Roman Emperor A.D. 193-211.
An
African by birth, Septimius Severus rose through the ranks of the
Roman army to become
governor of Upper Pannonia. When the
Praetorian Guard murdered the emperor
Pertinax and
auctioned off the throne to
Didius Julianus, 16
legions on the
Rhine and
Danube declared Severus to be the true emperor, and marched on Rome. There were at this time two other main rivals for the throne,
Clodius Albinus, the governor of
Britain, and
Pescennius Niger, the governor of
Syria. Both
elected to bide their time, with Pescennius remaining in luxury in
Byzantium and Clodius
refraining from declaring himself emperor and signing a
treaty with Severus (who got to
Rome first anyway). Severus pledged his
friendship to Pescennius, then marched his legions to the east, besieging
Byzantium. Niger managed to flee, but the armies of Severus caught up to him on the banks of the
Euphrates river and
executed him in the
fall of 194 AD. Byzantium itself
refused to
surrender and did not fall until 196. In 195, Clodius
declared himself emperor, but once again
failed to march on Rome
immediately, instead waiting for the
snow in the passes to clear. By the time he did march, Severus had his armies in
position, and they met in
battle for the last time at
Lugdunum in 197. Clodius was defeated, and Severus was now
undisputed emperor.
As an emperor, he was far better than
average,
instituting many reforms, and
dismissing all the members of the
corrupt Praetorian Guard. Much of his time was spent putting down
rebellions all over the empire, including most notably the rebellion by the
Scots in Britain. He brought his two sons,
Geta and
Caracalla with him everywhere, to toughen them up, and when he
died left them to rule together. His last words to them before he died at
York in 211 were to
rule together as brothers, keep the
armies happy, and forget
everyone else.
See
Roman Emperors