DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0267
Africa under Septimius Severus 199
in manhood a high military capacity, there is little wonder that
his countrymen should have honoured the name Severus in most
parts of his African possessions. It must be admitted, on the
authority of so reliable an authority as Justinus, that Severus was
cruel by nature and despotic in administration. And even later
writers such as Spartianus and Capitolinus hesitate to attribute
to the Emperor one single incident in his career which bears the
stamp of clemency or magnanimity. The facts that he caused
divine honours to be bestowed on the wretched Commodus, and
that a revengeful spirit prompted him to expose in the streets of
Rome the heads of his rivals, Niger and Albinus, are sufficient
testimony to a savage disposition. But to his credit it may be
said that strength of will and force of character secured the regard
of his subjects, and gave him the command of the world during
the greater part of his imperial career. The increasing power
of the army, which had been gradually asserting itself, from the
time of the accession of Marcus Aurelius, as a great political
factor in Rome and the garrison towns, was not lost on so astute
a ruler as Severus. He purchased their goodwill and adhesion
to his cause by large annual donations, and on his deathbed is
alleged to have said to his sons, ' Live peaceably together, enrich
the soldiers, and take no account of the rest of your subjects.'
And we are told, on the authority of Justinus, that when he
entered Rome in triumph after the final defeat of Albinus, his
first public act gave indications of a determination to be ruler of
the army as well as of the Senate and people. Summoning the
all-powerful Praetorian guard to appear unarmed outside the
city walls, he encompassed them with troops upon whom he
could rely. Then, reproaching them for their treachery to his
predecessor Pertinax, he disbanded them and forbade their
settling within a hundred miles of Rome.1
The large number of dedicatory inscriptions in honour of
Severus are in many ways remarkable. In most of them the
name of the Emperor is associated with his two sons, Caracalla
and Geta, invariably termed the Augusti, and in many instances
with Julia Domna, his second wife, bearing the proud title of
Mater Castrorum. The political influence exercised by women
1 Gibbon, vol. i. chap. v. The subject is referred to by Herodian, Dion Cassius,
and other Latin authors. The dismissal of the Guard was probably witnessed by
Dion himself.
in manhood a high military capacity, there is little wonder that
his countrymen should have honoured the name Severus in most
parts of his African possessions. It must be admitted, on the
authority of so reliable an authority as Justinus, that Severus was
cruel by nature and despotic in administration. And even later
writers such as Spartianus and Capitolinus hesitate to attribute
to the Emperor one single incident in his career which bears the
stamp of clemency or magnanimity. The facts that he caused
divine honours to be bestowed on the wretched Commodus, and
that a revengeful spirit prompted him to expose in the streets of
Rome the heads of his rivals, Niger and Albinus, are sufficient
testimony to a savage disposition. But to his credit it may be
said that strength of will and force of character secured the regard
of his subjects, and gave him the command of the world during
the greater part of his imperial career. The increasing power
of the army, which had been gradually asserting itself, from the
time of the accession of Marcus Aurelius, as a great political
factor in Rome and the garrison towns, was not lost on so astute
a ruler as Severus. He purchased their goodwill and adhesion
to his cause by large annual donations, and on his deathbed is
alleged to have said to his sons, ' Live peaceably together, enrich
the soldiers, and take no account of the rest of your subjects.'
And we are told, on the authority of Justinus, that when he
entered Rome in triumph after the final defeat of Albinus, his
first public act gave indications of a determination to be ruler of
the army as well as of the Senate and people. Summoning the
all-powerful Praetorian guard to appear unarmed outside the
city walls, he encompassed them with troops upon whom he
could rely. Then, reproaching them for their treachery to his
predecessor Pertinax, he disbanded them and forbade their
settling within a hundred miles of Rome.1
The large number of dedicatory inscriptions in honour of
Severus are in many ways remarkable. In most of them the
name of the Emperor is associated with his two sons, Caracalla
and Geta, invariably termed the Augusti, and in many instances
with Julia Domna, his second wife, bearing the proud title of
Mater Castrorum. The political influence exercised by women
1 Gibbon, vol. i. chap. v. The subject is referred to by Herodian, Dion Cassius,
and other Latin authors. The dismissal of the Guard was probably witnessed by
Dion himself.