Everything about Septimius Severus totally explained
Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely
Severus I) (
April 11 145 -
February 4 211) was a
Roman general, and
Roman Emperor from
April 14 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the
Libyan part of Rome's historic
Africa Province, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of
Africa.
Life
Rise to power
Septimius Severus was born and raised at
Leptis Magna (modern
Libya, southeast of
Carthage, modern
Tunisia,
North Africa). Severus came from a wealthy, distinguished local family of
equestrian rank. Severus was of
Berber and Roman ancestry. Little is known of his father,
Publius Septimius Geta, who held no major political status but had two cousins who served as consuls under emperor
Antoninus Pius. Fulvia Pia, his mother, was of Roman 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
plebeian status. His siblings were a younger
Publius Septimius Geta and Septimia Pia. Severus’s maternal cousin was
Praetorian Guard and consul
Gaius Fulvius Plautianus.
In 172, Severus 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 his 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
February 19,
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 retaliation 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 rampant corruption of Commodus' reign. 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. Plautianus’s excessive power came to an end in 205, when he was denounced by the Emperor's dying brother and killed. The two following
praefecti, including the jurist
Aemilius Papinianus, 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
February 4,
211.
Upon his death in 211, Severus was
deified by the Senate and succeeded by his sons,
Caracalla and
Geta, who were advised by his wife
Julia Domna. The stability Severus provided the Empire was soon gone under their reign.
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. 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 didn't intentionally seek out Christians, but when people were accused of being Christians they could either curse
Jesus and make an offering to
Roman gods, or be executed. Furthermore, wishing to strengthen the peace by encouraging religious harmony through
syncretism, Severus tried to limit the spread of the two quarrelsome groups who refused to yield to syncretism by outlawing
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, didn't 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Septimius Severus'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://septimius_severus.totallyexplained.com">Septimius Severus Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
