Elliott The African Emperor

The Life of Septimius Severus
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-83773-173-2
Verlag: Icon Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 320 Seiten

Septimius Severus was Rome's black emperor. Born in the blistering heat of a North African spring in Leptis Magna AD 145, he died in the freezing cold of a northern British winter in York in AD 211. A giant of an emperor, whose career can be counted in superlatives, Severus was in power at the height of Rome's might. He led the largest army to ever campaign in Britain, comprising 50,000 men, part of a Roman military establishment which peaked at 33 legions under his rule. Born into the richest family, in the richest part of the Roman Empire, Severus monumentalised his rule across the empire. He visited - and often fought in - every region. Where he did, he left a mighty legacy in the built environment, for example in Rome where much of the Forum Romanum and most of the imperial palaces are Severan. In North Africa, his hometown of Leptis Magna is all Severan, as are the Roman cities at the Atlas mountains. In London, the land walls that still define the City's Square Mile were delineated under his rule. Visitors to the under croft at York Minster can stand where he died. Septimius Severus was one of the greatest warrior emperors, a hard man who almost died in battle several times and whose attitude is reflected in his deathbed advice to two sons: 'Be of one mind with your family, enrich the soldiers, and despise the rest.'

Simon Elliott is a historian, archaeologist, author and broadcaster based in Kent. He has worked with outlets as varied as History Hit and Channel 5 and has published several books exploring Roman history.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Elliott, Simon

Leseproben

Introduction

‘No: we are not going to leave a single one of them alive, down to the babies in their mothers’ wombs – even they must die. The whole people must be wiped out of existence, with none to shed a tear for them, leaving no trace.’1

Writing in the Mediterranean and after the event, these are the words contemporary historian Cassius Dio has hardman Roman Emperor Septimius Severus say before his final, apocalyptic campaign against lowland Scotland in AD 210.2 Here, Dio, who knew Severus, paraphrases Agamemnon in Homer’s Iliad, having the ageing emperor order a genocide. Hard data in the archaeological record from this time showing large scale settlement decline, and the abandonment of huge swathes of agricultural land in lowland Scotland, now shows this really occurred. Such was Severus’ attitude to any who stood in his way, and this is his story.

Severus was the Roman Empire’s African emperor, born in the heat of a Libyan spring in Leptis Magna in AD 145. His story arc is truly astonishing, ending in death in the freezing cold of a northern British winter in York in February AD 211. His career is one of superlatives. Ruling at the height of Roman military power, he commanded more legions than any other emperor. Further, under his rule, permanent Roman territory was expanded to its greatest extent. Given this martial prowess, I argue here he was the most powerful person ever born in Africa based purely on military and political agency.

The legions certainly played a key role in his story. Across its vast territory around the Mediterranean and northwestern Europe, the Roman Empire was always at war. Even in times of relative peace, which were few in Severus’ reign, conflict could always be found. He understood this better than most, in his case from the very beginning of his reign when he rose to power at the point of a sword in AD 193, last man standing in the ‘Year of the Five Emperors’. Severus never forgot his military roots, famously telling his squabbling sons Caracalla and Geta on his deathbed to ‘be of one mind, enrich the soldiers, and despise the rest’.3

Throughout his life, Severus stayed true to his African heritage. Dark skinned, he ensured he was portrayed this way in contemporary portraiture. While in his time this was unimportant in what was a largely Mediterranean empire, in our world today it is. I address this directly here. Further, even in politest Roman society amid the patricians of Rome, he insisted on keeping his strong Punic accent. Then, once in power, he swiftly promoted North Africans at every opportunity to key positions of authority. This is not surprising given, as I have seen in my own frequent research trips across the region, this was the richest part of the empire, with a proud cultural heritage to match anything in Rome, Athens or Alexandria. Severus used his North African upbringing as the template for what I style ‘the Severan reset’, which was the first major post-Augustan reformation of the Roman world. This established the Severan dynasty which lasted almost half a century. Such was the scale of this reorganisation, which some go further and call a hostile takeover, that it was not repeated again until the accession of Diocletian over 90 years after Severus became emperor, and that in extremis after the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’.

Meanwhile, Severus was not a shy man, monumentalising his rule across the empire at every opportunity. He visited, and fought in, every region. When he did, he left a mighty legacy in the built environment. Many of these sites I have visited personally, following in his travels. Intriguingly, given the popular focus on the likes of Julius Caesar, Trajan and Hadrian, this urban Severan legacy often hides in plain sight, with few aware of it. Yet the high-profile examples are many in number. Think of forum Romanum in Rome where much is Severan, the lovely Temple of the Vesta just one example. Then, standing imposingly above the forum, most of the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill is Severan. From there, shimmering in a heat haze in summer, the distant Baths of Caracalla are also Severan, designed to be his great public legacy in the imperial capital. Elsewhere in Europe, the presence of Severus is writ large from east to west. Even in far off London, provincial capital of troublesome Britannia, the land wall that still defines the City today is Severan, while in York one can actually stand where he perished in the legionary fortress praetorium, now the undercroft of today’s Minster. Meanwhile, in his native North Africa, every city and town I have visited has a highly visible Severan phase, whether in the soaring snow-capped Atlas Mountains or along the arid Saharan fringe.

The story of Severus also features a dramatis personae fit to dazzle any historical epic. Think of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher emperor, and Commodus, his mad and bad son. Then Publius Helvius Pertinax, the son of a slave who became Roman emperor and was Severus’ friend and mentor. Next, Decimus Clodius Albinus and Pescennius Niger, British and Syrian governors respectively, and Severus’ former brothers in arms in the Marcomannic Wars. Both were destined to fight him tooth and nail for the throne in epic confrontations across the empire. Also, Didius Julianus and Flavius Sulpicianus, scandalous bidders for the imperial throne when auctioned by the Praetorian Guard, truly one of the lowest points in Roman history. Then, last but not least, his own family. Foremost was Julia Domna, his second wife and love of his life. She was a leading figure across the Roman world in her own right, and together they were the power couple of their age. Finally, their two sons, the psychotic Caracalla and unfortunate Geta, destined to live a spiral of bitter rivalry ending in the most sanguineous way.

SOURCE MATERIAL

In terms of the data used in the research for this book, I have accessed the widest possible range. For primary references, we are well served with three of the best available sources of the high Principate. These are Cassius Dio with his Roman History, Herodian with his History of the Roman Empire, and the anonymous Historia Augusta. Although the level of detail in all is often patchy and inaccurate, their accessibility makes them invaluable here, especially when cross-referenced with each other, the work of later writers and modern archaeological research.

We also have several later Latin chroniclers who briefly mention aspects of the Severan story. These include Flavius Eutropius with his Breviarium, Aurelius Victor with his De Caesaribus, Jerome with his Commentaries and Paulus Orosius with his Seven Books of History Against the Pagans. Meanwhile, in terms of the many fine modern references, various aspects of Severus’ life are well recorded. All of these works are detailed in the bibliography.

In terms of other archaeological data, much new information has emerged in recent years which significantly improves our understanding of the reign of Severus and of his many military campaigns. This is particularly the case in the east where he fought the Parthians, in North Africa where he campaigned against the Garamantes, and in Britain. Here, recent work on the indigenous Maeatae and Caledonian peoples of the far north has greatly added to our knowledge of the expeditio felicissima Brittannica.

CHRONOLOGY

Most of the key background information to help the reader fully engage with the story of Severus is detailed in Chapter 2. However, from the outset an understanding of the chronology of the Roman world is essential given this forms the template for the wider narrative. Here, I reference four main periods of Roman history. First, the Roman Republic, lasting from the overthrow of Rome’s last king Tarquin the Proud in 509 BC to the Senate’s acknowledgment of Augustus as the first emperor in 27 BC. Next, the Principate phase of the Roman Empire which lasted from Augustus’ accession to that of Diocletian in AD 284. The name Principate is derived from the term princeps (chief or master), referencing the emperor as the leading citizen of the empire. While princeps was not an official title – emperors often assumed it was on their accession – it clearly was a conceit which allowed the empire to be explained away as a simple continuance of the preceding Republic. The Severan dynasty sits within this period of empire.

The final phase of the Principate is today called the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’, a time when the empire was faced with multiple external and internal threats, including the devastating plague of Cyprian. The crisis lasted from the assassination of the last of the Severan emperors, Severus Alexander in AD 235, through to Diocletian’s accession. The new emperor was then faced with a series of immediate challenges, tackling them with a fundamental reform of the empire on a scale to match the earlier Severan reset. This featured a new, far more overtly imperial system of administration, which today we call the Dominate. This new title was based on the word dominus, or lord, with the emperor now the equivalent of an eastern potentate. The Dominate lasted through to the end of the empire in the west in AD 476, when the last western emperor Romulus Augustulus abdicated.

However, the empire in the east continued to thrive, and from that point is often called the Byzantine Empire. Some argue the name should be used earlier, some later, but I find AD 476 an elegant date to make the switch. It should be noted this is not a name the eastern Romans...