Philip the Arab

Philip I (Latin: Marcus Julius Philippus; c. 204 – September 249), commonly known as Philip the Arab, was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, who had been Praetorian prefect, rose to power. He quickly negotiated peace with the Sasanian Empire and returned to Rome to be confirmed by the Senate. According to many historians, he was possibly the first Christian Roman Emperor.

Although his reign lasted only five years, it marked an unusually stable period in a century that is otherwise known for having been turbulent. Near the end of his rule, Philip commemorated Rome's first millennium. In September 249 he was killed during or shortly after the Battle of Verona against the usurper Trajan Decius, who was subsequently recognized by the Senate as his successor.

Born in modern-day Shahba, Syria, in what was then Arabia Petraea, Philip's ethnicity was most likely Arab. While he publicly adhered to the Roman religion, he was later asserted to have been a Christian, and in the later half of the 3rd century and into the beginning of the 4th century, some Christian clergymen held that Philip had been the first Christian ruler of Rome. He was described as such in many published works that became widely known during the Middle Ages, including: Chronicon (lit. 'Chronicle'); Historiae Adversus Paganos (lit. 'History Against the Pagans'); and Historia Ecclesiastica (lit. 'Ecclesiastical History'). Consequently, Philip's religious affiliation remains a divisive topic in modern scholarly debate about his life.

Little is known about Philip's early life and political career. He was born in what is today Shahba, Syria, about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Damascus, in Trachonitis. His birth city, later renamed Philippopolis, lay within Aurantis, an Arab district which at the time was part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea. Most historians accept that Philip was, indeed, an ethnic Arab. He was the son of a local citizen, Julius Marinus, possibly of some importance. Allegations from later Roman sources (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. His birth date is not recorded by contemporary sources, but the 7th-century Chronicon Paschale records that he died at the age of 45.

While the name of Philip's mother is unknown, he did have a brother, Gaius Julius Priscus, an equestrian and a member of the Praetorian Guard under Gordian III (238–244). Philip was married to Marcia Otacilia Severa, daughter of a Roman governor. They had a son, Philip II, born in 237 or 238.

The rise to the purple of the 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 Emesan emperors.

Philip's rise to prominence began through the intervention of his brother Priscus, who was an important official under the emperor Gordian III. His big break came in 243, during Gordian III's campaign against Shapur I of Persia, when the Praetorian prefect Timesitheus died under unclear circumstances. At the suggestion of his brother Priscus, Philip became the new Praetorian prefect, with the intention that the two brothers would control the young Emperor and rule the Roman world as unofficial regents. Following a military defeat, Gordian III died in February 244 under circumstances that are still debated. While some claim that Philip conspired in his murder, other accounts (including one coming from the Persian point of view) state that Gordian died in battle. Whatever the case, Philip assumed the purple robe following Gordian's death.

Philip was not willing to repeat the mistakes of previous claimants, and was aware that he had to return to Rome in order to secure his position with the Senate. However, his first priority was to conclude a peace treaty with Shapur, and withdraw the army from a potentially disastrous situation. Although Philip was accused of abandoning territory, the actual terms of the peace were not as humiliating as they could have been. He paid 500,000 denarii to the Sasanian Empire and ceded Armenia and Mesopotamia to them. Philip immediately issued coins proclaiming that he had made peace with the Persians (pax fundata cum Persis).