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On April 9, 193, Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum. From the article:
"Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from April 193 to February 211 CE. He was of Libyan descent from Lepcis Magna and came from a locally prominent Punic family who had a history of rising to senatorial as well as consular status
His first visit to Rome was around 163 CE during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. He was protected by his cousin Caius Septimius Severus and entered the Roman Senate in 170 CE. When his cousin went to Africa as a proconsul around 173-174 CE, he chose L. Septimius Severus to be his legatus. L. Septimius married Paccia Marciana around 175 CE who had Punic origins like him; however, she died ten years later. When he was governor of Gaul and he lived in Lugdunum (Lyon), he married Julia Domna from Emesa (Syria) around 187 CE. She was descended from a family of great priests of Eliogabal.
Septimius’ rise to emperor began with the murder of the dissolute ruler Commodus on the last day of 192 CE. Commodus’ immediate successor, the well-respected if elderly Pertinax, was quickly made emperor afterwards. Pertinax’s actions as emperor, however, enraged members of the Praetorian Guard who disliked his efforts to enforce stricter discipline. Moreover, the inability of Pertinax to meet the Guard’s demands for back pay led to their revolt which ended in the emperor’s assassination. The Praetorian Guard then cynically proceeded to auction off the imperial throne to the highest bidder with the person willing to pay the most being promised the support of the Praetorian Guard and therefore the imperial throne. A rich and prominent senator, M. Didius Julianus, perhaps as a joke at first, proceeded to outbid all others at the auction and thus was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorians solely for the reason that he promised to pay them the most money. This affair caused considerable resentment among the population at Rome who openly denounced Julianus and the way in which he acquired the throne. Word of such unrest at Rome spread to the provinces and led to the emergence of three possible candidates to challenge Julianus’ rule.
After securing the loyalty of the sixteen legions of the Rhine and Danube to his cause, Septimius marched into Italy and was recognized by the Senate as emperor.
The first candidate was Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain. The second was Pescennius Niger, governor of Syria, and the third was, of course, Septimius Severus who governed the province of Pannonia Superior on the Danube frontier. All three governors emerged as possible candidates mainly because each of them held provinces that were defended by three legions apiece. Not only did this give each governor a powerful military base of three legions but also ensured that the provinces adjacent to them would more often than not join in their cause if they decided to rise up and make a bid for imperial power. Both Albinus and Niger did so. Septimius, in making his claim, had an edge over these two men. He had an advantage not only in terms of propaganda (Septimius had served with Pertinax previously and successfully portrayed himself as the ‘avenger of Pertinax,’ even adopting the slain emperor’s name) but also in terms of location as Pannonia was the closest of these provinces to Italy and Rome. To prevent a possible clash with Clodius Albinus in Britain, he secured Albinus’ support mainly by promising him the title of Caesar and thus a place in the imperial succession should Septimius be successful. After securing the loyalty of the sixteen legions of the Rhine and Danube to his cause, Septimius marched into Italy and, 60 miles outside of Rome, was recognized by the Senate as emperor. Julianus was executed, and Septimius was welcomed into Rome on 9 June 193 CE. With his accession, the year 193 CE is known as ‘The Year of Five Emperors.’
Septimius quickly dissolved the existing Praetorian Guard and replaced it with a much larger bodyguard recruited from the Danubian legions under his command. To strengthen his rule in Italy, he also raised three new legions (I-III Parthica), based the second of these not far from Rome at Alba, and increased the city of Rome’s number of vigils, urban cohorts, and other units, greatly enlarging Rome’s overall garrison.
Having now secured Rome (and, for the moment, Albinus’ loyalty in the west), Septimius now organized a campaign to march to the eastern provinces to eliminate his rival Niger. Severan forces handed out successive defeats to Niger, driving his forces out of Thrace, then defeating him at Cyzicus and Nicaea in Asia Minor in 193 CE, and ultimately defeating him at Issus in 194 CE. While in the East, Severus turned his forces against the Parthian vassals who had backed Niger in his claims. He quickly subdued the kingdoms of Osroene and Adiabene, taking the titles Parthicus Arabicus and Parthicus Adiabenicus to commemorate these victories. To solidify his reputation and attempt to link his new dynasty with that of the Antonines, he declared himself the son of the now deified former emperor Marcus Aurelius and brother of the deified Commodus. Moreover, he conferred upon his eldest son M. Aurelius Antoninus (later the emperor Caracalla) the title of Caesar. This last move led him into direct conflict with his erstwhile ally Clodius Albinus who was initially given this title in return for his loyalty. Realizing that Severus intended to discard him, Albinus rebelled and crossed with his legions into Gaul. Severus hurried west to meet Albinus in battle at Lugdunum and defeated him in a bloody and hard fought battle in February 197 CE. After defeating Albinus, Severus was now the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
In the summer of 197 CE, Severus once again travelled to the eastern provinces where the Parthian Empire had taken advantage of his absence to besiege Nisibis in Roman occupied Mesopotamia. After breaking the Parthian siege there, he proceeded to march down the Euphrates attacking and sacking the Parthian cities of Seleucia, Babylon, and ultimately the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. He would have liked to have continued his campaigns deeper into the Parthian Empire, although Dio states that he was prevented from doing so due to a lack of military intelligence and knowledge that the Romans had of the Parthian heartland. Septimius then turned against the fortress of Hatra in Iraq, but failed to take it after two attempted sieges. After coming to a face-saving agreement with Hatra, Septimius declared victory in the East, taking the title of Parthicus Maximus (indeed, the Senate voted him a Triumphal Arch in the Roman Forum which still stands today). It was during this time that he organized the lands of northern Mesopotamia, captured from the Parthians, into the new province of Roman Mesopotamia which Dio states Severus hoped would serve as a ‘bulwark for Syria’ against any future Parthian invasions (how effective this policy was in the years after Severus’ reign is a matter which is open to debate).
Severus then travelled to Egypt in 199 CE, reorganizing the province. After returning to Syria for a year’s stay (end of 200 to beginning of 202 CE), Severus finally travelled back to Rome in summer 202 CE to celebrate his decennalia with a victory game as well as giving his son Antoninus in marriage to the daughter of his confidant, the Praetorian Prefect Plautianus (who was later murdered thanks to the intrigues of Antoninus). In autumn of that same year, Severus travelled to his homeland of Africa, touring (and greatly patronising) Severus’ home town of Lepcis Magna, as well as Utica and Carthage. At Lepcis Magna, he conducted an energetic program of monument building, providing colonnaded streets, a new forum, a basilica, and a new harbor for his hometown. He also used this time to crush the desert tribes (most notably the Garamantes) who had been harassing Rome's African frontiers. Severus expanded and re-fortified the African frontier, even expanding Rome’s presence into the Sahara thus curtailing the raiding activities of these border tribes who could no longer attack Roman lands with impunity and then escape back into the desert.
Severus then returned to Italy in 203 CE where he stayed until 208 CE, holding the Secular games in 204 CE. With the murder of his Praetorian Prefect Plautianus, Severus replaced him with the jurist Papinian. His patronage of this new prefect as well as the jurists Ulpian and Paul made the Severan era a golden one for Roman jurisprudence.
In 208 CE, small scale fighting on the frontier of Roman Britain gave Severus the excuse to launch a campaign there which would last until his death in 211 CE. With this campaign, Severus was hoping for a chance to achieve military glory. Moreover, he brought with him his sons Antoninus and Geta in the hopes of providing them with some administrative and military experience necessary for holding the imperial power (until this point, the two sons had spent their time violently quarrelling with each other as well as behaving like libertines carousing at Rome’s less reputable establishments).
Severus’ intentions in Britain were almost certainly to subdue the entire island and bring it under Roman rule completely. In order to do this, Severus completely repaired and renovated many of the forts along Hadrian’s Wall with the intention of using the Wall as a base from which to launch a campaign to conquer the north of the island of Britain. Leaving Geta south (supposedly leaving him responsible for the civil administration of Britain south of the wall), Severus and his son Antoninus campaigned in the north, especially in what is now Scotland. The course of the campaign was one that was mixed for the Romans: the native Caledonian tribes did not meet the Romans in open battle and engaged in guerrilla tactics against them and caused the Romans to suffer heavy casualties. By 210 CE, however, the northern tribes sued for peace, and Severus used this opportunity to build a new advance base at Carpow on the Tay for future campaigning. He also took the title Britannicus for himself and his sons to commemorate this victory. This success was short-lived, however, as the tribes soon rose up in revolt. By this time (211 CE), Severus could not continue his campaigns against them. He was a long-time sufferer of gout which appears to have taken a toll on him: He died at Eburacum (York) on 4 February 211 CE.
Severus’ reign witnessed the implementation of reforms in both the provinces and the military which had long term consequences. After the defeat of his rivals, Severus resolved to not have another take power in the fashion that he did. Consequently, he divided the three legion provinces of Pannonia and Syria to discourage future governors to rise up in revolt (Pannonia was divided into the new provinces of Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior; Syria was divided into Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice). Britain was also divided into two provinces (Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior), although it is debated whether or not Severus or his son and successor Caracalla did this.
Severus is also noted for his reforms of the army. Not only did he greatly increase the size of the army, in order to ensure its loyalty he also raised the annual pay of the soldiers from 300 to 500 denarii (many would have seen this pay rise as overdue, as the last raise in soldiers’ salaries was granted by the emperor Domitian in 84 CE). Severus, to pay for these raises, had to debase the silver coinage. It seems that the long term effects this may have had on inflation were minimal, although Severus set a precedent for future emperors to continuously debase the coinage in order to pay for the army. The historians Dio and Herodian criticized Severus for these pay rises, mainly because it put more financial pressure on the civilian population to maintain a larger army. Moreover, Severus ended the ban on marriage which had existed in the Roman army, giving soldiers the right to take wives. This measure has been argued by some to be a positive reform as it gave legal rights to the wives of soldiers who before the ban had no legal recourse as their relationships were informal and not legally binding. So concerned was Severus with the loyalty of the army that, on his deathbed, he is said to have advised his two sons to ‘Be good to one another, enrich the soldiers, and damn the rest.’
Severus could be ruthless towards his enemies. When he defeated Niger in the East, not only did he attack many of the cities in that region which supported his rival, he is noted for taking metropolitan status away from the city of Antioch (Niger’s base of operations), and giving it to its chief rival, the city of Laodicaea. After defeating Albinus at the battle of Lugdunum, Severus released his wrath on the Roman Senate, many of its members having given either muted or open support to Albinus. Severus, after declaring his intentions to purge the Senate in a speech to that body in 197 CE, proceeded to execute 29 senators of that body for having supported his rival (many other non-senatorial supporters of Albinus met the same fate).
Despite emerging victorious from a period of civil war and bringing stability to the empire, Severus’ sense of accomplishment may have been mixed. His last words, according to various historians, seem to imply that he felt he may have left his work unfinished. Aurelius Victor reported that Severus, on his deathbed, despairingly declared ‘I have been all things, and it has profited nothing.’ Dio, who knew Severus personally, wrote that, as the emperor expired, he gasped ‘Come, give it to me, if we have anything to do!’"
"Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from April 193 to February 211 CE. He was of Libyan descent from Lepcis Magna and came from a locally prominent Punic family who had a history of rising to senatorial as well as consular status
His first visit to Rome was around 163 CE during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. He was protected by his cousin Caius Septimius Severus and entered the Roman Senate in 170 CE. When his cousin went to Africa as a proconsul around 173-174 CE, he chose L. Septimius Severus to be his legatus. L. Septimius married Paccia Marciana around 175 CE who had Punic origins like him; however, she died ten years later. When he was governor of Gaul and he lived in Lugdunum (Lyon), he married Julia Domna from Emesa (Syria) around 187 CE. She was descended from a family of great priests of Eliogabal.
Septimius’ rise to emperor began with the murder of the dissolute ruler Commodus on the last day of 192 CE. Commodus’ immediate successor, the well-respected if elderly Pertinax, was quickly made emperor afterwards. Pertinax’s actions as emperor, however, enraged members of the Praetorian Guard who disliked his efforts to enforce stricter discipline. Moreover, the inability of Pertinax to meet the Guard’s demands for back pay led to their revolt which ended in the emperor’s assassination. The Praetorian Guard then cynically proceeded to auction off the imperial throne to the highest bidder with the person willing to pay the most being promised the support of the Praetorian Guard and therefore the imperial throne. A rich and prominent senator, M. Didius Julianus, perhaps as a joke at first, proceeded to outbid all others at the auction and thus was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorians solely for the reason that he promised to pay them the most money. This affair caused considerable resentment among the population at Rome who openly denounced Julianus and the way in which he acquired the throne. Word of such unrest at Rome spread to the provinces and led to the emergence of three possible candidates to challenge Julianus’ rule.
After securing the loyalty of the sixteen legions of the Rhine and Danube to his cause, Septimius marched into Italy and was recognized by the Senate as emperor.
The first candidate was Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain. The second was Pescennius Niger, governor of Syria, and the third was, of course, Septimius Severus who governed the province of Pannonia Superior on the Danube frontier. All three governors emerged as possible candidates mainly because each of them held provinces that were defended by three legions apiece. Not only did this give each governor a powerful military base of three legions but also ensured that the provinces adjacent to them would more often than not join in their cause if they decided to rise up and make a bid for imperial power. Both Albinus and Niger did so. Septimius, in making his claim, had an edge over these two men. He had an advantage not only in terms of propaganda (Septimius had served with Pertinax previously and successfully portrayed himself as the ‘avenger of Pertinax,’ even adopting the slain emperor’s name) but also in terms of location as Pannonia was the closest of these provinces to Italy and Rome. To prevent a possible clash with Clodius Albinus in Britain, he secured Albinus’ support mainly by promising him the title of Caesar and thus a place in the imperial succession should Septimius be successful. After securing the loyalty of the sixteen legions of the Rhine and Danube to his cause, Septimius marched into Italy and, 60 miles outside of Rome, was recognized by the Senate as emperor. Julianus was executed, and Septimius was welcomed into Rome on 9 June 193 CE. With his accession, the year 193 CE is known as ‘The Year of Five Emperors.’
Septimius quickly dissolved the existing Praetorian Guard and replaced it with a much larger bodyguard recruited from the Danubian legions under his command. To strengthen his rule in Italy, he also raised three new legions (I-III Parthica), based the second of these not far from Rome at Alba, and increased the city of Rome’s number of vigils, urban cohorts, and other units, greatly enlarging Rome’s overall garrison.
Having now secured Rome (and, for the moment, Albinus’ loyalty in the west), Septimius now organized a campaign to march to the eastern provinces to eliminate his rival Niger. Severan forces handed out successive defeats to Niger, driving his forces out of Thrace, then defeating him at Cyzicus and Nicaea in Asia Minor in 193 CE, and ultimately defeating him at Issus in 194 CE. While in the East, Severus turned his forces against the Parthian vassals who had backed Niger in his claims. He quickly subdued the kingdoms of Osroene and Adiabene, taking the titles Parthicus Arabicus and Parthicus Adiabenicus to commemorate these victories. To solidify his reputation and attempt to link his new dynasty with that of the Antonines, he declared himself the son of the now deified former emperor Marcus Aurelius and brother of the deified Commodus. Moreover, he conferred upon his eldest son M. Aurelius Antoninus (later the emperor Caracalla) the title of Caesar. This last move led him into direct conflict with his erstwhile ally Clodius Albinus who was initially given this title in return for his loyalty. Realizing that Severus intended to discard him, Albinus rebelled and crossed with his legions into Gaul. Severus hurried west to meet Albinus in battle at Lugdunum and defeated him in a bloody and hard fought battle in February 197 CE. After defeating Albinus, Severus was now the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
In the summer of 197 CE, Severus once again travelled to the eastern provinces where the Parthian Empire had taken advantage of his absence to besiege Nisibis in Roman occupied Mesopotamia. After breaking the Parthian siege there, he proceeded to march down the Euphrates attacking and sacking the Parthian cities of Seleucia, Babylon, and ultimately the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. He would have liked to have continued his campaigns deeper into the Parthian Empire, although Dio states that he was prevented from doing so due to a lack of military intelligence and knowledge that the Romans had of the Parthian heartland. Septimius then turned against the fortress of Hatra in Iraq, but failed to take it after two attempted sieges. After coming to a face-saving agreement with Hatra, Septimius declared victory in the East, taking the title of Parthicus Maximus (indeed, the Senate voted him a Triumphal Arch in the Roman Forum which still stands today). It was during this time that he organized the lands of northern Mesopotamia, captured from the Parthians, into the new province of Roman Mesopotamia which Dio states Severus hoped would serve as a ‘bulwark for Syria’ against any future Parthian invasions (how effective this policy was in the years after Severus’ reign is a matter which is open to debate).
Severus then travelled to Egypt in 199 CE, reorganizing the province. After returning to Syria for a year’s stay (end of 200 to beginning of 202 CE), Severus finally travelled back to Rome in summer 202 CE to celebrate his decennalia with a victory game as well as giving his son Antoninus in marriage to the daughter of his confidant, the Praetorian Prefect Plautianus (who was later murdered thanks to the intrigues of Antoninus). In autumn of that same year, Severus travelled to his homeland of Africa, touring (and greatly patronising) Severus’ home town of Lepcis Magna, as well as Utica and Carthage. At Lepcis Magna, he conducted an energetic program of monument building, providing colonnaded streets, a new forum, a basilica, and a new harbor for his hometown. He also used this time to crush the desert tribes (most notably the Garamantes) who had been harassing Rome's African frontiers. Severus expanded and re-fortified the African frontier, even expanding Rome’s presence into the Sahara thus curtailing the raiding activities of these border tribes who could no longer attack Roman lands with impunity and then escape back into the desert.
Severus then returned to Italy in 203 CE where he stayed until 208 CE, holding the Secular games in 204 CE. With the murder of his Praetorian Prefect Plautianus, Severus replaced him with the jurist Papinian. His patronage of this new prefect as well as the jurists Ulpian and Paul made the Severan era a golden one for Roman jurisprudence.
In 208 CE, small scale fighting on the frontier of Roman Britain gave Severus the excuse to launch a campaign there which would last until his death in 211 CE. With this campaign, Severus was hoping for a chance to achieve military glory. Moreover, he brought with him his sons Antoninus and Geta in the hopes of providing them with some administrative and military experience necessary for holding the imperial power (until this point, the two sons had spent their time violently quarrelling with each other as well as behaving like libertines carousing at Rome’s less reputable establishments).
Severus’ intentions in Britain were almost certainly to subdue the entire island and bring it under Roman rule completely. In order to do this, Severus completely repaired and renovated many of the forts along Hadrian’s Wall with the intention of using the Wall as a base from which to launch a campaign to conquer the north of the island of Britain. Leaving Geta south (supposedly leaving him responsible for the civil administration of Britain south of the wall), Severus and his son Antoninus campaigned in the north, especially in what is now Scotland. The course of the campaign was one that was mixed for the Romans: the native Caledonian tribes did not meet the Romans in open battle and engaged in guerrilla tactics against them and caused the Romans to suffer heavy casualties. By 210 CE, however, the northern tribes sued for peace, and Severus used this opportunity to build a new advance base at Carpow on the Tay for future campaigning. He also took the title Britannicus for himself and his sons to commemorate this victory. This success was short-lived, however, as the tribes soon rose up in revolt. By this time (211 CE), Severus could not continue his campaigns against them. He was a long-time sufferer of gout which appears to have taken a toll on him: He died at Eburacum (York) on 4 February 211 CE.
Severus’ reign witnessed the implementation of reforms in both the provinces and the military which had long term consequences. After the defeat of his rivals, Severus resolved to not have another take power in the fashion that he did. Consequently, he divided the three legion provinces of Pannonia and Syria to discourage future governors to rise up in revolt (Pannonia was divided into the new provinces of Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior; Syria was divided into Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice). Britain was also divided into two provinces (Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior), although it is debated whether or not Severus or his son and successor Caracalla did this.
Severus is also noted for his reforms of the army. Not only did he greatly increase the size of the army, in order to ensure its loyalty he also raised the annual pay of the soldiers from 300 to 500 denarii (many would have seen this pay rise as overdue, as the last raise in soldiers’ salaries was granted by the emperor Domitian in 84 CE). Severus, to pay for these raises, had to debase the silver coinage. It seems that the long term effects this may have had on inflation were minimal, although Severus set a precedent for future emperors to continuously debase the coinage in order to pay for the army. The historians Dio and Herodian criticized Severus for these pay rises, mainly because it put more financial pressure on the civilian population to maintain a larger army. Moreover, Severus ended the ban on marriage which had existed in the Roman army, giving soldiers the right to take wives. This measure has been argued by some to be a positive reform as it gave legal rights to the wives of soldiers who before the ban had no legal recourse as their relationships were informal and not legally binding. So concerned was Severus with the loyalty of the army that, on his deathbed, he is said to have advised his two sons to ‘Be good to one another, enrich the soldiers, and damn the rest.’
Severus could be ruthless towards his enemies. When he defeated Niger in the East, not only did he attack many of the cities in that region which supported his rival, he is noted for taking metropolitan status away from the city of Antioch (Niger’s base of operations), and giving it to its chief rival, the city of Laodicaea. After defeating Albinus at the battle of Lugdunum, Severus released his wrath on the Roman Senate, many of its members having given either muted or open support to Albinus. Severus, after declaring his intentions to purge the Senate in a speech to that body in 197 CE, proceeded to execute 29 senators of that body for having supported his rival (many other non-senatorial supporters of Albinus met the same fate).
Despite emerging victorious from a period of civil war and bringing stability to the empire, Severus’ sense of accomplishment may have been mixed. His last words, according to various historians, seem to imply that he felt he may have left his work unfinished. Aurelius Victor reported that Severus, on his deathbed, despairingly declared ‘I have been all things, and it has profited nothing.’ Dio, who knew Severus personally, wrote that, as the emperor expired, he gasped ‘Come, give it to me, if we have anything to do!’"
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When Septimus Severus Invaded Scotland | Britain's African Emperor | Timeline
Nearly two thousand years ago most of Britain was a settled province of the Roman Empire. But those in the north held out against the world superpower and in...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on April 9, 193, Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum.
He was born in AD 145 in the prominent Roman Libyan city of Leptis Magna in Africa,
When Septimus Severus Invaded Scotland | Britain's African Emperor | Timeline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_xYtZNPUfk
Images:
1. The African-born emperor Septimius Severus, his wife, Julia Domna, and their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, appear in a tondo portrait from Egypt painted in tempera.
2. The Battle of Lugdunum - 197 AD. A significant proportion of Albinus’ army had been troops from the British legions. Artwork by © Johnny Shumate.
3. Gold Aureus - Septimius Severus ( 193 to 194 ) - Rome
4. Medallion of Emperor Septimius Severus
Background from {[https://www.history.co.uk/article/severus-rome%E2%80%99s-first-african-emperor/]}
SEVERUS: ROME’S FIRST AFRICAN EMPEROR
In AD 193, Lucius Septimius Severus was named ruler of the Roman Empire and in doing so became Rome’s first African Emperor. After emerging victorious from a period of civil war, Severus expanded the border of the empire to new heights, ushered in a period of imperial transformation and founded a dynasty.
Born in AD 145 in the prominent Roman Libyan city of Leptis Magna in Africa, Severus came from a wealthy and prominent local family. In AD 162, Severus went to Rome and was granted entry into the senatorial ranks, after his cousin Gaius Septimius Severus had recommended him to Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Severus rose through the ranks of the cursus honorum (public offices held by aspiring Roman politicians), gaining entry into the Roman Senate in AD 170 and being appointed legatus, a senior position in the Roman Army, in AD 173 after his cousin became proconsul of the Province of Africa.
Two years later he married Paccia Marciana, a woman from his home city of Leptis Magna. The marriage would last a little over ten years before Marciana passed away in AD 186 of natural causes. A year later during his time as governor of Gaul and living in the city of Lugdunum (modern Lyon in France), Severus married Julia Domna from Syria and the pair would have two sons - Lucius Septimius Bassianus (later nicknamed Caracalla after the Gallic hooded tunic he always wore) and Publius Septimius Geta.
In AD 191, the then emperor Commodus made Severus governor of Pannonia Superor, a province on the Danube frontier. The following year Commodus was assassinated and in AD 193 his successor Publius Helvius Pertinax was declared emperor, heralding in the Year of the Five Emperors - a time in which five men claimed the title of Roman Emperor.
Pertinax’s reign would last just 86 days before a disgruntled Praetorian Guard (household troops of the Roman Emperors), unhappy with Pertinax’s efforts to enforce stricter discipline within their ranks, assassinated him.
The Praetorian Guard then did something remarkable and auctioned off the emperorship to the highest bidder. The wealthy senator Didius Julianus offered the most money for their support and subsequently secured the job.
How Julianus had brought his way to the top made him very unpopular in Rome and as such, three candidates emerged as rivals to the imperial throne – Clodius Albinus (governor of Britain), Pescennius Niger (governor of Syria) and Severus (governor of Gaul). By commanding the largest army closest to Rome, Severus had the upper hand. He secured the support of Albinus by offering him the title of Caesar, thus guaranteeing him a place in the imperial succession if Severus were to be successful.
In June 193, Severus marched on Rome declaring himself the avenger of Pertinax and before he’d even entered the city was declared emperor by the Senate. Julianus was executed in the palace after ruling for a mere 66 days.
Severus quickly secured his power within Rome by dissolving the current Praetorian Guard and filling its ranks with soldiers loyal to him, as well as raising three new legions. In AD 194, Severus looked to quell any threat from Niger in Syria and defeated him at the Battle of Issus. While in the East, Severus turned his forces against those Parthian vassals who had backed Niger.
His next move saw him come into conflict with his short time ally Albinus. Hoping to secure a family dynasty, Severus declared his eldest son Caracalla as Caesar, effectively severing ties with Albinus and quashing any successional hopes the governor of Britain might have had. Albinus subsequently marched into Gaul and the forces of the two men clashed in AD 197 at the hard-fought battle of Lugdunum - a fight said to be the largest and bloodiest of all clashes between Roman forces. Severus emerged victorious and secured full control over the Roman Empire.
He then carried out a purge of the Roman Senate, executing any who had opposed him or shown favour to Albinus. Severus then waged a successful campaign against the Parthian Empire in the East, supposedly in retaliation for their support of Niger. His forces sacked the Parthian capital city of Ctesiphon and added the northern half of Mesopotamia to the empire. For his efforts, a Triumphal Arch was erected in Severus’s honour in the Roman Forum.
BE GOOD TO ONE ANOTHER, ENRICH THE SOLDIERS, AND DAMN THE REST.
Severus enlarged the Roman Empire further with campaigns in Africa and Britain. He made significant gains in Caledonia (modern Scotland) and strengthened Hadrian’s Wall but fell short of his ultimate goal of bringing the whole British island under his rule.
It was in Roman Britain that Severus would see his final days. Ill health, most likely caused by gout, took a toll on the Emperor who passed away in AD 211 at the age of 65. On his deathbed, he was said to give the following advice to his sons, ‘Be good to one another, enrich the soldiers, and damn the rest.’ It was his treatment of the soldiers that did indeed secure Severus’s reign. His military reforms saw wage increases for soldiers along with the removal of the marriage ban, allowing military men to have wives. His treatment of the army would become a model that future emperors would emulate.
Severus had also been popular amongst the Roman people, having brought stability after the vices and corruption of Commodus’s reign. He also left behind an empire spanning some 5 million square kilometres, the largest it had ever been.
His two sons Caracalla and Geta jointly inherited the throne and sued for peace with the Caledonians a short while later and the Roman frontier was brought back to behind Hadrian’s Wall. Rome would never campaign so far into Caledonia again.
Ignoring their father’s advice to be civil with one another, the relationship between the two brother’s descended to the point that members of the Praetorian Guard loyal to Caracalla assassinated Geta; most likely at the command of Caracalla himself. After a wide-scale purge of all those loyal to Geta, said to be around 20,000 people killed, Caracalla assumed total control of the emperorship in AD 212.
He did, however, heed his father's words regarding the treatment of soldiers, raising annual wages further and often portraying himself as one of them whilst out on campaign.
His campaign against the Alemanni (Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine River) had some success whilst his Parthian campaign in the East achieved little. His most notable act was the introduction of the Constitutio Antoniniana (Antonine Constitution), which granted citizenship to all free inhabitants across the Roman Empire.
In the end, Caracalla died at the age of just 29, falling victim to assassination by a Praetorian Guard. The ancient sources portray him as one of the evilest men to have ascended to the imperial throne, ruling savagely and conducting himself like a tyrant.
FYI SPC Randy Zimmerman SPC Daniel RankinMSG (Join to see)SSG Byron HewettSSG Robert WebsterCSM Chuck StaffordSGT Jim Ramge, MBACpl Robert Russell PayneCPT Richard TrioneA1C Riley SandersSSgt Clare MayPo2 David DunlapSGT (Join to see)SMSgt Tom BurnsSSG Bill McCoySP5 Gary NelsonSP5 Geoffrey VannersonSFC Bernard WalkoSFC Richard Williamson
He was born in AD 145 in the prominent Roman Libyan city of Leptis Magna in Africa,
When Septimus Severus Invaded Scotland | Britain's African Emperor | Timeline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_xYtZNPUfk
Images:
1. The African-born emperor Septimius Severus, his wife, Julia Domna, and their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, appear in a tondo portrait from Egypt painted in tempera.
2. The Battle of Lugdunum - 197 AD. A significant proportion of Albinus’ army had been troops from the British legions. Artwork by © Johnny Shumate.
3. Gold Aureus - Septimius Severus ( 193 to 194 ) - Rome
4. Medallion of Emperor Septimius Severus
Background from {[https://www.history.co.uk/article/severus-rome%E2%80%99s-first-african-emperor/]}
SEVERUS: ROME’S FIRST AFRICAN EMPEROR
In AD 193, Lucius Septimius Severus was named ruler of the Roman Empire and in doing so became Rome’s first African Emperor. After emerging victorious from a period of civil war, Severus expanded the border of the empire to new heights, ushered in a period of imperial transformation and founded a dynasty.
Born in AD 145 in the prominent Roman Libyan city of Leptis Magna in Africa, Severus came from a wealthy and prominent local family. In AD 162, Severus went to Rome and was granted entry into the senatorial ranks, after his cousin Gaius Septimius Severus had recommended him to Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Severus rose through the ranks of the cursus honorum (public offices held by aspiring Roman politicians), gaining entry into the Roman Senate in AD 170 and being appointed legatus, a senior position in the Roman Army, in AD 173 after his cousin became proconsul of the Province of Africa.
Two years later he married Paccia Marciana, a woman from his home city of Leptis Magna. The marriage would last a little over ten years before Marciana passed away in AD 186 of natural causes. A year later during his time as governor of Gaul and living in the city of Lugdunum (modern Lyon in France), Severus married Julia Domna from Syria and the pair would have two sons - Lucius Septimius Bassianus (later nicknamed Caracalla after the Gallic hooded tunic he always wore) and Publius Septimius Geta.
In AD 191, the then emperor Commodus made Severus governor of Pannonia Superor, a province on the Danube frontier. The following year Commodus was assassinated and in AD 193 his successor Publius Helvius Pertinax was declared emperor, heralding in the Year of the Five Emperors - a time in which five men claimed the title of Roman Emperor.
Pertinax’s reign would last just 86 days before a disgruntled Praetorian Guard (household troops of the Roman Emperors), unhappy with Pertinax’s efforts to enforce stricter discipline within their ranks, assassinated him.
The Praetorian Guard then did something remarkable and auctioned off the emperorship to the highest bidder. The wealthy senator Didius Julianus offered the most money for their support and subsequently secured the job.
How Julianus had brought his way to the top made him very unpopular in Rome and as such, three candidates emerged as rivals to the imperial throne – Clodius Albinus (governor of Britain), Pescennius Niger (governor of Syria) and Severus (governor of Gaul). By commanding the largest army closest to Rome, Severus had the upper hand. He secured the support of Albinus by offering him the title of Caesar, thus guaranteeing him a place in the imperial succession if Severus were to be successful.
In June 193, Severus marched on Rome declaring himself the avenger of Pertinax and before he’d even entered the city was declared emperor by the Senate. Julianus was executed in the palace after ruling for a mere 66 days.
Severus quickly secured his power within Rome by dissolving the current Praetorian Guard and filling its ranks with soldiers loyal to him, as well as raising three new legions. In AD 194, Severus looked to quell any threat from Niger in Syria and defeated him at the Battle of Issus. While in the East, Severus turned his forces against those Parthian vassals who had backed Niger.
His next move saw him come into conflict with his short time ally Albinus. Hoping to secure a family dynasty, Severus declared his eldest son Caracalla as Caesar, effectively severing ties with Albinus and quashing any successional hopes the governor of Britain might have had. Albinus subsequently marched into Gaul and the forces of the two men clashed in AD 197 at the hard-fought battle of Lugdunum - a fight said to be the largest and bloodiest of all clashes between Roman forces. Severus emerged victorious and secured full control over the Roman Empire.
He then carried out a purge of the Roman Senate, executing any who had opposed him or shown favour to Albinus. Severus then waged a successful campaign against the Parthian Empire in the East, supposedly in retaliation for their support of Niger. His forces sacked the Parthian capital city of Ctesiphon and added the northern half of Mesopotamia to the empire. For his efforts, a Triumphal Arch was erected in Severus’s honour in the Roman Forum.
BE GOOD TO ONE ANOTHER, ENRICH THE SOLDIERS, AND DAMN THE REST.
Severus enlarged the Roman Empire further with campaigns in Africa and Britain. He made significant gains in Caledonia (modern Scotland) and strengthened Hadrian’s Wall but fell short of his ultimate goal of bringing the whole British island under his rule.
It was in Roman Britain that Severus would see his final days. Ill health, most likely caused by gout, took a toll on the Emperor who passed away in AD 211 at the age of 65. On his deathbed, he was said to give the following advice to his sons, ‘Be good to one another, enrich the soldiers, and damn the rest.’ It was his treatment of the soldiers that did indeed secure Severus’s reign. His military reforms saw wage increases for soldiers along with the removal of the marriage ban, allowing military men to have wives. His treatment of the army would become a model that future emperors would emulate.
Severus had also been popular amongst the Roman people, having brought stability after the vices and corruption of Commodus’s reign. He also left behind an empire spanning some 5 million square kilometres, the largest it had ever been.
His two sons Caracalla and Geta jointly inherited the throne and sued for peace with the Caledonians a short while later and the Roman frontier was brought back to behind Hadrian’s Wall. Rome would never campaign so far into Caledonia again.
Ignoring their father’s advice to be civil with one another, the relationship between the two brother’s descended to the point that members of the Praetorian Guard loyal to Caracalla assassinated Geta; most likely at the command of Caracalla himself. After a wide-scale purge of all those loyal to Geta, said to be around 20,000 people killed, Caracalla assumed total control of the emperorship in AD 212.
He did, however, heed his father's words regarding the treatment of soldiers, raising annual wages further and often portraying himself as one of them whilst out on campaign.
His campaign against the Alemanni (Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine River) had some success whilst his Parthian campaign in the East achieved little. His most notable act was the introduction of the Constitutio Antoniniana (Antonine Constitution), which granted citizenship to all free inhabitants across the Roman Empire.
In the end, Caracalla died at the age of just 29, falling victim to assassination by a Praetorian Guard. The ancient sources portray him as one of the evilest men to have ascended to the imperial throne, ruling savagely and conducting himself like a tyrant.
FYI SPC Randy Zimmerman SPC Daniel RankinMSG (Join to see)SSG Byron HewettSSG Robert WebsterCSM Chuck StaffordSGT Jim Ramge, MBACpl Robert Russell PayneCPT Richard TrioneA1C Riley SandersSSgt Clare MayPo2 David DunlapSGT (Join to see)SMSgt Tom BurnsSSG Bill McCoySP5 Gary NelsonSP5 Geoffrey VannersonSFC Bernard WalkoSFC Richard Williamson
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LTC Stephen F.
The team are back to discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine XIII.3 The Rise of Septimius Severus.'Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from ...
The Rise of Septimus Severus
'Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEOOu3Vtvjw
Images:
1. Roman Britain Northern Campaigns [208-211]
2. Roman Emperor Septimius Severus by Carole Raddato
3. Ninth Legion in Scotland.
4. Key figures of Scotland's Roman period, with a 'genocide' ordered in 210AD as Emperor Severus tried to achieve military glory before he died.
Background from {[https://www.unrv.com/decline-of-empire/septimius-severus.php]}
Septimius Severus (145 - 211 AD)
Emperor: 193 - 211 AD
The assassination of Commodus, followed by the short reign of Pertinax and the auction of the empire to Didius Julianus, led to civil war and the rise of Septimius Severus. Though the concept of the soldier emperor was not a new development (i.e. Vespasian, Trajan), Severus' life was strictly of the military, both before and after his accession to rule Rome. His victory led to a moderately stable administrative reign, though his continued military exploits would strain the treasury and his somewhat harsh measures would taint his relationship with the aristocracy.
Severus was born April 11 AD 145 in the North African (modern Libya) city of Lepcis Magna and was of Italian heritage on his maternal side and most likely of paternal Punic origins. Though African, there is little evidence to suggest that Severus was anything other than of typical Mediterranean stock. Assertions that he was the first "black" emperor based on his African heritage fails to account for the semitic origins of the Punic (Phoenician) people and his maternal Italian heritage. (Though, it is entirely possible that Severus' paternal North African roots did include some native Berber influences.)
Reared in a family that included at least two consuls (cousins of Severus' father), the young future emperor received a quality education and was likely prepped for future service in Roman government. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Severus gained entry into the Senate and continued to procure imperial favor throughout the reigns of both Marcus and his son Commodus. He served as a quaestor in Hispania Baetica then the same in Sardinia after a political reorganization of the two provinces forced a transfer. This was followed by a command as a legionary legate under the proconsul of Africa and by promotion to Tribune of the Plebes by Marcus Aurelius.
He was married to Paccia Marciana at about this time (roughly AD 175), but the marriage was childless and Paccia died young, approximately 10 years later. Various military and political commands in Hispania and Gaul through this period strengthened his relationship with both Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and helped him build an influential base in the west. Severus was remarried to Julia Domna, the daughter of Julius Bassianus, who was the high-priest of the Syrian god Elagabalus (which incidentally greatly influenced a later member of the Severan imperial dynasty: Severus' great nephew Varius Avitus Bassianus who became known as Elagabalus). Severus and Julia had two children, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla) and Geta, born in AD 186 and 189 respectively.
In the latter part of the reign of Commodus political disharmony and imperial mismanagement led to several plots against the emperor's life. This forced Commodus to appoint his most trusted commanders into positions of importance. Among these were three men who would all later vie for the throne themselves; Pescennius Niger was appointed to govern Syria, Clobius Albinus to Britain and Septimius Severus to Pannonia. Provincial loyalty and support from the bulk of the military may have provided some sense of security to Commodus abroad, but it did little to secure his position in Rome. He was assassinated December 31, AD 192 and the potential for civil war was only averted by the wise Senatorial appointment of the respected Pertinax as Commodus' successor. However, dissatisfaction among the Praetorians led to the murder of Pertinax just short of 3 months after his accession (March 28, AD 193). The auction of the empire by the praetorians to Didius Julianus immediately sparked an open revolt among the legions. Already angered by the death of their preferred Commodus, this act was intolerable and the legions in Syria proclaimed their own commander Niger as emperor within days of Pertinax' death. By April 9, the Pannonian legions had done the same for Severus.
Clodius Albinus in Britain had designs of his own, and support from a considerable political faction, but Severus was well aware of this possibility. In a shrewd political move, the 48 year old Severus offered to make the younger (approx. 5 years) Albinus his Caesar (imperial heir) in exchange for loyalty and support (though we can surmise from later evidence that this was truly just to keep him temporarily pacified). Leaving Niger behind him in the east, Severus marched for Rome, and the reign of Didius Julianus was doomed. The legions of the western provinces rallied behind Severus, leaving Julianus without any defensible position. Attempts to assassinate his opponent, negotiate a settlement and to finally abdicate his position all failed, and ultimately the praetorians took matters into their own hands, eliminating Julianus. The Senate immediately confirmed Severus as the legal princeps and he entered Rome as both a deliverer and force of vengeance. The murderers of Pertinax were immediately purged and the troublesome praetorians disbanded but reconstituted with recruits from among his own loyal legionaries. He increased the urban cohorts (effectively the city police) and the vigiles (firefighters) and raised the annual pay rate of the legions, thereby assuring their loyalty. He made several administrative arrangements to secure a capable functioning government in Rome, and was free to focus his attention to see east where rival claimant Pescennius Niger had no attention of abandoning his own cause.
War with Pescennius Niger
While Septimius Severus was settling affairs in Rome after his successful coup of Didius Julianus' government (AD 193), the governor of Syria was still preparing his own bid for Roman supremacy. The source information on Gaius Pescennius Niger is relatively obscure, be he seems to have been an Italian of equestrian heritage and was born in approximately AD 135. After serving with some military acclaim in Dacia, he seems to have been made a suffex consul (late 180s AD) and had been appointed to govern Syria as a trusted lieutenant of Commodus in AD 191.
Word of the assassination of Commodus on December 31 AD 192 likely traveled slowly into the further provinces of the empire. Pertinax was probably well established as a replacement by the time Niger was aware of his benefactors death, but the idea of usurpation, despite Pertinax also having been a supporter of Commodus, may have been established as soon as the news arrived. However, it wasn't until the murder of Pertinax and the short reign of Didius Julianus that revolt was openly set in motion. The people of Rome began to riot in clear opposition to Julianus as soon as he arrived in Rome following Pertinax murder on March 29, AD 193. The mob seized control of the Circus Maximus and called for the popular general Niger to return to Rome and claim the throne for himself, before dispersing peacefully the following day.
When word of reached Niger in Antioch, he understandably envisioned himself the people's champion and had himself proclaimed emperor by his readily supportive legions. Despite what can be assumed to be a cordial relationship between Niger and Severus (who were both ardent Commodian supporters), Niger immediately began to consolidate his control of the east while Severus made a deal with Clodius Albinus (another potential rival) in Britain (making him his heir in order to gain his support) thereby securing the west. While Severus marched on Rome, Niger moved from Antioch to Byzantium as a foreboding token of his proximity to the territories of Severus. He legitimized his own cause as the champion of the people and avenger of Pertinax by adopting the title "Justus" (the just). Attempts to get messages to Rome in order to supersede any claims by Severus to the throne were intercepted and conflict was inevitable.
For Niger to make good on his own claim, he pressed the issue and moved against Severus. He did so by marching west into Thracia towards the coastal city of Perinthus. Despite numerical advantages he was repulsed by Severan loyalists and marched back to his stronghold at Byzantium. Niger attempted to offer an olive branch to Severus in the form of a joint rule compromise, but Severus rejected this flatly. Conversely, an offer by Severus to allow Niger to go into voluntary exile unmolested was equally snubbed. Meanwhile, Asellius Aemilianus the proconsular governor of Asia and a supporter of Niger moved an army against Severan forces near Cyzicus on the coast of the Propontis. Aemilianus himself was killed in the engagement but the two armies continued to jockey for position while moving east into Bithynia.
Near Nicea, Niger arrived to take personal command facing the Severan commander Candidus (despite Severus himself having moved into the region by this point in late AD 193). It was here that a decisive battle was fought in the narrow passes between Nicea and Cius, with the outcome in doubt throughout. Each side held the advantage at several junctures, but ultimately Candidus forced Niger to retreat under cover of darkness. Niger moved south into Syria, stopping at Antioch while Candidus consolidated the Severan position in the Asia region.
In the Spring of AD 194, a Severan army under the command of Valerianus and Anullinus marched south from Cilicia towards Niger's position in Syria. At the "Cilician Gates" (a narrow pass through the mountains with high mountains on one side and cliffs above the sea on the other) Niger positioned his army on a well fortified hill and prepared for the assault. Initially the defender's position proved superior but a severe thunderstorm erupted that had the effect of confusing and disrupting Niger's forces (Dio Cassius implies divine intervention, but the effects of the storm certainly played a role in the mindset of both armies). By the end of the battle some 20,000 of Niger's army had been killed and though Niger himself escaped he was soon captured and beheaded near the Euphrates.
With the result of the battles at Cyzicus, Nicea and the Cilician Gates, any remaining support for Niger and resistance to Severus in the east waned. Severus also earned a harsh reputation in dealing with Niger's supporters, though few of the aristocracy were victimized to extremity beyond financial penalty and/or exile. Citizens of cities loyal to Severus were rewarded for their support while cities such as Antioch and Byzantium were stripped of various legal rights among other punishments in response to their support of Niger.
With his victory over Niger, Severus continued for a short time to assert his authority in the east and led punitive campaigns against the Osroeni, the Adiabeni, and the Arabians. As many of Niger's remaining supporters fled to Rome's eastern rival Parthia, Severus planned additional attacks into Mesopotamia and beyond in order to assert his authority. Much like the conqueror emperor Trajan of a century before, Severus looked to expand the empire's borders and did so by annexing Mesopotamia as a province. However, Severus' continued eastern adventures would have to wait, as the defeat of Niger allowed an opportunity to confront another rival. Despite having already named Clodius Albinus his heir, Severus named his own son Caracalla as Caesar in a clear affront to the governor of Britain (though there is some contention that Albinus had been actively undermining Severus in the west during the war with Niger). As Albinus prepared his own army for war, Severus marched west with the intention of consolidating the entire Roman empire under his own power.
War with Clodius Albinus
Septimius Severus' victory over his eastern rival Pescennius Niger opened a new opportunity to cement himself as sole emperor and his family as an imperial dynasty. Despite an earlier arrangement with the governor of Britain Clodius Albinus, to keep him from also making a claim for the throne, Severus initiated a policy to establish connections and continuity between himself and imperial predecessors. By late AD 195 Severus identified himself with Marcus Aurelius proclaiming himself the son of the former emperor (and brother of Commodus) to legitimize his claim and renamed his eldest son Bassianus as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In so doing, Bassianus (who would later be known as Caracalla after the hooded cloak that he wore) was named Caesar to replace the previously appointed Clodius Albinus who was also declared a public enemy. Expectedly, Albinus had himself declared emperor, prepared his legions and crossed the Mare Britannicum (English Channel) into Gaul.
Clodius Albinus, like his rival Severus, was born (c. AD 150) into a wealthy North African family of senatorial distinction and rose rapidly through the Roman political system. Also like fellow imperial claimant Pescennius Niger, Albinus displayed distinction in the Dacian campaigns of Commodus reign (early 180s). He reached the consulship by the middle of that same decade and served various provincial commands and governorships throughout Commodus' reign before ultimately governing Britannia in AD 192. The Historia Augusta suggests that Commodus either intended to, or actually did name Albinus as Caesar (his heir), but coinage does not reflect this title until after the death of Commodus and the appointment by Septimius Severus to that position following the events of AD 193. Regardless, Albinus did enjoy marginal popularity among the aristocracy and he was undoubtedly considering many possible options even prior to the official break with Severus.
By early AD 196 Albinus had secured support among the aristocracy of Gaul and Hispania and established a continental base at Lugdunum (modern Lyons). Initially, Albinus enjoyed success in battle against Severan loyalists but he was unable to capitalize on these early victories. By mid AD 196, Albinus bid for the throne had stalled in southern Gaul, just short of the Alps and a march on Rome itself. Severus' personal arrival at the head of a massive army from the east began to turn the tide in his favor.
In early AD 197 (February 19) two massive armies met at Tinurtium (modern Tournus) on the River Arar (modern Saône). Cassius Dio reported 150,000 men on each side though a third, roughly 50,000 men each, of this number is much more likely. The resulting contest was among the bloodiest and hardest fought in Roman history (considering that both sides were ultimately Roman). The battle was in doubt from its onset, with each army facing opportunities for victory and potential for disaster. Albinus' left flank was initially overrun, but the right held firm and lured the Severan forces into a trap. Severus' advance was in such jeopardy of being turned into a rout that he attempted to intervene personally. At the head of a detachment of Praetorians Severus launched himself into the battle but this too was nearly a disaster. Severus lost a horse in the ensuing mayhem and was forced to fight valiantly in order to stem the tide of retreat and inspire renewed effort. His personal involvement seems to have allowed his army to hold firm. At this critical juncture, Severus' cavalry under Laetus intervened and helped overwhelm the army of Albinus.
Cassius Dio describes the resulting aftermath and the ultimate defeat of Albinus:
"Thus Severus conquered; but the Roman power suffered a severe blow, inasmuch as countless numbers had fallen on both sides. Many even of the victors deplored the disaster, for the entire plain was seen to be covered with the bodies of men and horses; some of them lay there mutilated by many wounds, as if hacked in pieces, and others, though unwounded, were piled up in heaps, weapons were scattered about, and blood flowed in streams, even pouring into the rivers. Albinus took refuge in a house that stood beside the Rhone, but when he saw the whole place surrounded, he slew himself. I am not stating, how, what Severus wrote about it, but what actually took place. The emperor, after viewing the body of Albinus and feasting his eyes upon it to the full, while giving free rein to his tongue as well, ordered all but the head to be cast away, but sent the head to Rome to be exposed on a pole."
Severus' victory ensured his continued authority and the establishment of his dynasty, but the emperor proved to have cruel streak that would taint his legacy. Many supporters of Albinus (including his immediate family) were executed and purges of the aristocracy were similar to those of Sulla in the Late Republic. While Severus' victory ensured imperial stability at least temporarily, it also helped establish the continued rise of military and bureaucratic supremacy in the government of the later Roman Empire.
Severus' Administration and the Legions
Ultimate victory over rivals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus allowed Septimius Severus to focus his attention addressing legionary reform and engaging in military endeavors against external threats. Having already reformed the praetorian guard, who were responsible for the murder of Pertinax and the auction of the empire to Didius Julianus, Severus raised the pay scale by one half of the standard for legionaries, allowed more opportunities for promotion and in AD 197 legalized marriage for soldiers.
While soldiers had certainly long maintained unrecognized marriage, this step brought the rights of legionaries in line with those of other citizens and allowed the children of such marriages to be legally recognized as citizens. While pay raises and benefits along with the increased citizen roles was certainly expensive, such steps allowed for a greater recruiting base, and supported Severus' values on the importance of family. Thusly, the emperor who had been a career soldier not only showed his appreciation for the military that helped him to the throne, but presumably expected these rewarding measures to increase loyalty and morale.
The emperor would quickly put his legions to the test. In AD 197, earlier attempts by the Parthian King Vologases V during the Roman civil war to reassert control over Mesopatamia destabilized the eastern frontier and eventually culminated in another war with Rome's old rival Parthia. Severus marched east after raising three new legions, I, II and III Parthica, one of which (II Parthica) would eventually be stationed as a permanent garrison in Italy on the Alban Mountain for both internal control and as a centralized reserve. Parthian resistance was minimal and the Romans swept down the Euphrates on the same path set by Trajan nearly a century earlier sacking Seleucia, Babylon and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon.
Also much like Trajan, Severus failed at Hatra and ultimately was unable to fully annex Mesopatamia, but was wildly successful in the gathering of spoils in the form of immense monetary wealth and untold slaves. Severus took the title Parthicus Maximus in honor of the victory, and though the Roman grip on the far eastern provinces would remain tenuous at best, Parthia was crippled as a result of the Severan war. By AD 224, the Parthian kings would fall and be supplanted by the Sasanian Persian Empire.
Severus returned to Rome in AD 202 after an extensive tour of the eastern provinces. Included in his court was the Praetorian Prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, who had been appointed just prior to the Parthian campaign. Plautianus had a reputation for imperial influence and viciousness that rivaled the memory of Tiberius' Prefect Sejanus. Cassius Dio records: "Plautianus, who not only shared Severus' power but also had the authority of prefect, and possessed the widest and greatest influence of all men, put to death many prominent men among his peers... He wanted everything, asked everything from everybody, and would take everything. He left no province and no city unplundered, but snatched and gathered in everything from all sides; and everybody sent a great deal more to him than to Severus... At home he castrated a hundred Roman citizens of noble birth, though none of us knew of it until after he was dead. From this anyone may comprehend the full extent both of his lawlessness and of his power." The power of Plautianus was such that contemporaries described him as having more power than that of the three (Severus and his two sons). His prominent position was confirmed though adlection into the Senate, appointment as consul and the marriage of his daughter Plautilla to Severus' son Caracalla.
The imperial family had much to celebrate upon it's return to the capital: an earlier promotion of Caracalla to co-Augustus and Geta to Caesar in AD 198, the wedding of Caracalla and the victories of Severus against Parthia. As such, in AD 202 Rome celebrated the decennalia games marking the tenth year of the reign of Severus. The entire family next traveled to Severus' familial home of Lepcis Magna and the celebration of Africa's favored son continued while Severus enriched the city with monuments. In AD 204, the family again returned to Rome and the revelry finally culminated in the grandiose Secular Games, and the dedication of Severus' triumphal arch in the forum. However, the celebration of Plautianus would not continue much beyond the end of the year.
By the end of 204 Plautianus was the source of terrible friction within the imperial family. Severus' wife Julia Domna and his brother Geta despised the prefect and the marriage between Caracalla and Plautina was not a happy one. A plot to kill Severus was exposed by a centurion (though the affair was likely an invention of Caracalla and perhaps included broader involvement of the entire family) and Plautianus was summarily executed. As a result, Caracalla was divorced and the entire court less subject to the instigations of the prying prefect. Plautianus was to be replaced by a much more moderate pair of administrators including the renowned jurist Papinian. In fact Severus reign was one in which the law and the value of the court system was a key component. Despite the relative position of Severus as a tyrant in the eyes of the traditional senatorial aristocracy, the Roman courts functioned with fairness and efficiency. His reliance upon such famed lawyers as Paul and Ulpian as well as the afore-mentioned Papinian led to a prominent period of Roman jurisprudence.
Unfortunately, the absence of the controlling Plautianus may have helped foster a growing sibling rivalry between the two sons of Severus along with the sort of deviant behavior that might be expected from the teenaged sons of the emperor of Rome. Severus, seems to have suspected that a change of environment and increased responsibility may help quell the difficulties between Rome's future leaders, and focused his attention on the troublesome barbarians north of Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Herodian suggested that "they [Caracalla and Geta] could return to their senses, leading a sober military life away from the luxurious delicacies of Rome."
Herodian described the situation in Britain in AD 207 as, "The barbarians of the province were in a state of rebellion, laying waste the countryside, carrying off plunder and wrecking almost everything." Conventional wisdom would suggest that at least a portion frontier unrest can be attributed to the civil war between Albinus and Severus which temporarily stripped the province of it's legionary presence (though clearly the province was not completely abandoned of it's large auxiliary forces and legionary losses were eventually replaced.)
Whatever Severus' ultimate motivation; the welfare of his sons, the restoration of Rome's northernmost frontier or his own inclination towards military adventure, the imperial family arrived in Britain in 208. Roman advances were initially successful in clearing Caledonia of resistance, but as with all other Roman campaigns north of Hadrian's Wall, any permanent resolution was fleeting. Severe gout and deteriorating health had limited Severus' ability to personally campaign, and Roman gains were limited. Despite a temporary restoration of the frontier at the Antonine Wall, it would not be long before the border was returned to an improved and stone fortified Hadrian's Wall.
In February of AD 211, after a reign of 18 years, Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (York) leaving his quarrelsome sons to destabilize all that he had accomplished. According to Cassius Dio, Severus left his sons three pieces of advice, "be harmonius, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men." The second two were well heeded, but the first was completely ignored and Geta would not live to see the end of the year. Severus' ashes were interred in the Mausoleum of Hadrian and shortly thereafter, despite a strained relationship with some elements of the traditional aristocracy, he was deified by the senate."
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'Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEOOu3Vtvjw
Images:
1. Roman Britain Northern Campaigns [208-211]
2. Roman Emperor Septimius Severus by Carole Raddato
3. Ninth Legion in Scotland.
4. Key figures of Scotland's Roman period, with a 'genocide' ordered in 210AD as Emperor Severus tried to achieve military glory before he died.
Background from {[https://www.unrv.com/decline-of-empire/septimius-severus.php]}
Septimius Severus (145 - 211 AD)
Emperor: 193 - 211 AD
The assassination of Commodus, followed by the short reign of Pertinax and the auction of the empire to Didius Julianus, led to civil war and the rise of Septimius Severus. Though the concept of the soldier emperor was not a new development (i.e. Vespasian, Trajan), Severus' life was strictly of the military, both before and after his accession to rule Rome. His victory led to a moderately stable administrative reign, though his continued military exploits would strain the treasury and his somewhat harsh measures would taint his relationship with the aristocracy.
Severus was born April 11 AD 145 in the North African (modern Libya) city of Lepcis Magna and was of Italian heritage on his maternal side and most likely of paternal Punic origins. Though African, there is little evidence to suggest that Severus was anything other than of typical Mediterranean stock. Assertions that he was the first "black" emperor based on his African heritage fails to account for the semitic origins of the Punic (Phoenician) people and his maternal Italian heritage. (Though, it is entirely possible that Severus' paternal North African roots did include some native Berber influences.)
Reared in a family that included at least two consuls (cousins of Severus' father), the young future emperor received a quality education and was likely prepped for future service in Roman government. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Severus gained entry into the Senate and continued to procure imperial favor throughout the reigns of both Marcus and his son Commodus. He served as a quaestor in Hispania Baetica then the same in Sardinia after a political reorganization of the two provinces forced a transfer. This was followed by a command as a legionary legate under the proconsul of Africa and by promotion to Tribune of the Plebes by Marcus Aurelius.
He was married to Paccia Marciana at about this time (roughly AD 175), but the marriage was childless and Paccia died young, approximately 10 years later. Various military and political commands in Hispania and Gaul through this period strengthened his relationship with both Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and helped him build an influential base in the west. Severus was remarried to Julia Domna, the daughter of Julius Bassianus, who was the high-priest of the Syrian god Elagabalus (which incidentally greatly influenced a later member of the Severan imperial dynasty: Severus' great nephew Varius Avitus Bassianus who became known as Elagabalus). Severus and Julia had two children, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla) and Geta, born in AD 186 and 189 respectively.
In the latter part of the reign of Commodus political disharmony and imperial mismanagement led to several plots against the emperor's life. This forced Commodus to appoint his most trusted commanders into positions of importance. Among these were three men who would all later vie for the throne themselves; Pescennius Niger was appointed to govern Syria, Clobius Albinus to Britain and Septimius Severus to Pannonia. Provincial loyalty and support from the bulk of the military may have provided some sense of security to Commodus abroad, but it did little to secure his position in Rome. He was assassinated December 31, AD 192 and the potential for civil war was only averted by the wise Senatorial appointment of the respected Pertinax as Commodus' successor. However, dissatisfaction among the Praetorians led to the murder of Pertinax just short of 3 months after his accession (March 28, AD 193). The auction of the empire by the praetorians to Didius Julianus immediately sparked an open revolt among the legions. Already angered by the death of their preferred Commodus, this act was intolerable and the legions in Syria proclaimed their own commander Niger as emperor within days of Pertinax' death. By April 9, the Pannonian legions had done the same for Severus.
Clodius Albinus in Britain had designs of his own, and support from a considerable political faction, but Severus was well aware of this possibility. In a shrewd political move, the 48 year old Severus offered to make the younger (approx. 5 years) Albinus his Caesar (imperial heir) in exchange for loyalty and support (though we can surmise from later evidence that this was truly just to keep him temporarily pacified). Leaving Niger behind him in the east, Severus marched for Rome, and the reign of Didius Julianus was doomed. The legions of the western provinces rallied behind Severus, leaving Julianus without any defensible position. Attempts to assassinate his opponent, negotiate a settlement and to finally abdicate his position all failed, and ultimately the praetorians took matters into their own hands, eliminating Julianus. The Senate immediately confirmed Severus as the legal princeps and he entered Rome as both a deliverer and force of vengeance. The murderers of Pertinax were immediately purged and the troublesome praetorians disbanded but reconstituted with recruits from among his own loyal legionaries. He increased the urban cohorts (effectively the city police) and the vigiles (firefighters) and raised the annual pay rate of the legions, thereby assuring their loyalty. He made several administrative arrangements to secure a capable functioning government in Rome, and was free to focus his attention to see east where rival claimant Pescennius Niger had no attention of abandoning his own cause.
War with Pescennius Niger
While Septimius Severus was settling affairs in Rome after his successful coup of Didius Julianus' government (AD 193), the governor of Syria was still preparing his own bid for Roman supremacy. The source information on Gaius Pescennius Niger is relatively obscure, be he seems to have been an Italian of equestrian heritage and was born in approximately AD 135. After serving with some military acclaim in Dacia, he seems to have been made a suffex consul (late 180s AD) and had been appointed to govern Syria as a trusted lieutenant of Commodus in AD 191.
Word of the assassination of Commodus on December 31 AD 192 likely traveled slowly into the further provinces of the empire. Pertinax was probably well established as a replacement by the time Niger was aware of his benefactors death, but the idea of usurpation, despite Pertinax also having been a supporter of Commodus, may have been established as soon as the news arrived. However, it wasn't until the murder of Pertinax and the short reign of Didius Julianus that revolt was openly set in motion. The people of Rome began to riot in clear opposition to Julianus as soon as he arrived in Rome following Pertinax murder on March 29, AD 193. The mob seized control of the Circus Maximus and called for the popular general Niger to return to Rome and claim the throne for himself, before dispersing peacefully the following day.
When word of reached Niger in Antioch, he understandably envisioned himself the people's champion and had himself proclaimed emperor by his readily supportive legions. Despite what can be assumed to be a cordial relationship between Niger and Severus (who were both ardent Commodian supporters), Niger immediately began to consolidate his control of the east while Severus made a deal with Clodius Albinus (another potential rival) in Britain (making him his heir in order to gain his support) thereby securing the west. While Severus marched on Rome, Niger moved from Antioch to Byzantium as a foreboding token of his proximity to the territories of Severus. He legitimized his own cause as the champion of the people and avenger of Pertinax by adopting the title "Justus" (the just). Attempts to get messages to Rome in order to supersede any claims by Severus to the throne were intercepted and conflict was inevitable.
For Niger to make good on his own claim, he pressed the issue and moved against Severus. He did so by marching west into Thracia towards the coastal city of Perinthus. Despite numerical advantages he was repulsed by Severan loyalists and marched back to his stronghold at Byzantium. Niger attempted to offer an olive branch to Severus in the form of a joint rule compromise, but Severus rejected this flatly. Conversely, an offer by Severus to allow Niger to go into voluntary exile unmolested was equally snubbed. Meanwhile, Asellius Aemilianus the proconsular governor of Asia and a supporter of Niger moved an army against Severan forces near Cyzicus on the coast of the Propontis. Aemilianus himself was killed in the engagement but the two armies continued to jockey for position while moving east into Bithynia.
Near Nicea, Niger arrived to take personal command facing the Severan commander Candidus (despite Severus himself having moved into the region by this point in late AD 193). It was here that a decisive battle was fought in the narrow passes between Nicea and Cius, with the outcome in doubt throughout. Each side held the advantage at several junctures, but ultimately Candidus forced Niger to retreat under cover of darkness. Niger moved south into Syria, stopping at Antioch while Candidus consolidated the Severan position in the Asia region.
In the Spring of AD 194, a Severan army under the command of Valerianus and Anullinus marched south from Cilicia towards Niger's position in Syria. At the "Cilician Gates" (a narrow pass through the mountains with high mountains on one side and cliffs above the sea on the other) Niger positioned his army on a well fortified hill and prepared for the assault. Initially the defender's position proved superior but a severe thunderstorm erupted that had the effect of confusing and disrupting Niger's forces (Dio Cassius implies divine intervention, but the effects of the storm certainly played a role in the mindset of both armies). By the end of the battle some 20,000 of Niger's army had been killed and though Niger himself escaped he was soon captured and beheaded near the Euphrates.
With the result of the battles at Cyzicus, Nicea and the Cilician Gates, any remaining support for Niger and resistance to Severus in the east waned. Severus also earned a harsh reputation in dealing with Niger's supporters, though few of the aristocracy were victimized to extremity beyond financial penalty and/or exile. Citizens of cities loyal to Severus were rewarded for their support while cities such as Antioch and Byzantium were stripped of various legal rights among other punishments in response to their support of Niger.
With his victory over Niger, Severus continued for a short time to assert his authority in the east and led punitive campaigns against the Osroeni, the Adiabeni, and the Arabians. As many of Niger's remaining supporters fled to Rome's eastern rival Parthia, Severus planned additional attacks into Mesopotamia and beyond in order to assert his authority. Much like the conqueror emperor Trajan of a century before, Severus looked to expand the empire's borders and did so by annexing Mesopotamia as a province. However, Severus' continued eastern adventures would have to wait, as the defeat of Niger allowed an opportunity to confront another rival. Despite having already named Clodius Albinus his heir, Severus named his own son Caracalla as Caesar in a clear affront to the governor of Britain (though there is some contention that Albinus had been actively undermining Severus in the west during the war with Niger). As Albinus prepared his own army for war, Severus marched west with the intention of consolidating the entire Roman empire under his own power.
War with Clodius Albinus
Septimius Severus' victory over his eastern rival Pescennius Niger opened a new opportunity to cement himself as sole emperor and his family as an imperial dynasty. Despite an earlier arrangement with the governor of Britain Clodius Albinus, to keep him from also making a claim for the throne, Severus initiated a policy to establish connections and continuity between himself and imperial predecessors. By late AD 195 Severus identified himself with Marcus Aurelius proclaiming himself the son of the former emperor (and brother of Commodus) to legitimize his claim and renamed his eldest son Bassianus as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In so doing, Bassianus (who would later be known as Caracalla after the hooded cloak that he wore) was named Caesar to replace the previously appointed Clodius Albinus who was also declared a public enemy. Expectedly, Albinus had himself declared emperor, prepared his legions and crossed the Mare Britannicum (English Channel) into Gaul.
Clodius Albinus, like his rival Severus, was born (c. AD 150) into a wealthy North African family of senatorial distinction and rose rapidly through the Roman political system. Also like fellow imperial claimant Pescennius Niger, Albinus displayed distinction in the Dacian campaigns of Commodus reign (early 180s). He reached the consulship by the middle of that same decade and served various provincial commands and governorships throughout Commodus' reign before ultimately governing Britannia in AD 192. The Historia Augusta suggests that Commodus either intended to, or actually did name Albinus as Caesar (his heir), but coinage does not reflect this title until after the death of Commodus and the appointment by Septimius Severus to that position following the events of AD 193. Regardless, Albinus did enjoy marginal popularity among the aristocracy and he was undoubtedly considering many possible options even prior to the official break with Severus.
By early AD 196 Albinus had secured support among the aristocracy of Gaul and Hispania and established a continental base at Lugdunum (modern Lyons). Initially, Albinus enjoyed success in battle against Severan loyalists but he was unable to capitalize on these early victories. By mid AD 196, Albinus bid for the throne had stalled in southern Gaul, just short of the Alps and a march on Rome itself. Severus' personal arrival at the head of a massive army from the east began to turn the tide in his favor.
In early AD 197 (February 19) two massive armies met at Tinurtium (modern Tournus) on the River Arar (modern Saône). Cassius Dio reported 150,000 men on each side though a third, roughly 50,000 men each, of this number is much more likely. The resulting contest was among the bloodiest and hardest fought in Roman history (considering that both sides were ultimately Roman). The battle was in doubt from its onset, with each army facing opportunities for victory and potential for disaster. Albinus' left flank was initially overrun, but the right held firm and lured the Severan forces into a trap. Severus' advance was in such jeopardy of being turned into a rout that he attempted to intervene personally. At the head of a detachment of Praetorians Severus launched himself into the battle but this too was nearly a disaster. Severus lost a horse in the ensuing mayhem and was forced to fight valiantly in order to stem the tide of retreat and inspire renewed effort. His personal involvement seems to have allowed his army to hold firm. At this critical juncture, Severus' cavalry under Laetus intervened and helped overwhelm the army of Albinus.
Cassius Dio describes the resulting aftermath and the ultimate defeat of Albinus:
"Thus Severus conquered; but the Roman power suffered a severe blow, inasmuch as countless numbers had fallen on both sides. Many even of the victors deplored the disaster, for the entire plain was seen to be covered with the bodies of men and horses; some of them lay there mutilated by many wounds, as if hacked in pieces, and others, though unwounded, were piled up in heaps, weapons were scattered about, and blood flowed in streams, even pouring into the rivers. Albinus took refuge in a house that stood beside the Rhone, but when he saw the whole place surrounded, he slew himself. I am not stating, how, what Severus wrote about it, but what actually took place. The emperor, after viewing the body of Albinus and feasting his eyes upon it to the full, while giving free rein to his tongue as well, ordered all but the head to be cast away, but sent the head to Rome to be exposed on a pole."
Severus' victory ensured his continued authority and the establishment of his dynasty, but the emperor proved to have cruel streak that would taint his legacy. Many supporters of Albinus (including his immediate family) were executed and purges of the aristocracy were similar to those of Sulla in the Late Republic. While Severus' victory ensured imperial stability at least temporarily, it also helped establish the continued rise of military and bureaucratic supremacy in the government of the later Roman Empire.
Severus' Administration and the Legions
Ultimate victory over rivals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus allowed Septimius Severus to focus his attention addressing legionary reform and engaging in military endeavors against external threats. Having already reformed the praetorian guard, who were responsible for the murder of Pertinax and the auction of the empire to Didius Julianus, Severus raised the pay scale by one half of the standard for legionaries, allowed more opportunities for promotion and in AD 197 legalized marriage for soldiers.
While soldiers had certainly long maintained unrecognized marriage, this step brought the rights of legionaries in line with those of other citizens and allowed the children of such marriages to be legally recognized as citizens. While pay raises and benefits along with the increased citizen roles was certainly expensive, such steps allowed for a greater recruiting base, and supported Severus' values on the importance of family. Thusly, the emperor who had been a career soldier not only showed his appreciation for the military that helped him to the throne, but presumably expected these rewarding measures to increase loyalty and morale.
The emperor would quickly put his legions to the test. In AD 197, earlier attempts by the Parthian King Vologases V during the Roman civil war to reassert control over Mesopatamia destabilized the eastern frontier and eventually culminated in another war with Rome's old rival Parthia. Severus marched east after raising three new legions, I, II and III Parthica, one of which (II Parthica) would eventually be stationed as a permanent garrison in Italy on the Alban Mountain for both internal control and as a centralized reserve. Parthian resistance was minimal and the Romans swept down the Euphrates on the same path set by Trajan nearly a century earlier sacking Seleucia, Babylon and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon.
Also much like Trajan, Severus failed at Hatra and ultimately was unable to fully annex Mesopatamia, but was wildly successful in the gathering of spoils in the form of immense monetary wealth and untold slaves. Severus took the title Parthicus Maximus in honor of the victory, and though the Roman grip on the far eastern provinces would remain tenuous at best, Parthia was crippled as a result of the Severan war. By AD 224, the Parthian kings would fall and be supplanted by the Sasanian Persian Empire.
Severus returned to Rome in AD 202 after an extensive tour of the eastern provinces. Included in his court was the Praetorian Prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, who had been appointed just prior to the Parthian campaign. Plautianus had a reputation for imperial influence and viciousness that rivaled the memory of Tiberius' Prefect Sejanus. Cassius Dio records: "Plautianus, who not only shared Severus' power but also had the authority of prefect, and possessed the widest and greatest influence of all men, put to death many prominent men among his peers... He wanted everything, asked everything from everybody, and would take everything. He left no province and no city unplundered, but snatched and gathered in everything from all sides; and everybody sent a great deal more to him than to Severus... At home he castrated a hundred Roman citizens of noble birth, though none of us knew of it until after he was dead. From this anyone may comprehend the full extent both of his lawlessness and of his power." The power of Plautianus was such that contemporaries described him as having more power than that of the three (Severus and his two sons). His prominent position was confirmed though adlection into the Senate, appointment as consul and the marriage of his daughter Plautilla to Severus' son Caracalla.
The imperial family had much to celebrate upon it's return to the capital: an earlier promotion of Caracalla to co-Augustus and Geta to Caesar in AD 198, the wedding of Caracalla and the victories of Severus against Parthia. As such, in AD 202 Rome celebrated the decennalia games marking the tenth year of the reign of Severus. The entire family next traveled to Severus' familial home of Lepcis Magna and the celebration of Africa's favored son continued while Severus enriched the city with monuments. In AD 204, the family again returned to Rome and the revelry finally culminated in the grandiose Secular Games, and the dedication of Severus' triumphal arch in the forum. However, the celebration of Plautianus would not continue much beyond the end of the year.
By the end of 204 Plautianus was the source of terrible friction within the imperial family. Severus' wife Julia Domna and his brother Geta despised the prefect and the marriage between Caracalla and Plautina was not a happy one. A plot to kill Severus was exposed by a centurion (though the affair was likely an invention of Caracalla and perhaps included broader involvement of the entire family) and Plautianus was summarily executed. As a result, Caracalla was divorced and the entire court less subject to the instigations of the prying prefect. Plautianus was to be replaced by a much more moderate pair of administrators including the renowned jurist Papinian. In fact Severus reign was one in which the law and the value of the court system was a key component. Despite the relative position of Severus as a tyrant in the eyes of the traditional senatorial aristocracy, the Roman courts functioned with fairness and efficiency. His reliance upon such famed lawyers as Paul and Ulpian as well as the afore-mentioned Papinian led to a prominent period of Roman jurisprudence.
Unfortunately, the absence of the controlling Plautianus may have helped foster a growing sibling rivalry between the two sons of Severus along with the sort of deviant behavior that might be expected from the teenaged sons of the emperor of Rome. Severus, seems to have suspected that a change of environment and increased responsibility may help quell the difficulties between Rome's future leaders, and focused his attention on the troublesome barbarians north of Hadrian's Wall in Britannia. Herodian suggested that "they [Caracalla and Geta] could return to their senses, leading a sober military life away from the luxurious delicacies of Rome."
Herodian described the situation in Britain in AD 207 as, "The barbarians of the province were in a state of rebellion, laying waste the countryside, carrying off plunder and wrecking almost everything." Conventional wisdom would suggest that at least a portion frontier unrest can be attributed to the civil war between Albinus and Severus which temporarily stripped the province of it's legionary presence (though clearly the province was not completely abandoned of it's large auxiliary forces and legionary losses were eventually replaced.)
Whatever Severus' ultimate motivation; the welfare of his sons, the restoration of Rome's northernmost frontier or his own inclination towards military adventure, the imperial family arrived in Britain in 208. Roman advances were initially successful in clearing Caledonia of resistance, but as with all other Roman campaigns north of Hadrian's Wall, any permanent resolution was fleeting. Severe gout and deteriorating health had limited Severus' ability to personally campaign, and Roman gains were limited. Despite a temporary restoration of the frontier at the Antonine Wall, it would not be long before the border was returned to an improved and stone fortified Hadrian's Wall.
In February of AD 211, after a reign of 18 years, Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (York) leaving his quarrelsome sons to destabilize all that he had accomplished. According to Cassius Dio, Severus left his sons three pieces of advice, "be harmonius, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men." The second two were well heeded, but the first was completely ignored and Geta would not live to see the end of the year. Severus' ashes were interred in the Mausoleum of Hadrian and shortly thereafter, despite a strained relationship with some elements of the traditional aristocracy, he was deified by the senate."
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Septimius Severus The first African Emperor (193-211 A.D.)
Septimius Severus The first African Emperor (193-211 A.D.)Yoel Benhabib is a student of History with a special interest in the History of Judaism, Christiani...
Septimius Severus The first African Emperor (193-211 A.D.)
Yoel Benhabib is a student of History with a special interest in the History of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, pursuing a degree from the University of South Florida.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHyVGV63-M4
Images:
1. Septimius Severus in Scotland - 208-211 BC
2. Roman Soldiers at the time of Severus. Artwork by © Johnny Shumate
3. Key figures of Scotland's Roman period, with a 'genocide' ordered in 210AD as Emperor Severus tried to achieve military glory before he died. While Septimius Severus ordered genocide in Scotland, his son Caracalla never attempted to follow through on that order since he was focused on becoming emperor.
Background from {[http://turningpointsoftheancientworld.com/index.php/2018/03/18/scottish-campaigns-septimius-severus/]]
THE SCOTTISH CAMPAIGNS OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS by Simon Elliott
The year was AD 207. In Rome the great warrior-Emperor, Septimius Severus, was bored. He’d hacked his way to power in AD 193 in the ‘Year of Five Emperors’, then fought two campaigns in the East (including the sack of the Parthian capital Ctesiphon).
He had seen off the usurpation of the British governor Clodius Albinus and campaigned in his native North Africa. But now, he was reduced to fretting about his squabbling sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the Imperial capital.
Then, a golden opportunity presented itself for one final stab at glory, in far off Britannia, the ‘Wild West’ of the Roman Empire. This story is told in book form for the first time by archaeologist and historian Simon Elliott in his new work ‘Septimius Severus in Scotland: the Northern Campaigns of the First Hammer of the Scots’.
Below, he gives a brief insight into his work as an introduction to this new appreciation of what was the largest campaigning army ever to be gathered and unleashed in the islands of Britain.
The Scottish Campaigns of Septimius Severus
Britannia was always a troubled province, particularly at the beginning of the 3rd century AD after Albinus’ attempt to seize the purple in AD 196/ 197. Having suffered periodic unrest along the northern border throughout the 2nd century AD, two major tribal confederations had emerged in the region of modern Scotland by AD 180.
These were the Maeatae (based in the central Midland Valley either side of the Clyde – Firth of Forth line) and the Caledonians to their north. At the end of the 2nd century, after Albinus’ failure, the then governor Virius Lupus had been forced to pay huge indemnities to both to prevent further trouble.
These enormous injections of prestigious wealth to the northern elites of unconquered Briton further assisted the coalescence of power among their leaders, and trouble again erupted at the beginning of the 3rd century AD.
This was quickly stamped out by Lupus and his successor Lucius Alfenus Senecio who then began to rebuild the northern defences which had fallen into disrepair after Albinus’ usurpation attempt.
However, in AD 206/ 207 a disaster of some kind occurred in the North. This was dramatic enough for Senecio to write an urgent appeal to Severus in Rome. In it, he said that the province was in danger of being overrun and he requested either more troops or the Emperor himself to intervene in the province.
Severus’ response was ‘shock and awe’ writ large. He decided to launch an expeditio felicissima Brittannica. For this he gathered his wife Julia Domna, the bickering Caracalla and Geta, key Senators and courtiers, the Imperial fiscus treasury, his Praetorian Guard, the legio II Parthica – which he had based near Rome – and vexillations from all the crack legions and auxiliary units along the Rhine and Danubian frontiers.
The whole were transported to Britain by the Classis Britannica in the spring of AD 208.
On his arrival, he established York as his Imperial capital. There he was joined by the provincial incumbent legions – legio VI Victrix already based there, legio II Augusta from Caerleon and legio XX Valeria Victrix from Chester – together with the auxiliary units based in Britain. This gave him an enormous force totalling 50,000 men, together with the 7,000 sailors and marines of the regional fleet.
To support such a colossal force the fort, harbor and supply base at South Shields was selected as the main supply depot. The existing site was dramatically extended, with immense new granaries being built that could hold in total 2,500 tonnes of grain. This was enough to feed the whole army for two months.
From South Shields the ships of the Classis Britannica fulfilled the fleet’s transport role, using the Tyne and eastern coastal routes to keep the army on the move once the campaign began. This included extensive use of the regional river systems wherever possible.
Meanwhile the fort at Corbridge on Dere Street, just short of Hadrian’s Wall, was also upgraded, again for use as a major supply base. Here the granaries had been rebuilt, even before Severus’ arrival.
When all was ready in the spring of AD 209, Severus launched the first of his two assaults against the Maeatae and Caledonians in the far north of the province.
Joined by Caracalla, he left Geta behind in York to take charge of the Imperial administration with the support of Julia Domna. The immense force marched north along Dere Street, crossing Hadrian’s Wall and then hammering through the Scottish Borders, destroying all before it.
The whole region was cleansed of opposition, and, notably at this time, the Antonine fort at Vindolanda south of the Wall was demolished, with Late Iron-Age roundhouses being built there on a Roman grid pattern instead. This could have been a concentration camp for the displaced local population
Today we can trace the line of march north through the Scottish Borders by following the sequence of enormous 67ha marching camps which were built to house and protect the army at the end of each day’s march.
These are at Newstead, St Leonards (the largest at 70 ha), Channelkirk and Pathhead. Any resistance here would have been in the form of defended settlements such as hillforts, which were quickly stormed and destroyed.
Severus next reached the Firth of Forth at Inveresk where Dere Street turned west to cross the River Esk crossing. He then re-built the old Antonine fort, supply base and harbor at Cramond to serve as the next link in his supply chain after South Shields.
Then he built a bridge of 900 boats at South Queensferry, before dividing the force into two separate but still huge legionary spearheads.
The larger featured two thirds of his available troops (most likely with the three British legions who were used to campaigning in this theatre) under the fitter Caracalla. Meanwhile the smaller one featured the Praetorian Guard, other guard units and the legio II Parthica, under the ailing Severus, who was suffering from severe gout at the time.
The other units in the overall force such as the auxilia were divided between the two as required.
Caracalla now led his larger force in a lightning strike south west to north east directly along the Highland Boundary Fault. As he progressed he built a sequence of 54 ha marching camps to seal off the Highlands from the Maeatae and Caledonians who were living in the central and northern Midland Valley.
These camps were located at Househill Dunipace near Falkirk (the stopping off point before crossing the Forth), Ardoch at the south western end of the Gask Ridge, Innerpeffray East, Grassy Walls, Cardean, Battledykes, Balmakewan and Kair House. The latter location was only 13km south west of Stonehaven on the coast, where the Highland line visibly converged with the sea.
With the Highlands and the route northwards to the Moray and Buchan Lowlands now sealed off, the Emperor next sent the Classis Britannica along the coast which was also sealed off. This left the Maetae and Caledonians in the central and northern Midland Valley in a very perilous position as they had nowhere to run to.
Severus now took full advantage, leading his second legionary spearhead across the bridge of boats on the Firth of Forth again. However, instead of following Caracalla, he headed directly north across Fife to the River Tay, through land heavily settled by the Maeatae.
He built two further marching camps to secure his line of march, 25ha in size, at Auchtermuchty and Edenwood. Reaching the Tay, he then rebuilt and re-manned the Flavian and Antonine fort, supply base and harbor at Carpow.
This completed his east coast supply route to keep the enormous overall army in the field, now linking South Shields, Cramond and Carpow. Severus then built another bridge of boats, this time to cross the Tay, before striking directly north into the isolated northern Midland Valley, his legionaries brutalising all before them.
“…as he (Severus) advanced through the country he experienced countless hardships in cutting down the forests, levelling the heights, filling up the swamps, and bridging the rivers; but he fought no battle and beheld no enemy in battle array.
The enemy purposely put sheep and cattle in front of the soldiers for them to seize, in order that they might be lured on still further until they were worn out; for in fact the water caused great suffering to the Romans, and when they became scattered, they would be attacked.
Then, unable to walk, they would be slain by their own men, in order to avoid capture, so that a full fifty thousand died (clearly a massive exaggeration, but indicative of the difficulties the Romans faced). But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island.”
Meanwhile Herodian, in his History of the Roman Empire, says (3.14):
“…frequent battles and skirmishes occurred, and in these the Romans were victorious. But it was easy for the Britons to slip away; putting their knowledge of the surrounding area to good use, they disappeared in the woods and marshes. The Romans’ unfamiliarity with the terrain prolonged the war.”
Weight of numbers eventually told in the Roman’s favour and, with the entire regional economy desolated, the Maetae and Caledonians sued for peace. Unsurprisingly, the resulting treaty was very one sided in favour of Rome.
Severus immediately proclaimed a famous victory, with he, Caracalla and Geta given the title Britannicus and with celebratory coins being struck to commemorate the event. Campaigning, at least in the short term, was now over to Imperial satisfaction. However, as always in the Roman experience of the far north of the Britain, such a state of comparative calm was not to last.
The Emperor, his sons and the military leadership wintered in York. Sadly for them however the terms which had so satisfied the Romans in AD 209 were not so agreeable to at least the Maeatae as in AD 210 they revolted again.
The Caledonians predictably joined in, and Severus decided to go north again to settle matters once and for all. On this occasion he’d obviously had enough of the troublesome Britons, giving his famous order to kill all the natives his troops came across.
This second campaign re-enacted the AD 209 campaign exactly, though this time solely under Caracalla as Severus was too ill. It was even more brutal than the first as afterwards there was peace along the northern border for four generations afterwards, the longest in pre-modern times.
Archaeological data is now emerging to show this was because of a major depopulation event, indicating something close to a genocide was committed by the Romans in the central and upper Midland Valley.
At the end of the campaigning season the remaining native leadership again sued for peace, though on even more onerous terms than previously.
The ‘Severan surge’ then headed south again to winter once more near York, leaving large garrisons in place. However, any plans to remain in the far north were cut short when Severus died in York in February AD 211.
Caracalla and Geta were far more interested in establishing their own power bases in Rome and quickly left. Severus’ huge force of 50,000 men then gradually returned to their own bases. The northern border was once more re-established on Hadrian’s Wall again, with all the effort of the AD 209 and 210 campaigns ultimately counting for naught excepting the unusually long-lasting peace afterwards.
Yoel Benhabib is a student of History with a special interest in the History of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, pursuing a degree from the University of South Florida.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHyVGV63-M4
Images:
1. Septimius Severus in Scotland - 208-211 BC
2. Roman Soldiers at the time of Severus. Artwork by © Johnny Shumate
3. Key figures of Scotland's Roman period, with a 'genocide' ordered in 210AD as Emperor Severus tried to achieve military glory before he died. While Septimius Severus ordered genocide in Scotland, his son Caracalla never attempted to follow through on that order since he was focused on becoming emperor.
Background from {[http://turningpointsoftheancientworld.com/index.php/2018/03/18/scottish-campaigns-septimius-severus/]]
THE SCOTTISH CAMPAIGNS OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS by Simon Elliott
The year was AD 207. In Rome the great warrior-Emperor, Septimius Severus, was bored. He’d hacked his way to power in AD 193 in the ‘Year of Five Emperors’, then fought two campaigns in the East (including the sack of the Parthian capital Ctesiphon).
He had seen off the usurpation of the British governor Clodius Albinus and campaigned in his native North Africa. But now, he was reduced to fretting about his squabbling sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the Imperial capital.
Then, a golden opportunity presented itself for one final stab at glory, in far off Britannia, the ‘Wild West’ of the Roman Empire. This story is told in book form for the first time by archaeologist and historian Simon Elliott in his new work ‘Septimius Severus in Scotland: the Northern Campaigns of the First Hammer of the Scots’.
Below, he gives a brief insight into his work as an introduction to this new appreciation of what was the largest campaigning army ever to be gathered and unleashed in the islands of Britain.
The Scottish Campaigns of Septimius Severus
Britannia was always a troubled province, particularly at the beginning of the 3rd century AD after Albinus’ attempt to seize the purple in AD 196/ 197. Having suffered periodic unrest along the northern border throughout the 2nd century AD, two major tribal confederations had emerged in the region of modern Scotland by AD 180.
These were the Maeatae (based in the central Midland Valley either side of the Clyde – Firth of Forth line) and the Caledonians to their north. At the end of the 2nd century, after Albinus’ failure, the then governor Virius Lupus had been forced to pay huge indemnities to both to prevent further trouble.
These enormous injections of prestigious wealth to the northern elites of unconquered Briton further assisted the coalescence of power among their leaders, and trouble again erupted at the beginning of the 3rd century AD.
This was quickly stamped out by Lupus and his successor Lucius Alfenus Senecio who then began to rebuild the northern defences which had fallen into disrepair after Albinus’ usurpation attempt.
However, in AD 206/ 207 a disaster of some kind occurred in the North. This was dramatic enough for Senecio to write an urgent appeal to Severus in Rome. In it, he said that the province was in danger of being overrun and he requested either more troops or the Emperor himself to intervene in the province.
Severus’ response was ‘shock and awe’ writ large. He decided to launch an expeditio felicissima Brittannica. For this he gathered his wife Julia Domna, the bickering Caracalla and Geta, key Senators and courtiers, the Imperial fiscus treasury, his Praetorian Guard, the legio II Parthica – which he had based near Rome – and vexillations from all the crack legions and auxiliary units along the Rhine and Danubian frontiers.
The whole were transported to Britain by the Classis Britannica in the spring of AD 208.
On his arrival, he established York as his Imperial capital. There he was joined by the provincial incumbent legions – legio VI Victrix already based there, legio II Augusta from Caerleon and legio XX Valeria Victrix from Chester – together with the auxiliary units based in Britain. This gave him an enormous force totalling 50,000 men, together with the 7,000 sailors and marines of the regional fleet.
To support such a colossal force the fort, harbor and supply base at South Shields was selected as the main supply depot. The existing site was dramatically extended, with immense new granaries being built that could hold in total 2,500 tonnes of grain. This was enough to feed the whole army for two months.
From South Shields the ships of the Classis Britannica fulfilled the fleet’s transport role, using the Tyne and eastern coastal routes to keep the army on the move once the campaign began. This included extensive use of the regional river systems wherever possible.
Meanwhile the fort at Corbridge on Dere Street, just short of Hadrian’s Wall, was also upgraded, again for use as a major supply base. Here the granaries had been rebuilt, even before Severus’ arrival.
When all was ready in the spring of AD 209, Severus launched the first of his two assaults against the Maeatae and Caledonians in the far north of the province.
Joined by Caracalla, he left Geta behind in York to take charge of the Imperial administration with the support of Julia Domna. The immense force marched north along Dere Street, crossing Hadrian’s Wall and then hammering through the Scottish Borders, destroying all before it.
The whole region was cleansed of opposition, and, notably at this time, the Antonine fort at Vindolanda south of the Wall was demolished, with Late Iron-Age roundhouses being built there on a Roman grid pattern instead. This could have been a concentration camp for the displaced local population
Today we can trace the line of march north through the Scottish Borders by following the sequence of enormous 67ha marching camps which were built to house and protect the army at the end of each day’s march.
These are at Newstead, St Leonards (the largest at 70 ha), Channelkirk and Pathhead. Any resistance here would have been in the form of defended settlements such as hillforts, which were quickly stormed and destroyed.
Severus next reached the Firth of Forth at Inveresk where Dere Street turned west to cross the River Esk crossing. He then re-built the old Antonine fort, supply base and harbor at Cramond to serve as the next link in his supply chain after South Shields.
Then he built a bridge of 900 boats at South Queensferry, before dividing the force into two separate but still huge legionary spearheads.
The larger featured two thirds of his available troops (most likely with the three British legions who were used to campaigning in this theatre) under the fitter Caracalla. Meanwhile the smaller one featured the Praetorian Guard, other guard units and the legio II Parthica, under the ailing Severus, who was suffering from severe gout at the time.
The other units in the overall force such as the auxilia were divided between the two as required.
Caracalla now led his larger force in a lightning strike south west to north east directly along the Highland Boundary Fault. As he progressed he built a sequence of 54 ha marching camps to seal off the Highlands from the Maeatae and Caledonians who were living in the central and northern Midland Valley.
These camps were located at Househill Dunipace near Falkirk (the stopping off point before crossing the Forth), Ardoch at the south western end of the Gask Ridge, Innerpeffray East, Grassy Walls, Cardean, Battledykes, Balmakewan and Kair House. The latter location was only 13km south west of Stonehaven on the coast, where the Highland line visibly converged with the sea.
With the Highlands and the route northwards to the Moray and Buchan Lowlands now sealed off, the Emperor next sent the Classis Britannica along the coast which was also sealed off. This left the Maetae and Caledonians in the central and northern Midland Valley in a very perilous position as they had nowhere to run to.
Severus now took full advantage, leading his second legionary spearhead across the bridge of boats on the Firth of Forth again. However, instead of following Caracalla, he headed directly north across Fife to the River Tay, through land heavily settled by the Maeatae.
He built two further marching camps to secure his line of march, 25ha in size, at Auchtermuchty and Edenwood. Reaching the Tay, he then rebuilt and re-manned the Flavian and Antonine fort, supply base and harbor at Carpow.
This completed his east coast supply route to keep the enormous overall army in the field, now linking South Shields, Cramond and Carpow. Severus then built another bridge of boats, this time to cross the Tay, before striking directly north into the isolated northern Midland Valley, his legionaries brutalising all before them.
“…as he (Severus) advanced through the country he experienced countless hardships in cutting down the forests, levelling the heights, filling up the swamps, and bridging the rivers; but he fought no battle and beheld no enemy in battle array.
The enemy purposely put sheep and cattle in front of the soldiers for them to seize, in order that they might be lured on still further until they were worn out; for in fact the water caused great suffering to the Romans, and when they became scattered, they would be attacked.
Then, unable to walk, they would be slain by their own men, in order to avoid capture, so that a full fifty thousand died (clearly a massive exaggeration, but indicative of the difficulties the Romans faced). But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island.”
Meanwhile Herodian, in his History of the Roman Empire, says (3.14):
“…frequent battles and skirmishes occurred, and in these the Romans were victorious. But it was easy for the Britons to slip away; putting their knowledge of the surrounding area to good use, they disappeared in the woods and marshes. The Romans’ unfamiliarity with the terrain prolonged the war.”
Weight of numbers eventually told in the Roman’s favour and, with the entire regional economy desolated, the Maetae and Caledonians sued for peace. Unsurprisingly, the resulting treaty was very one sided in favour of Rome.
Severus immediately proclaimed a famous victory, with he, Caracalla and Geta given the title Britannicus and with celebratory coins being struck to commemorate the event. Campaigning, at least in the short term, was now over to Imperial satisfaction. However, as always in the Roman experience of the far north of the Britain, such a state of comparative calm was not to last.
The Emperor, his sons and the military leadership wintered in York. Sadly for them however the terms which had so satisfied the Romans in AD 209 were not so agreeable to at least the Maeatae as in AD 210 they revolted again.
The Caledonians predictably joined in, and Severus decided to go north again to settle matters once and for all. On this occasion he’d obviously had enough of the troublesome Britons, giving his famous order to kill all the natives his troops came across.
This second campaign re-enacted the AD 209 campaign exactly, though this time solely under Caracalla as Severus was too ill. It was even more brutal than the first as afterwards there was peace along the northern border for four generations afterwards, the longest in pre-modern times.
Archaeological data is now emerging to show this was because of a major depopulation event, indicating something close to a genocide was committed by the Romans in the central and upper Midland Valley.
At the end of the campaigning season the remaining native leadership again sued for peace, though on even more onerous terms than previously.
The ‘Severan surge’ then headed south again to winter once more near York, leaving large garrisons in place. However, any plans to remain in the far north were cut short when Severus died in York in February AD 211.
Caracalla and Geta were far more interested in establishing their own power bases in Rome and quickly left. Severus’ huge force of 50,000 men then gradually returned to their own bases. The northern border was once more re-established on Hadrian’s Wall again, with all the effort of the AD 209 and 210 campaigns ultimately counting for naught excepting the unusually long-lasting peace afterwards.
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SPC Daniel Rankin
He only controlled the lowland scots though, because the highland scots were too hard to handle and they also could not be found and were too hard to capture, They held the title of the roving raging scots. This is personal history from my family.
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Thanks for this one Sgt Dave Reynolds :
Roman history has always fascinated me, Roam today also very Interesting.
Roman history has always fascinated me, Roam today also very Interesting.
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