Septimius Severus

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Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) (April 11 145

145

Events...
/146 - February 4 211

211

Events...
) was a Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
general, and Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
from April 14 193

193

Events...
to 211. He was born in what is now the Libya

Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n part of Rome's historic Africa Province

Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of Africa

Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
.

imius Severus was born and raised at Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna, also known as Lectis Magna , also called Lpqy or Neapolis, was a prominent city of the Roman Empire. Its ruins are located in Al Khums, Libya, 130 km east of Tripoli, on the coast where the Wadi Lebda meets the sea....
(modern Libya

Libya

Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
, modern Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
, North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
).

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Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) (April 11 145

145

Events...
/146 - February 4 211

211

Events...
) was a Roman

Roman Empire

Roman Emperor

193

Events...
to 211. He was born in what is now the Libya

Libya

Africa Province

Life

Rise to power

Septimius Severus was born and raised at Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna

Libya

Carthage

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
, North Africa

North Africa

Equestrian (Roman)

The Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Roman senate Order . A member of the order was known as an eques , which in Latin has the general meaning of any person mounted on a horse , but in this context carries the specific meaning of "knight"....
rank. Severus was of Italian Roman ancestry on his mother's side and of Berber

Berber

Berber may refer to:*a member of the Berber people**the Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages**Berberism, a political-cultural supporting a distinct Berber identity....
or Punic

Punic

The Punics, were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples originating from Carthage in North Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers....
ancestry on his father's. Little is known of his father, Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta (father of Septimius Severus)

Publius Septimius Geta was the father of Lucius Septimius Severus, father-in-law of the Roman empress Julia Domna and the paternal grandfather of Roman emperors Caracalla and Publius Septimius Geta....
, who held no major political status but had two cousins who served as consuls under emperor Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus , generally known in English as Antoninus Pius was Roman Emperors from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors and a member of the Aurelii....
. His mother, Fulvia Pia's family moved from Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
to North Africa

North Africa

Fulvius

Fulvius was the nomen of the gens Fulvia, a patrician gens of ancient Rome that originally came from Tusculum. They were originally a plebeian family but were upgraded to patricians soon after the Roman republic was formed....
gens, an ancient and politically influential clan, which was originally of plebeian status. His siblings were a younger Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta (brother of Septimius Severus)

Publius Septimius Geta was the second son to the elder Publius Septimius Geta and wife Fulvia Pia. He was born and raised in Leptis Magna . He was of Berber, Libyco-Punic and Roman ancestry....
and Septimia Octavilla. Severus’s maternal cousin was Praetorian Guard

Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
and consul Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

Gaius or Lucius Fulvius Plautianus was a member of the Roman gens Fulvius, a family of the patrician status which had been active in politics since the Roman Republic....
.

In 172, Severus was made a Senator

Roman Senate

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoicism philosophy....
. In 187 he married secondly Julia Domna

Julia Domna

Julia Domna was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Publius Septimius Geta and Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire....
. In 190 Severus became consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
, and in the following year received from the emperor Commodus

Commodus

Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus , was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192 . The name given here was his official name at his accession to sole rule; see 'Commodus#Changes of name' for earlier and later forms....
(successor to Marcus Aurelius) the command of the legions

Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
in Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
.

On the murder of Pertinax

Pertinax

Publius Helvius Pertinax, commonly known as Pertinax , was a Roman emperor who briefly reigned from December 31 192 until his death on March 28 193....
by the troops in 193, they proclaimed Severus Emperor at Carnuntum

Carnuntum

Carnuntum was an important Roman Empire army camp in what is now Austria. It belonged originally to Noricum province, but after the 1st century was part of Pannonia....
, whereupon he hurried to Italy. The former emperor, Didius Julianus

Didius Julianus

Marcus Didius Severus Julianus was briefly Roman Emperor from 28 March 193 to 1 June 193. He ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian Guard, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax....
, was condemned to death by the Senate and killed, and Severus took possession of Rome without opposition.

The legions of Syria

Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
, however, had proclaimed Pescennius Niger

Pescennius Niger

Gaius Pescennius Niger was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194. Niger was born of an old Italian equestrian family.File:Denarius-Pescennius Niger-RIC 0015var.jpg...
emperor. At the same time, Severus felt reasonable to offer Clodius Albinus

Clodius Albinus

Decimus Clodius Septimius Al?binus was a Roman usurper proclaimed Roman Emperor by the legions in Roman Britain and Hispania upon the murder of Pertinax....
, the powerful governor of Britannia who had probably supported Didius against him, the rank of Caesar, which implied some claim to succession. With his rearguard safe, he moved to the East and crushed Niger's forces at the Battle of Issus

Battle of Issus (194)

The Battle of Issus was the third major battle, following the Battle of Nicaea, in 194 between the forces of Emperor Septimus Severus and his rival, Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria who had been acclaimed Emperor by his troops, like Severus, following the death of Pertinax....
. The following year was devoted to suppressing Mesopotamia and other Parthian vassals who had backed Niger. When afterwards Severus declared openly his son Caracalla

Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
as successor, Albinus was hailed emperor by his troops and moved to Gallia. Severus, after a short stay in Rome, moved northwards to meet him. On February 19, 197

197

Events...
, in the Battle of Lugdunum

Battle of Lugdunum

The Battle of Lugdunum, also called the Battle of Lyon, was fought on 19 February 197 at Lugdunum , between the armies of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and of the Roman usurper Clodius Albinus....
, with an army of 100,000 men, mostly composed of Illyria

Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
n, Moesia

Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the areas of modern Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania along the south bank of the Danube River....
n and Dacia

Dacia

In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova....
n legions, Severus defeated and killed Clodius Albinus, securing his full control over the Empire.

Emperor

Severus was at heart a soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
, and sought glory through military exploits. In 197 he waged a brief and successful war against the Parthian Empire

Parthian Empire

The Arsacid Empire , was a significant political and cultural power in the ancient Near East, and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region....
in retaliation for the support given to Pescennius Niger. The Parthian capital Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire, located on the east bank of the Tigris.Ctesiphon was an imperial capital of the Arsacids and of their successors, the Sassanids....
was sacked by the legions, and the northern half of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
was restored to Rome.

His relations with the Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
were never good. He was unpopular with them from the outset, having seized power with the help of the military, and he returned the sentiment. Severus ordered the execution of dozens of Senators on charges of corruption and conspiracy

Conspiracy (political)

In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'?tat or through assassination....
against him, replacing them with his own favorites. He also disbanded the Praetorian Guard

Praetorian Guard

Albano Laziale

Albano Laziale is a commune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio . It is also a suburb of Rome, which is 25 km distant....
, near Rome (also probably to grant the emperor a kind of centralized reserve). During his reign the number of legions was also increased from 25/30 to 33. He also increased the number of auxiliary corps (numerii), many of these troops coming from the Eastern borders. Additionally the annual wage for a soldier was raised from 300 to 500 denarii
Denarius

The ancient Roman currency system included the 'denarius' after 211 BC, a small silver coin, and it was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly Debasement until its replacement by the antoninianus....
.

Although his actions turned Rome into a military dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is usually defined as an Autocracy form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator, without hereditary ascension....
, he was popular with the citizens of Rome, having stamped out the rampant corruption of Commodus's reign. When he returned from his victory over the Parthians, he erected the Arch of Septimius Severus

Arch of Septimius Severus

The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus at the northeast end of the Roman Forum is a triumphal arch dedicated in AD 203 to commemorate the Parthian War of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Publius Septimius Geta, in the two campaigns against the Parthians of 194/195 and 197-199....
in Rome.

According to Cassius Dio, however, after 197 Severus fell heavily under the influence of his Praetorian Prefect, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

Fulvia Plautilla

Publia Fulvia Plautilla, Fulvia Plautilla or Plautilla was a Ancient Rome Princess, briefly Roman Empress and the only wife to Roman Emperor Caracalla....
, was married to Severus's son, Caracalla. Plautianus’s excessive power came to an end in 205, when he was denounced by the Emperor's dying brother and killed. The two following praefecti, including the jurist Aemilius Papinianus

Aemilius Papinianus

Aemilius Papinianus , also known as Papinian, was a celebrated Ancient Rome jurist, magister libellorum and, after the death of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in 205, praetorian prefect....
, received however even larger powers.

Starting from 208 Severus undertook a number of military actions in Roman Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, reconstructing Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall is a Rock and Sod fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the middle of three such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being from the River Clyde to the River Forth under Agricola and the last the Ant...
and campaigning in Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, before falling severely ill in Eboracum

Eboracum

Eboracum was a castra and city in Roman Britain. Today it is known as York, located in North Yorkshire, England....
(York

York

York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
). He is famously said to have given the advise to his sons: "Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men" before he died at Eboracum on February 4, 211

211

Events...
.

Upon his death in 211, Severus was deified by the Senate and succeeded by his sons, Caracalla

Caracalla

Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta , was a Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209 to his death....
, who were advised by his wife Julia Domna

Julia Domna

Accomplishments and Record

Though his military expenditure was costly to the empire, Severus was the strong, able ruler that Rome needed at the time. He began a tradition of effective emperors elevated solely by the military. His policy of an expanded and better-rewarded army were criticized by his contemporary Dio Cassius

Dio Cassius

Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English language as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a noted Roman Empire historian and public servant....
and Herodianus: in particular, they pointed out the increasing burden (in the form of taxes and services) the civilian population had to bear to maintain the new army.

Severus was also distinguished for his buildings. Apart from the triumphal arch in the Roman Forum carrying his full name, he also built the Septizodium in Rome and enriched greatly his native city of Leptis Magna

Leptis Magna

Aureus Septimius Severus 193 Leg Xiiii Gmv

Severus and Christianity

Christians were persecuted

Persecution

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms....
during the reign of Septimus Severus. Severus allowed the enforcement of policies already long-established, which meant that Roman authorities did not intentionally seek out Christians, but when people were accused of being Christians they could either curse Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
and make an offering to Roman gods, or be executed. Furthermore, wishing to strengthen the peace by encouraging religious harmony through syncretism

Syncretism

Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogy several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclu...
, Severus tried to limit the spread of the two quarrelsome groups who refused to yield to syncretism by outlawing conversion

Religious conversion

Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion identity, or a change from one religious identity to another. This typically entails the sincere avowal of a new belief system, but may also present itself in other ways, such as adoption into an identity group or spiritual lineage....
to Christianity or Judaism

Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
. Individual officials availed themselves of the laws to proceed with rigor against the Christians. Naturally the emperor, with his strict conception of law, did not hinder such partial persecution, which took place in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
and the Thebaid

Thebaid

The Thebaid or Thebais is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nome of Upper Egypt, from Abydos, Egypt to Aswan....
, as well as in Africa proconsularis and the East. Christian martyr

Martyr

The term martyr is most commonly used today to describe an individual who sacrifices his or her life in order to further a cause or belief for many....
s were numerous in Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
(cf. Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria , was the first notable member of the Christianity of Alexandria, and one of its most distinguished teachers. He was born about the middle of the 2nd century, and died between 211 and 216....
, Stromata, ii. 20; Eusebius

Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima c 314. He is often referred to as the Father of Church History because of his work in recording the history of the early Christianity church, especially Chronicon and Church_History_....
, Church History, V., xxvi., VI., i.). No less severe were the persecutions in Africa, which seem to have begun in 197 or 198 (cf. Tertullian's

Tertullian

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian, was a prolific and controversial early Christian author, and the first to write Christian Latin literature....
Ad martyres), and included the Christians known in the Roman martyrology
Roman Martyrology

The Roman Martyrology is the official Martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church....
as the martyrs of Madaura

Madaura

Madaura may refer to:*the city of Madaurus*Lucius Apuleius of MadauraExcess long comment to prevent listing on...
. Probably in 202 or 203 Felicitas and Perpetua suffered for their faith. Persecution again raged for a short time under the proconsul Scapula

Scapula

In anatomy, the scapula, omo, or shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus with the clavicle .The scapula forms the posterior part of the shoulder girdle....
in 211, especially in Numidia

Numidia

Numidia was an ancient Berber people kingdom in present-day Algeria and part of Tunisia that later alternated between being a Roman province and being a Roman client state, and is no longer in existence today....
and Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania , officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara on the northwest....
. Later accounts of a Gallic

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
persecution, especially at Lyon

Lyon

||-||}Lyon, also known as Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France. Its name is pronounced in French language and Franco-Proven?al language, and or in English language....
, are legendary. In general it may thus be said that the position of the Christians under Septimius Severus was the same as under the Antonines

Antonines

The Antonines most often referred to were two successive Roman Emperors who ruled between 138 and 180: Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, famous for their skilled leadership....
; but the law of this Emperor at least shows clearly that the rescript

Rescript

A rescript is a document that is issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response to a specific demand made by its addressee. It does not apply to more general legislation etcetera....
of Trajan

Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
had failed to execute its purpose.

External links

(Historia Augusta at LacusCurtius: Latin text and English translation)
, , , and of Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius

Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English language as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a noted Roman Empire historian and public servant....
, covering the rise to power and reign of Septimius Severus
Online encyclopedia of Roman Emperors