Septimius Severus

Emperor of Roman empire | Royal

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Lived from 145 CE to 211 CE

Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. 

Subject ID: 123655

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Lived from 145 CE to 211 CE

Lucius Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. 

Septimius Severus was the remaining emperor of a bloody shakeout period which saw the violent demise of no less than five emperors in less than two years. A Governor in a sleepy quarter of the Empire, Septimius saw a golden opportunity after the murder of Pertinax and with the pretense of avenging his murder he recruited an army and advanced towards Rome. The situation in Rome, meanwhile, was so chaotic that the Senate saw no way out of it but to save their skin by turning tail and declaring Septimius emperor in absentia. He would arrive a few days later to restore order to the city where he was welcomed as a savior. However, any love the Senate had for him quickly dissipated as he too, like Commodus before him (the last emperor of durable reign) was to systematically undermine and terrorize its members. Fortunately for them, Septimius would die a few years later during a campaign against the Scots in Britain.

 

 

Subject ID: 123655

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Subject ID: 123655