Septimius Severus

Born on 11 April 145 at Leptis Magna (in present-day Libya) as the son of Publius Septimius Geta and Fulvia Pia,[3] Septimius Severus came from a wealthy and distinguished family of equestrian rank. He had Italian Roman ancestry on his mother's side, and was descended from Punic forebears on his father's side.[7]

Severus' father, an obscure provincial, held no major political status, but he had two cousins, Publius Septimius Aper and Gaius Septimius Severus, who served as consuls under the emperor Antoninus Pius r. 138–161. His mother's ancestors had moved from Italy to North Africa; they belonged to the gens Fulvia, an Italian patrician family that originated in Tusculum.[8] Septimius Severus had two siblings: an elder brother, Publius Septimius Geta; and a younger sister, Septimia Octavilla. Severus's maternal cousin was the praetorian prefect and consul Gaius Fulvius Plautianus.[9]

Septimius Severus grew up in Leptis Magna. He spoke the local Punic language fluently, but he was also educated in Latin and Greek, which he spoke with a slight accent. Little else is known of the young Severus' education but, according to Cassius Dio, the boy had been eager for more education than he actually received. Presumably Severus received lessons in oratory: at the age of 17 he gave his first public speech.[10]

Dynastic aureus of Septimius Severus, minted in 202. The reverse feature the portraits of Geta (right), Julia Domna (centre), and Caracalla (left).[11] Inscription: SEVER[US] P[IUS] AVG[USTUS] P[ONTIFEX] M[AXIMUS], TR[IBUNUS] P[LEBIS] X, CO[N]S[UL] III / FELICITAS SAECVLI

Severus sought a public career in Rome in around 162. At the recommendation of his relative Gaius Septimius Severus, the emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) granted him entry into the senatorial ranks.[12] Membership in the senatorial order was a prerequisite to attain positions within the cursus honorum and to gain entry into the Roman Senate. Nevertheless, it appears that Severus' career during the 160s met with some difficulties.[13]

It is likely that he served as a vigintivir in Rome, overseeing road maintenance in or near the city, and he may have appeared in court as an advocate.[13] At the time of Marcus Aurelius he was the State Attorney (Advocatus fisci).[14] However, he omitted the military tribunate from the cursus honorum and had to delay his quaestorship until he had reached the required minimum age of 25.[13] To make matters worse, the Antonine Plague swept through the capital in 166.[15]

With his career at a halt, Severus decided to temporarily return to Leptis, where the climate was healthier.[15] According to the Historia Augusta, a usually unreliable source, he was prosecuted for adultery during this time but the case was ultimately dismissed. At the end of 169 Severus was of the required age to become a quaestor and journeyed back to Rome. On 5 December, he took office and was officially enrolled in the Roman Senate.[16] Between 170 and 180 his activities went largely unrecorded, in spite of the fact that he occupied an impressive number of posts in quick succession. The Antonine Plague had thinned the senatorial ranks and, with capable men now in short supply, Severus' career advanced more steadily than it otherwise might have.[17]

The sudden death of his father necessitated another return to Leptis Magna to settle family affairs. Before he was able to leave Africa, Mauri tribesmen invaded southern Spain. Control of the province was handed over to the emperor, while the Senate gained temporary control of Sardinia as compensation. Thus, Septimius Severus spent the remainder of his second term as quaestor on the island of Sardinia.[18]

In 173, Severus' kinsman Gaius Septimius Severus was appointed proconsul of the Province of Africa. The elder Severus chose his cousin as one of his two legati pro praetore, a senior military appointment.[19] Following the end of this term, Septimius Severus returned to Rome, taking up office as tribune of the plebs, a senior legislative position, with the distinction of being the candidatus of the emperor.[20]

Busts of Septimius Severus (left) and Julia Domna (right), Munich Glyptotek

About 175, Septimius Severus, in his early thirties at the time, contracted his first marriage, to Paccia Marciana, a woman from Leptis Magna.[21] He probably met her during his tenure as legate under his uncle. Marciana's name suggests Punic or Libyan origin, but nothing else is known of her. Septimius Severus does not mention her in his autobiography, though he commemorated her with statues when he became emperor. The unreliable Historia Augusta claims that Marciana and Severus had two daughters, but no other attestation of them has survived. It appears that the marriage produced no surviving children, despite lasting for more than ten years.[20]

Marciana died of natural causes around 186.[22] Septimius Severus, now in his forties, childless and eager to remarry, began enquiring into the horoscopes of prospective brides. The Historia Augusta relates that he heard of a woman in Syria of whom it had been foretold that she would marry a king, and so Severus sought her as his wife.[21] This woman was an Emesene Syrian named Julia Domna. Her father, Julius Bassianus, descended from the Arab Emesene dynasty and served as a high priest to the local cult of the sun god Elagabal.[23] Domna's older sister, Julia Maesa, would become the grandmother of the future emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus.[24]

Bassianus accepted Severus' marriage proposal in early 187, and in the summer the couple married in Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon, France), of which Severus was the governor.[25] The marriage proved happy, and Severus cherished Julia and her political opinions. Julia built "the most splendid reputation" by applying herself to letters and philosophy.[26] They had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus (later nicknamed Caracalla, born 4 April 188 in Lugdunum) and Publius Septimius Geta (born 7 March 189 in Rome).[27]

The Roman Empire in 210 after the conquests of Severus. Depicted is Roman territory (purple) and Roman dependencies (light purple).

Aureus minted in 193 by Septimius Severus, to celebrate XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix, the legion that proclaimed him emperor. Inscription: IMP. CAE. L. SEP. SEV. PERT[INAX] AVG. / LEG. XIIII CEM. M. V. – TR. P., CO[N]S.

In early 197 Severus departed Rome and travelled to the east by sea. He embarked at Brundisium and probably landed at the port of Aegeae in Cilicia,[37] travelling to Syria by land. He immediately gathered his army and crossed the Euphrates.[38] Abgar IX, titular King of Osroene but essentially only the ruler of Edessa since the annexation of his kingdom as a Roman province,[39] handed over his children as hostages and assisted Severus' expedition by providing archers.[40] King Khosrov I of Armenia also sent hostages, money and gifts.[41]

Severus travelled on to Nisibis, which his general Julius Laetus had prevented from falling into enemy hands. Afterwards Severus returned to Syria to plan a more ambitious campaign.[42] The following year he led another, more successful campaign against the Parthian Empire, reportedly in retaliation for the support it had given to Pescennius Niger. His legions sacked the Parthian royal city of Ctesiphon and he annexed the northern half of Mesopotamia to the empire,[43][44] taking the title Parthicus Maximus, following the example of Trajan.[45] However, he was unable to capture the fortress of Hatra even after two lengthy sieges, just like Trajan who had tried nearly a century before. During his time in the east, though, he also expanded the Limes Arabicus, building new fortifications in the Arabian Desert from Basie to Dumatha.[46]

Severus' relations with the 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 a large number of Senators on charges of corruption or conspiracy against him and replaced them with his favourites. Although his actions turned Rome more into a military dictatorship, he was popular with the citizens of Rome, having stamped out the rampant corruption of Commodus's reign. When he returned from his victory over the Parthians, he erected the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome.[47][48]

According to Cassius Dio,[49] however, after 197 Severus fell heavily under the influence of his Praetorian Prefect, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, who came to have almost total control of the imperial administration. At the same time, a bloody power crisis erupted between Plautianus and Julia Domna, Severus' influential and powerful wife, which had a relatively destructive effect on the centre of power. Plautianus's daughter, Fulvia Plautilla, was married to Severus's son, Caracalla. Plautianus's excessive power came to an end in 204, when he was denounced by the emperor's dying brother. In January 205 Julia Domna and Caracalla accused Plautianus of plotting to kill him and Severus. The powerful prefect was executed while he was trying to defend his case in front of the two emperors.[50] One of the two following praefecti was the famous jurist Papinian. Executions of senators did not stop: Cassius Dio records that many of them were put to death, some after being formally tried. After the assassination of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in the rest of his reign, he relied more on the advice of his clever and educated wife, Julia Domna, in the administration of the empire.[51]

Bronze head of Septimius Severus, from Asia Minor, c. 195–211 AD, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Inscription: IMP. CAE. L. SEP. SEV. PERT. AVG. / LEG. XIIII, CEM M V – TRP COS

Upon his arrival at Rome in 193, Severus discharged the Praetorian Guard,[31] which had murdered Pertinax and had then auctioned the Roman Empire to Didius Julianus. Its members were stripped of their ceremonial armour and forbidden to come within 160 kilometres (99 mi) miles of the city on pain of death.[52] Severus replaced the old guard with 10 new cohorts recruited from veterans of his Danubian legions.[53]

Around 197 he increased the number of legions from 30 to 33, with the introduction of the three new legions: I, II, and III Parthica.[54] He garrisoned Legio II Parthica at Albanum, only 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Rome.[53] He gave his soldiers a donative of a thousand sesterces (250 denarii) each,[55] and raised the annual wage for a soldier in the legions from 300 to 400 denarii.[56]

Severus was the first Roman emperor to station some of the imperial army in Italy. He realized that Rome needed a military central reserve with the capability to be sent anywhere.[57]

At the beginning of Severus' reign, Trajan's policy toward the Christians was still in force. That is, Christians were only to be punished if they refused to worship the emperor and the gods, but they were not to be sought out.[58] Therefore, persecution was inconsistent, local, and sporadic. Faced with internal dissidence and external threats, Severus felt the need to promote religious harmony by promoting syncretism.[59] He, possibly, issued an edict[60] that punished conversion to Judaism and Christianity.[61]

A number of persecutions of Christians occurred in the Roman Empire during his reign and are traditionally attributed to Severus by the early Christian community.[62] This is based on the decree mentioned in the Historia Augusta,[60] an unreliable mix of fact and fiction.[63] Early church historian Eusebius described Severus as a persecutor.[64] The Christian apologist Tertullian stated that Severus was well disposed towards Christians,[65] employed a Christian as his personal physician and had personally intervened to save several high-born Christians known to him from the mob.[63] Eusebius' description of Severus as a persecutor likely derives merely from the fact that numerous persecutions occurred during his reign, including those known in the Roman Martyrology as the martyrs of Madauros, Charalambos and Perpetua and Felicity in Roman-ruled Africa. These were probably the result of local persecutions rather than empire-wide actions or decrees by Severus.[66]

The expansion of the African frontier during the reign of Severus (medium tan). Severus even briefly held a military presence in Garama in 203 (light tan).

In late 202 Severus launched a campaign in the province of Africa. The legatus legionis or commander of Legio III Augusta, Quintus Anicius Faustus, had been fighting against the Garamantes along the Limes Tripolitanus for five years. He captured several settlements such as Cydamus, Gholaia, Garbia, and their capital Garama – over 600 kilometres (370 mi) south of Leptis Magna.[67] The province of Numidia was also enlarged: the empire annexed the settlements of Vescera, Castellum Dimmidi, Gemellae, Thabudeos and Thubunae.[68] By 203 the entire southern frontier of Roman Africa had been dramatically expanded and re-fortified. Desert nomads could no longer safely raid the region's interior and escape back into the Sahara.[43]

In 208 Severus travelled to Britain with the intention of conquering Caledonia. Modern archaeological discoveries illuminate the scope and direction of his northern campaign.[69] Severus probably arrived in Britain with an army over 40,000, considering some of the camps constructed during his campaign could house this number.[70]

He strengthened Hadrian's Wall and reconquered the Southern Uplands up to the Antonine Wall, which was also enhanced. Severus built a 165-acre (67 ha) camp south of the Antonine Wall at Trimontium, probably assembling his forces there.[71] Supported and supplied by a strong naval force,[72] Severus then thrust north with his army across the wall into Caledonian territory. Retracing the steps of Agricola of over a century before, Severus rebuilt and garrisoned many abandoned Roman forts along the east coast, such as Carpow.[73]

Kushan ring with portraits of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, a testimony to Indo-Roman relations of the period.

Around this time Severus' wife, Julia Domna, reportedly criticised the sexual morals of the Caledonian women. The wife of Caledonian chief Argentocoxos replied: "We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women; for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest".[74]

Cassius Dio's account of the invasion reads:

Severus, accordingly, desiring to subjugate the whole of it, invaded Caledonia. But as he 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. But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory.[75]

By 210 Severus' campaigning had made significant gains, despite Caledonian guerrilla tactics and purportedly heavy Roman casualties.[76] The Caledonians sued for peace, which Severus granted on condition they relinquish control of the Central Lowlands.[69][77] This is evidenced by extensive Severan-era fortifications in the Central Lowlands.[78] The Caledonians, short on supplies and feeling that their position was desperate, revolted later that year with the Maeatae.[79] Severus prepared for another protracted campaign within Caledonia. He was now intent on exterminating the Caledonians, telling his soldiers: "Let no-one escape sheer destruction, no-one our hands, not even the babe in the womb of the mother, if it be male; let it nevertheless not escape sheer destruction."[80][72]

Severus' campaign was cut short when he fell ill.[81][82] He withdrew to Eboracum (York) and died there in 211.[4] Although his son Caracalla continued campaigning the following year, he soon settled for peace. The Romans never campaigned deep into Caledonia again. Shortly after this the frontier was permanently withdrawn south to Hadrian's Wall.[83]

Severus is famously said to have given the advice to his sons: "Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, scorn all others" before he died on 4 February 211.[84] On his death, Severus was deified by the Senate and succeeded by his sons, Caracalla and Geta, who were advised by his wife Julia Domna.[85] Severus was buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. His remains are now lost.[86]