'Lucius Septimius Severus' (''b''.
Leptis Magna,
April 11 146 - ''d''.
York,
February 4 211) was a
Roman general, and
Roman Emperor from
April 9 193 to 211. He was the first emperor to be born in
Africa (present-day
Tunisia and western
Libya).
Life
Rise to power
Lucius Severus was born and raised at
Leptis Magna (modern
Libya, southeast of
Carthage, modern
Tunisia,
North Africa). Severus came from a distinguished and wealthy local
berber family
[1]. His family had the
Equestrian rank. Little is known of his father Publius Septimius Geta, he held no major political status but had two cousins who served as consuls under emperor
Antoninus Pius. Fulvia Pia, his mother, was of Phoenician descent. Her family moved from
Italy to
North Africa and was of the
Fulvius gens, an ancient and politically influential clan, which was originally of
plebian status. His siblings were a younger Publius
Septimius Geta and Septimia Pia. Severus’s maternal cousin was
Praetorian Guard and consul
Gaius Fulvius Plautianus.
Severus in
172 was made a
Senator by then emperor
Marcus Aurelius. In
190 Severus became
consul, and in the following year received from the emperor
Commodus (successor to Marcus Aurelius) the command of the
legions in
Pannonia.
On the murder of
Pertinax by the troops in
193, they proclaimed Severus Emperor at
Carnuntum, whereupon he hurried to Italy. The former emperor,
Didius Iulianus, was condemned to death by the Senate and killed, and Severus took possession of Rome without opposition.
The legions of
Syria, however, had proclaimed
Pescennius Niger emperor. At the same time, Severus felt reasonable to offer
Clodius Albinus, the powerful governor of Britannia who had probably supported Didius against him, the rank of Caesar, which implied some claim to succession. With its rearguard safe, he moved to the East and crushed Niger's forces at the
Battle of Issus. The following year was devoted to suppressing Mesopotamia and other Parthian vassals who had backed Niger. When afterwards Severus declared openly his son
Caracalla as successor, Albinus was hailed emperor by his troops and moved to Gallia. Severus, after a short stay in Rome, moved northwards to meet him. On
19 February 197, in the
Battle of Lugdunum, with an army of 100,000 men, mostly composed of
Illyrian,
Moesian and
Dacian legions, Severus defeated and killed Clodius Albinus, securing his full control over the Empire.
Emperor
Severus was at heart a
soldier, and sought glory through military exploits. In 197 he waged a brief and successful war against the
Parthian Empire in retailiation for the support given to Pescennius Niger. The Parthian capital
Ctesiphon was sacked by the legions, and the northern half of
Mesopotamia was restored to Rome.
His relations with the
Roman Senate were never good. He was unpopular with them from the outset, having seized power with the help of the military, and he returned the sentiment. Severus ordered the execution of dozens of Senators on charges of corruption and conspiracy against him, replacing them with his own favorites. He also disbanded the
Praetorian Guard and replaced it with one of his own, made up of 50,000 loyal soldiers mainly camped at
Albanum, near Rome (also probably to grant the emperor a kind of centralized reserve). During his reign the number of legions was also increased from 25/30 to 33. He also increased the number of auxiliary corps (''numerii''), many of these troops coming from the Eastern borders. Additionally the annual wage for a soldier was raised from 300 to 500 ''
denarii''.
Although his actions turned Rome into a military
dictatorship he was popular with the citizens of Rome having stamped out the moral degeneration and rampant corruption of the reign of Commodus. When he returned from his victory over the Parthians he erected the
Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome.
According to the sources, however, after 197 Severus fell heavily under the influence of his prefect of praetorium,
Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, who came to have the almost total control of most branches of the imperial administration. Plautianus's daughter,
Fulvia Plautilla, was married to Severus's son, Caracalla. His excessive power came to an end in 205, when he was denounced by the Emperor's dying brother and killed. The two following ''praefecti'', including the jurist
Aemilius Papinianus, received however even larger powers.
Starting from 208 Severus undertook a number of military actions in defence of
Roman Britain against
barbarian incursions and undertook reconstruction of
Hadrian's Wall before falling severely ill in Eburacum (
York). He died there on
4 February 211.
Upon his death in 211, Severus was deified by the Senate and succeeded by his two quarrelsome sons,
Caracalla and
Geta, who were advised by his wife
Julia Domna. The stability Severus had provided the Empire was soon gone.
Accomplishments
Though his military leanings were costly to the empire, Severus was the strong, able ruler that Rome needed at the time. He began a line of military emperors that would carry on for the following few rulers. However, although necessary from some point of view, his politics of expansion of the army's benefit were criticized by his contemporary
Dio Cassius and
Herodianus: in particular, they pointed out the increasing burden (in the form of taxes and vessations) the civilian population had to bear to maintain the new army.
Severus was also distinguished by his buildings. Apart from the triumphal arch in the Roman Forum carrying his full name, he also built the
Septizodium in Rome and enriched greatly his native city of
Leptis Magna (including another triumphal arch in occasion of his visit of 203).
Severus and Christianity
The reign of Severus provides an interesting example of the
persecution meted out to
Christians under the Roman Empire. Septimius allowed the enforcement of policies already long-established, which meant that Roman authorities did not intentionally seek out Christians, but when people were accused of being Christians they could either curse Christ and make an offering to Roman gods or be executed. Furthermore, wishing to strengthen the peace by encouraging religious harmony through syncretism, he tried to limit the spread of the two groups who refused to yield to syncretism by outlawing, on pain of death, conversion to Christianity or Judaism. Individual officials availed themselves of the laws to proceed with rigor against the Christians. Naturally the emperor, with his strict conception of law, did not hinder such partial persecution, which took place in
Egypt and the
Thebaid, as well as in
Africa proconsularis and the East. Christian
martyrs were numerous in
Alexandria (cf.
Clement of Alexandria, ''Stromata'', ii. 20;
Eusebius, ''Church History'', V., xxvi., VI., i.). No less severe were the persecutions in Africa, which seem to have begun in
197 or
198 (cf.
Tertullian's ''Ad martyres''), and included the Christians known in the ''
Roman martyrology'' as the martyrs of
Madaura. Probably in
202 or
203 Felicitas and
Perpetua suffered for their faith. Persecution again raged for a short time under the proconsul
Scapula in
211, especially in
Numidia and
Mauritania. Later accounts of a
Gallic persecution, especially at
Lyon, are legendary. In general it may thus be said that the position of the Christians under Septimius Severus was the same as under the
Antonines; but the law of this Emperor at least shows clearly that the
rescript of
Trajan had failed to execute its purpose.
See also
Notes
1. . ''Rome : T2, Grandeur et chute de l'Empire'' p336. Librairie Académique Perrin, 2005. ISBN 978-2262018986
★ Michael Grant. ''The Severans'' p.7. Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0415127726
★ . ''L’Algérie des origines :De la préhistoire à l’avènement de l’Islam'' p74. La découverte, 2007. ISBN 978-2707150882
References
★
Anthony Birley. ''Septimius Severus: The African Emperor'', 1998. ISBN 0-415-16591-1
★
Michael Grant. ''The Roman Emperors'', 1985. ISBN 0-760-70091-5
★
Michael Grant. ''The Severans: The Changed Roman Empire'', 1996. ISBN 0-415-12772-6
External links
★
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html Life of Septimius Severus (''Historia Augusta'' at LacusCurtius: Latin text and English translation)
★
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html Books 74,
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html 75,
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html 76, and
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html 77 of
Dio Cassius, covering the rise to power and reign of Septimius Severus
★
De Imperatoribus Romanis Online encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
★
Arch of Septimius Severus
★
Coins issued by Septimius Severus
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