Marcus Julius Philippus (204-249 CE), commonly known as Philip the Arab, was born in the Roman province of Arabia, in what is now Syria. He rose to power during the last years of Emperor Gordian III's reign, due to the machinations of his brother, Gaius Julius Priscus, who was an important member of the Praetorian Guard.

Gordian III's death in 244 resulted in Philip's accession to the imperial throne. He quickly concluded a peace treaty with Shapur I of Persia, ruler of the Sassanid Empire, and rushed back to Rome to secure his position with the Roman Senate. Rome celebrated its one thousandth birthday under Philip's reign, with massive celebrations and commemorative coins to mark the occasion.

His frivolous spending, as well as the massive tribute owed to the Sassanids, meant that Philip was severely short of money, something he tried to rectify through much higher levels of taxation as well as ceasing to pay the Germanic tribes north of the Danube to keep the peace along the Empire's frontiers. His excessive taxation and refusal to pay the tribes would come to haunt him later however, as mass revolts and foreign invasions occurred across the Empire. Philip was eventually killed in 249, either from fighting or assassination by his own soldiers.