ancient history

Rome had soldiers in Spain a century before Julius Caesar bothered with France, even though France was right next door. The reason has nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with Hannibal.

On 22 March 235, Severus Alexander was murdered by his own troops near Mainz. His death ended dynastic succession as Rome's default and opened the Crisis of the Third Century—barracks emperors, civil war, and a century of fracture.