The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (), who rose to power after the Year of the Five Emperors as the victor of the civil war of 193–197, and his wife, Julia Domna. After the short reigns and assassinations of their two sons, Caracalla () and Geta (), who succeeded their father in the government of the empire, Julia Domna's relatives themselves assumed power by raising Elagabalus () and then Severus Alexander () to the imperial office. The dynasty's control over the empire was interrupted by the joint reigns of Macrinus () and his son Diadumenian (). The dynasty's women, including Julia Domna, the mother of Caracalla and Geta, and her nieces Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea, the mothers respectively of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, and their own mother, Julia Maesa, were all powerful augustae and instrumental in securing their sons' imperial positions. Although Septimius Severus restored peace following the upheaval of the late 2nd century, the dynasty was disturbed by highly unstable family relationships and constant political turmoil, which foreshadowed the imminent Crisis of the Third Century. In particular, the discord between Caracalla and Geta and the tension between Elagabalus and Severus Alexander added to the turmoil. History Septimius Severus (193–211) Lucius Septimius Severus was born in a family of Libyan-punic equestrian rank in Leptis Magna, the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis, now in Libya. He rose through military service to consular rank under the later emperors of the Antonine dynasty. He married Syrian noblewoman Julia Domna and had two children with her: Caracalla and Geta. Julia Domna also held a prominent political role in government during her husband's reign. Severus was proclaimed emperor in 193 by his legionaries in Noricum during the political unrest that followed the death of Commodus and secured sole rule over the empire in 197 after defeating his last rival, Clodius Albinus, at the Battle of Lugdunum. Severus fought a successful war against the Parthians, campaigned with success against barbarian incursions in Roman Britain and rebuilt Hadrian's Wall. In Rome, his relations with the Senate were poor, but he was popular with the commoners and with his soldiers, whose salary he raised. Starting in 197, his praetorian prefect, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, was growing in influence, but he would be executed