[Marcia Otacilia Severa]], daughter of a Roman governor. They had a son, [[Philip II (Roman emperor)|Philip II]], born in 237 or 238.{{sfn |Meckler |1999}}

The rise to the purple of the [[Severan dynasty|Severans]] from nearby [[Emesa]] is noted as a motivational factor in Philip's own ascent, due to geographic and ethnic similarity between himself and the [[Emesene dynasty|Emesan]] emperors.{{efn|"Severus deserves the ultimate credit for making possible the emergence of a figure such as Philip".{{sfn |Bowersock |1983 |p=122}}}}{{efn|"The spectacle of Arab and half-Arab emperors from neighboring Emesa must have left a deep impression on Marcus Julius Philippus."{{sfn |Shahîd |1984 |p=37}}}}