Septimius Severus | |||||
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21st Emperor of the Roman Empire | |||||
Reign | 14 April 193 – 4 February 211 | ||||
Predecessor | Didius Julianus | ||||
Successor | Caracalla and Geta | ||||
Co-emperors |
Caracalla (198–211) Geta (209–211) |
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Born |
Leptis Magna (today Khoms, Libya) |
11 April 145||||
Died | 4 February 211 Eboracum (today York, England) |
(aged 65)||||
Spouse |
Paccia Marciana (c. 175 – c. 186) Julia Domna |
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Issue |
Caracalla and Publius Septimius Geta (both by Julia Domna) |
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Dynasty | Severan | ||||
Father | Publius Septimius Geta | ||||
Mother | Fulvia Pia |
Full name | |
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Lucius Septimius Severus (from birth to accession); Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Eusebes Pertinax Augustus (as emperor) |
Roman imperial dynasties | |||
Severan dynasty | |||
Chronology | |||
Septimius Severus | 193–198 | ||
—with Caracalla | 198–209 | ||
—with Caracalla and Geta | 209–211 | ||
Caracalla and Geta | 211–211 | ||
Caracalla | 211–217 | ||
Interlude: Macrinus | 217–218 | ||
Elagabalus | 218–222 | ||
Alexander Severus | 222–235 | ||
Dynasty | |||
Severan dynasty family tree All biographies |
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Succession | |||
Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors |
Followed by Crisis of the Third Century |
Septimius Severus (/səˈvɪərəs/; Latin: Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211), also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the cursus honorum—the customary succession of offices—under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors.
After deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia. Later that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul.
After consolidating his rule over the western provinces, Severus waged another brief, more successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 197 and expanding the eastern frontier to the Tigris. Furthermore, he enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes; capturing their capital Garama and expanding the Limes Tripolitanus along the southern frontier of the empire.