Alexander
who assumed the title of EMPEROR OF ROME in A. D. 311, was, according to some accounts, a Phrygian, and according to others a Pannonian. He was appointed by Maxentius governor of Africa, but discovering that Maxentius was plotting against his life, he assumed the purple, though he was of an advanced age and a timid nature. Maxentius sent some troops against him under Rufius Volusianus, who put down the insurrection without difficulty. Alexander was taken and strangled. (Zosimus, 2.12, 14; Aur. Vict. de Caes. 40, Epit. 40.) There are a few medals of Alexander. In the one annexed we find the words IMP. ALEXANDER. AUG., P. F.; the reverse represents Victory, with this inscription, VICTORIA ALEXANDRI AUG. N., and at the bottom, P. K.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.