Category:Septimius Severus (subject)
Lucius Septimius Severus (146 – 211 CE) from Africa reigned from 193 till 211 CE. He was the founder of theSeveran dynasty.
- This page is edited by Samuele Rocca, Israel
Overview
Septimius Severus, the commander of the legions of Pannonia was proclaimed emperor in 193 CE. After he defeated his rivals Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus, remaining sole master of the Roman Empire, he waged a victorious war against Parthia from 197 till 199 CE. He was succeeded by his son Caracalla in 211 CE. The reign of Septimius Severus was characterized by an increase in the importance of the army and the constant disregard of the prerogative of the Senate.
Early Career
Lucius Septimius Severus was born in 146 CE at Leptis Magna. His father Publius Septimius Geta holds equestrian rank. However two cousins, Publius Septimius Aper and Gaius Septimius Severus, served as consuls under the emperor Antoninus Pius. His mother Fulvia Pia came from an Italic family that originated in Tusculum, which moved to Africa. His maternal cousin was Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, Praetorian Praefect and consul in 203 CE. Septimius Severus had a brother, Publius Septimius Geta, and a sister, Septimia Pia. In 162 CE, the young Septimius Severus moved to Rome. Through the influence of his uncle, Gaius Septimius Severus, the Emperor Marcus Aurelius granted him the Senatorial order. His cursus honorum began as a member of the vigintivirate. Back for a while to Leptis Magna, in 169 CE he was appointed quaestor. He served as quaestor in Sardinia a second time. He was appointed legatus legionis pro praetore in 173 CE, when his uncle Gaius Septimius Severus was appointed governor of Africa as proconsul. Back in Rome, Septimius Severus stood as Imperial candidate for the nomination of tribunus plebis. In 190 CE [Severus]] became consul, and in the following year, in 191 CE, Septimius Severus received from Commodus the command of the legions in Pannonia. In 175 CE, while in Africa, Septimius Severus married Paccia Marciana, a woman from Leptis Magna. It seems that the couple was childless when Paccia Marciana died in 186 CE. In 187 CE, Septimius Severus married Julia Domna, the daughter of Julius Bassianus, the high priest of the sun god of Emesa, Elagabal. The couple had two children, Lucius Septimius Bassianus, the future emperor Caracalla, born in 188 CE, and his younger brother Lucius Septimius Geta, born in 189 CE.
Imperial Succession
After the murder of Pertinax, once the proclamation of Didius Julianus as Emperor reached the Danubian frontier, in 193 CE, the legions of Pannonia proclaimed Septimius Severus emperor at Carnutum. Septimius Severus immediately moved to Rome. Didius Julianus asked the Senate to appoint Septimius Severus, as a joint Emperor. Septimius Severus refused, and once he entered in Rome in the summer of 193 CE, he had Didius Julianus sentenced to death by the Senate and executed. However, in the same time Pescennius Niger was proclaimed Emperor by the Eastern legions in 193 CE while Clodius Albinus was acclaimed emperor by the legions stationed in Britannia, and in Hispania, making him the undisputed master of the western part of the Roman Empire. Clodius Albinus allied himself to Septimius Severus, and in 194 CE, he shared together a consulship, accepting the title of Caesar. Once Septimius Severus in Rome, he ordered the Praetorian Praefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus to held as hostages the children of Pescennius Niger. However, the latter secured the support of all the governors of the Eastern provinces, including Asellius Aemilianus, the proconsul of Asia. However Septimius Severus could count on the support of the sixteen legions stationed on the Danube, while Pescennius Niger had only six legions at his disposal. The war opened badly for Septimius Severus, as Lucius Fabius Cilo, who commanded part of Septimius Severus’army was defeated by Pescennius Niger at Perinthus. However, Tiberius Claudius Candidus, who commanded the vanguard of the army of Septimius Severus defeated the army commanded by Asellius Aemilianus in the battle of Cyzicus. Then, the main army under the command of Septimius Severus put Byzantium under siege. Pescennius Niger had to retire to Nicaea, where in a pitched battle he was defeated. However, Pescennius Niger was successful enough to retire with most of his army to Antioch. However various cities as Laodicaea and Tyre as well as the prefect of Egypt and the legate in Arabia switched their allegiance to Septimius Severus. In the spring of 194 CE, Cornelius Anullinus, a general of Septimius Severus defeated definitely Pescennius Niger at the battle of Issus. Pescennius Niger was captured and beheaded. However the resistance of the East to Septimius Severus ceased only in 195 CE, with the surrender of Byzantium. In 196 CE, once he understood that he would have been the next target of Septimius Severus, Clodius Albinus proclaimed himself Emperor, and crossed from Britain to Gaul. Virius Lupus, the legate of Septimius Severus, was defeated by Clodius Albinus, however the latter was unable to purchase the allegiance of the legions stationed on the Rhine. At the beginning of 197 CE, Septimius Severus defeated Clodius Albinus at the battle of Lugdunum, who in the aftermath of the battle, was captured and executed. As sole Emperor, Septimius Severus fought from 197 till 199 CE a war against Parthia. The result of the war was that the Parthian capital Ctesiphon was sacked by the legions, and the northern half of Mesopotamia was restored to Rome. In 203 CE, Septimius Severus visited the province of Africa. This was the occasion to display his evergetism towards his native city, Leptis Magna, which was much rebuilt. The Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum, which commemorates the victorious Parthian War, and the Septizodium, a huge monument, set on the eastern side of the Palatine palace, testified Septimius Severus evergetism in Rome. From 208 till 211 CE Septimius Severus fought a campaign in Britain against the Barbarians, defending the Wall of Hadrian. During Septimius Severus’s rule the army much increased in importance. [[Septimius Severus[[ disbanded the Praetorian Guard and replaced it with one of his own, made up of 50,000 loyal soldiers, moreover 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. Moreover, the annual wage for a soldier was raised from 300 to 500 denarii a year. Septimius Severus enjoyed a very negative relationship with the Roman Senate. The Emperor had dozens of Senators sentenced to death and executed on various charges. On the other side, from 197 CE, till his dismissal and execution in 205 CE, Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, the praetorian prefect, whose daughter, Fulvia Plautilla, was married to Caracalla, the son of Septimius Severus', hold much influence. Also the two successive praefecti, including the jurist Aemilius Papinianus hold much influence.Septimius Severus died at York - Eburacum, while campaigning in Britain in 211 CE. He left as successors his two sons, Caracalla and Geta.
Septimius Severus and the Jews
The Life of Septimius Severus mentions the conquest of Palestine in the aftermath of the defeat of Pescennius Niger, an unknown “Jewish triumph” of Caracalla, which still puzzles the historians, and the fact that while Severus conferred numerous legal rights to the Jews, yet he forbade conversion to Judaism under heavy penalties (SHA, Septimius Severus 14: 6, 16: 7, 17: 1). In fact Septimius Severus founded in Palestine the colonia of Eleutheropolis in 200 CE, and according to Rabbinic literature he also conferred this title to the city of Tiberias. It seems that the relationship between the Severan ruling house and the Jews of Galilee was excellent as the synagogue of Katzion was dedicated to the welfare of the Imperial family. It is also possible that, when in Palaestina, Septimius Severus met the Jewish Patriarch, Judah ha Nasi in 194 CE. Septimius Severus and Caracalla confirmed the laws regulating the participation of Jews in public offices enacted by Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Ulpianus, who died in 218 C.E., in his Libri de Officio Proconsulis, while discussing the honor of decuriones in Book III, cites briefly the statues concerning the possibility of Jews attaining public office (Digesta 50.2.3.3.). Septimius Severus however maintained certain disabilities. Jews had still to pay the Fiscus Judaicus, proselytism was forbidden, and slaves owned by Jews could not be circumcised.
Septimius Severus in ancient sources
Septimius Severus in literature & the arts
Septimius Severus in scholarship
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