Caracalla travelled to the eastern Mediterranean in 215 and remained in the region for the rest of his reign, making Antioch his de facto capital during this period.[1] He is reported by Herodian to have sought to associate himself with Alexander the Great – to have "become Alexander" – when he marched into Asia Minor via Macedonia, and to have ordered the construction of numerous statues of the conqueror in Rome and elsewhere as a consequence. Dio and Herodian both report that Caracalla travelled to Alexandria in Egypt to pay his respects at the tomb of the Macedonian king but instead carried out a great massacre of the local population in 215.[7]