Who was Septimius Severus? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Imperator Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax Augustus

Died At Age: 65

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Julia Domna (m. 187), Paccia Marciana (m. 175)

father: Publius Septimius Geta

mother: Fulvia Pia

children: Caracalla, Geta

Born Country: Libya

Emperors & Kings Ancient Roman Men

Died on: February 4, 211

place of death: Eboracum

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Childhood & Early Life

Septimius Severus was born Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus, on April 11, 145, in Leptis Magna (modern-day Libya), Africa, to Publius Septimius Geta and Fulvia Pia. His father was of African descent, while his mother was of Italian Roman origin. Septimius was the middle child and had an older brother and a younger sister.

Septimius was born into a family with high social standing in the African province of the Roman Empire. His father was a rich and highly respected man but held no strong political standing. His two cousins, however, were consuls in the court of the Roman Empire.

Ever since he was young, Septimius proved himself to be a highly ambitious man. He grew up in his birthtown and spoke the local Punic language fluently. His father made sure he was trained in Latin and Greek.

He was also good at oratory, a skill he had mastered by the time he reached the age of 17. The same year, he delivered his first public speech quite impressively.

During his later teenage years, Septimius hoped to make a career in public service. It was rather easy for him due to the respect his father had earned among the locals for being a member of the equestrian order.

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Early Career

In 173 AD, he entered the ‘Roman Senate’ due to his excellent skills as an orator. Although he was still considered too young to enter the senate, what made things easy for him was the fact that many of the older senate members had died during the outbreak of the great plague the previous year.

Septimius entered the senate at an extremely bad time, as the Roman Empire was struggling with a mentally unstable ruler back then. Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, was on the throne and was notorious for his anger issues and eccentric behavior. Commodus had gotten many of his aristocrats murdered.

However, Septimius was immune to all this, as he was an extremely intelligent man and moved up the ladder of the senate carefully. He was later made a proconsul of the African province and was given the authority to command three legions. He was also given a senior legislative position in the senate. He later earned the distinction of being a candidatus of the emperor.

In 191, he was appointed as the governor of the Pannonia Superior. The following year, Emperor Commodus was murdered. His successor was also murdered in the quest for power. By then, Septimius had acquired a large army of his own. Septimius ordered his great army to march toward Rome, and he became the emperor in 193.

Emperor of the Roman Empire

In the wake of Septimius becoming the ruler, several aspirants from the Roman Empire waged war on him. Several civil wars took place in 193, which was called the “Year of the Five Emperors.” He defeated claimants such as Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus in battles and hence became the undisputed ruler of Rome. He was the first Roman emperor of African descent.

After becoming the absolute ruler of the great Roman Empire, Septimius installed several reforms, most of them for the army. In 197 AD, Septimius began his expedition to expand the Roman Empire, and the first target he had in mind was Rome’s oldest enemy, Parthia.

He led the invasion of a large part of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Possessing a great army, he successfully took hold of the Parthian capital. Hence, he permanently annexed Mesopotamia, making it part of the Roman Empire.

In 202, he eyed the prosperous and independent lands in Africa and moved his army into his native land. He attacked the Garamantes Empire in Africa (modern-day Libya). The capital city was occupied quite easily.

He embarked on military operations to annex Numidia and then added more land to the Roman Empire. Simultaneously, he also introduced political reforms. From 202 to 208 AD, he overhauled the imperial administration and empire.

As he himself hailed from a provincial background, he helped many people from such backgrounds and paved ways for them to acquire respectful positions within the government. He reformed many other laws that had not been touched since 100 years. He made both his sons caesars and co-rulers of the empire in a bid to see them on the throne someday.

Septimius had an ordinary background. Thus, he knew that people held the real power, and he did many things to keep people on his sides. He donated graciously and staged games for their entertainment. However, he could never win over the elite society of the Roman Empire. He also had poor diplomatic relations with Italy.

In 208, he embarked on a mission to annex Picts (modern-day Scotland). He moved an extremely large army in order to do so. After a long war, he successfully annexed a great chunk of Scotland. It was a feat that no other Roman ruler had achieved in the past 100 years.

Personal Life & Death

Septimius married for the first time in 175, when he was in his early 30s, to Paccia Marciana. She died a few years later, and Septimius then got married to Julia Domna. They had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus and Publius Septimius Geta,

In late 210, Septimius fell ill. He passed away on February 4, 211. Both his sons ruled as co-emperors following his demise. Thus, the Severan Dynasty came into existence. It was the last Roman dynasty before the notorious Crisis of the Third Century took place.

Septimius Severus Biography