Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="GinoLR, post: 8064272, member: 128351"]Well... This cannot be proven. Macrinus had been appointed Praetorian Prefect by Caracalla, despite the fact he was of African origin and had been a member of Plautianus' African clan when the imperial court was deeply divided, Africans vs Syrians. Caracalla killed Plautianus, had also his wife Plautilla killed (she was Plautianus' daughter). In good logic he should also have eliminated or at least dismissed all the Africans, but not this one! Obviously the emperor had very good reasons to trust Macrinus and, if this story of prophecy was true, I am sure Caracalla would have immediately stricken first. Caracalla's murderer, like Lee Oswald, was immediately killed on the spot. Thus he did not talk and we cannot state we know Macrinus had organized this assassination. At this time Macrinus seems to have been very popular in the army and even in Rome's Senate who confirmed his election. The soldiers loved Caracalla, it is extremely unlikely they would have immediately elected a man suspected of being Caracalla's assassin. Even more: Macrinus was the first member of the Equestrian Order ever to be elected Augustus, with the approval of the Senate, even if it was a major breach of the tradition! I am thus extremely cautious with this prophecy story, and with the accusations against Macrinus that sound too much like Julia Maesa's propaganda the following year.[/QUOTE]