Editing Macrinus (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Silver Antoninianus of Macrinus.jpg|thumb|Silver ''[[antoninianus]]'' coin with Macrinus wearing the [[radiate crown]]]]
Despite his equestrian background, Macrinus was accepted by the Senate for two reasons: for the removal of Caracalla, and for having received the loyalty of the army.{{sfn|Gibbon|1776|p=163}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|pp=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/76 76–77]}} The senators were less concerned by Macrinus' Mauretanian ancestry than by his equestrian social background and scrutinized his actions as emperor. Their opinion of him was reduced by his decisions to appoint to high offices men who were of similarly undistinguished background.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/75 75]}} Macrinus, not being a senator and having become emperor through force rather than through traditional means, was looked down upon.{{sfn|Gibbon|1776|p=163}}

Macrinus had several issues that he needed to deal with at the time of his accession, which had been left behind by his predecessor. As Caracalla had a tendency towards military belligerence, rather than diplomacy, this left several conflicts for Macrinus to resolve.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=118}} Additionally, Caracalla had been a profligate spender of Rome's income.{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=118–119}} Most of the money was spent on the army; he had greatly increased their pay from 2,000 sesterces to 3,000 sesterces per year.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}}{{sfn|Boatwright|Gargola|Talbert|2004|p=413}} The increased expenditures forced Caracalla to strip bare whatever sources of income he had to supply the difference.{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=118–119}} This shortfall left Rome in a dire fiscal situation that Macrinus needed to address.{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=118–119}}

Macrinus was at first occupied by the threat of the Parthians, with whom Rome had been at war since the reign of Caracalla. Macrinus settled a peace deal with the Parthians after fighting an indecisive [[Battle of Nisibis (217)|battle at Nisibis]] in 217.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=76}} In return for peace, Macrinus was forced to pay a large indemnity to the Parthian ruler [[Artabanus IV of Parthia|Artabanus IV]].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/88 88]}}{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=118–119}} Rome was at the time also under threat from Dacia and Armenia, so any deal with Parthia would likely have been beneficial to Rome.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=111}} Next, Macrinus turned his attention to Armenia.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=113}} In 216, Caracalla had imprisoned [[Khosrov I of Armenia]] and his family after Khosrov had agreed to meet with Caracalla at a conference to discuss some issue between himself and his sons. Caracalla instead installed a new Roman governor to rule over Armenia. These actions angered the Armenian people and they soon rebelled against Rome.{{sfn|Payaslian|2008|p=32}}{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=270–271}} Macrinus settled a peace treaty with them by returning the crown and loot to Khosrov's son and successor [[Tiridates II of Armenia|Tiridates II]] and releasing his mother from prison, and by restoring Armenia to its status as a client kingdom of Rome.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=113}} Macrinus made peace with the Dacians by releasing hostages, though this was likely not handled by himself but by [[Marcius Agrippa]].{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=114–115}} In matters of foreign policy, Macrinus showed a tendency towards settling disputes through diplomacy and a reluctance to engage in military conflict, though this may have been due more to the lack of resources and manpower than to his own personal preference.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=118}}
[[File:Macrinus hieroglyphics.png|thumb|134x134px|The name of Roman emperor Macrinus in hieroglyphics]]
Macrinus began to overturn Caracalla's fiscal policies and moved closer towards those that had been set forth by Septimius Severus.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=126}} One such policy change involved the pay of Roman legionaries. The soldiers that were already enlisted during Caracalla's reign enjoyed exorbitant payments which were impossible for Macrinus to reduce without risking a potential rebellion. Instead, Macrinus allowed the enlisted soldiers to retain their higher payments, but he reduced the pay of new recruits to the level which had been set by Severus.{{sfn|Gibbon|1776|pp=165–166}}{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=127–128}} Macrinus revalued the [[Roman currency]], increasing the silver purity and weight of the [[denarius]] from 50.78 percent and 1.66 grams at the end of Caracalla's reign to 57.85 percent and 1.82 grams from Autumn 217 to the end of his reign, so that it mirrored Severus' fiscal policy for the period 197 to 209.{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=130–131}}<ref name="ROMAN CURRENCY OF THE PRINCIPATE">{{cite web|url=http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm |title=Roman Currency of the Principate |last1=Harl |first1=Kenneth |work=[[Tulane University]] |access-date=30 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210220413/http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm |archive-date=10 February 2001 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Macrinus' goal with these policies might have been to return Rome to the relative economic stability that had been enjoyed under Severus' reign, though it came with a cost.{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=134–135}} The fiscal changes that Macrinus enacted might have been tenable had it not been for the military. By this time, the strength of the military was too great and by enacting his reforms he angered the veteran soldiers, who viewed his actions in reducing the pay of new recruits as a foreshadowing of eventual reductions in their own privileges and pay. This significantly reduced Macrinus' popularity with the legions that had declared him emperor.{{sfn|Scott|2008|pp=134–135}}{{sfn|Gibbon|1776|p=166}}

Caracalla's mother [[Julia Domna]] was initially left in peace when Macrinus became emperor. This changed when Macrinus discovered that she was conspiring against him and had her placed under house arrest in Antioch. By this time Julia Domna was suffering from a presumed advanced stage of [[breast cancer]] and she soon died in Antioch after starving herself.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=407}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/76 76]}} Afterwards, Macrinus sent Domna's sister [[Julia Maesa]] and her children back to [[Homs|Emesa]] in Syria, from where Maesa set in motion her plans to have Macrinus overthrown.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=407}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|pp=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/76 76–77]}} Macrinus remained in Antioch instead of going to Rome upon being declared emperor, a step which furthered his unpopularity in Rome and contributed to his eventual downfall.{{sfn|Glanville|1961|pp=248–250}}