Difference between revisions of "Septimius Severus"

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*This page is edited by [[Samuele Rocca]], Israel
#REDIRECT [[:Category:Septimius Severus (subject)]]
*ANCIENT SOURCES: see [[Septimius Severus (sources)]]
*SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see [[:Category: Septimius Severus (subject)]]


[[Lucius Septimius Severus]] (146 – 211 CE) from [[Africa]] reigned from 193 till 211 CE. He was the founder of the[[ Severan]] dynasty.
====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 Scholarship==
== [[Septimius Severus]] in Fiction==
==Related categories==
*[[Roman Emperors]] / [[Septimius Severus]]
==External links==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/  Septimius Severus Wikipedia]


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