Septimus
Severus, a ruthless Roman emperor from Leptis Magna?
Lucius
Septimus Severus, a Romanised African was born in Leptis
Magna (Libya), on the 1st
April AD 145.
He started his
official career as a civil magistrate, and then joined the
army to become a military commander.
As a capable
and popular leader in the army, he made his way up to Rome
the capital of the Roman empire. Septimusīs chance to rise
and achieve what many officials, rich people and politicians
dreamt of, came up when emperor Commodus the son of emperor
Marcus Aurelius was murdered.
S. Severus
claimed the imperial throne in AD 193 and became the emperor
of Rome.
He won a
bloody battle in Lyon in France against Clodius Albinus the
governer of Rome whom too wanted to be an emperor.
To secure his
position and the strong hold of things, one of the first
decisions made by emperor Severus after arriving
victoriously in Rome, was to have those involved in the
murder of Pertinax executed. Then he had the praetorian
guard which proved to be a dangerous threat to the emperor
disbanded. After choosing some of the best men of his army (
mainly from the Danubian legions), Severus established a
strong force to replace the praetorian guard. And to
maximize security of Rome, he trebled the number of the
police of Rome and strengthen the fire brigade.
Of course
without the support of the army, Septimus Severus could not
reach this position. So to raise the moral of the army and
ensure their loyalty and support, he increased the salaries
of the army officers from three hundreds to five hundreds
denarii a year.
Cruelties
of Septimus
Clodius
Albinus was killed (or committed suicide?) and Septimus
Severus had his corpse stripped and rode his horse on the
dead body. The head of Clodius Albinus was sent to Rome and
the remains of his body, along the bodies of his wife and
sons were thrown into the Rhine.
Emperor
Severus rightfully earned the nickname `the Punic Sulla`
which refered to him as the notorious vengeful dictator of
the Roman empire.
Another
example of the cruelties of Septimus was shown during the
conquest of Parthia region which intervene in favour of
Pescennius Niger. By the end of AD 197, the capital of
Parthia Ctesiphon was captured and Severus had all the men
killed, and about hundred thousands of women and children
sold as slaves. The war in Parthia resulted in annexing
Mesopotamia as a Roman province once more.
The
Praetorian Prefects
The praetorian
prefects were Severusī real executers of the daily business
of the government. They had a bad reputation among the
public and were hated by almost every ordinary citizen,
because of their ruthless abuses of power. An example of
that is Gaius Fulvius whose daughter Publia Fulvia Plautilla
was married to the emperorīs son Caracalla. Gaius Fulvius
had adults (men) castrated so they can serve his daughter,
but only as eunuchs! Caracalla was not satisfied with his
wife Publia and resented her father. So he sent a false
alarm to his father the emperor, warning him about a plot
planned by Plautianus. The emperor believed the reports
brought to him by his son and others, and ordered the
execution of Plautianus. Under the orders of the emperor,
the corpse was thrown onto the street where the public had
the chance to show how much they hated the prefects of the
emperor.
The home town
of emperor Septimus Severus (Leptis Magna) benefited during
his reign. And throughout the whole empire, a very large
number of buildings were built and ancient buildings were
restored or renovated. He ordered, in many cases, the
inscription of his name on even the ancient buildings which
to be restored, as to show that he had erected them!
Emperor
Septimus Severus died of natural causes at Eburacum in
(York) at the age of sixty six (AD 211), while on war
adventure in Scotland (building the Hadrianīs wall).
Sons of
Septimus Severus, Caracalla and Geta ended the campaigns in
Scotland and took the ashes of their father to Rome:
Septimusīs
Last Advices
Emperor
septimus Severusī last advices were given to his tow sons,
and they were:
keep on good
terms with each other, be generous to the soldiers and take
no heed of anyone else!
The stories
about Septimus Severus and his way of governing differ quite
a lot, as the case for many other emperors. But one fact
remains and can not be ignored: It was a though world then
(still is). Politicians and army people were raised and
brought up to show no mercy, because mercy is a sign of
weakness.
Now, every
time I stand in front of the statue of Septimus Severus, I
say to him:
Not your power
and thoughts, nor your advice or sons helped keep the
empire. All gone now. But you made history. May the birds of
Alkhoms be kind to you!
----
Husein Turbi |
