DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0272
204
Roman Africa
It was girt by a wall of defence of which the foundations remain
to the present day, and was approached by two bridges which
crossed the river at considerable altitude.
Conspicuous among the very few good qualities which history
has associated with Septimius Severus was a studious regard for
an abundant supply of corn and oil. And so largely did he
value the African supply that, when his great rival Pescennius
Niger, the governor of Syria, contemplated the invasion of
Africa by transporting his army through Egypt and Libya, the
Emperor despatched his legions across the Mediterranean to
guard the grain stores and prevent their falling into the hands
of his enemy. On his death he left corn enough to last seven
years, and oil in abundance. As a working Emperor, Severus
held his own against any of his predecessors, and when he felt
that his last hour had come, he gave as the watchword of the
day ' Laboremus! Associated with him during his latter days
were his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, the elder created Augustus
by the army, and the younger at the instigation of his mother
Julia Domna. The following inscription from Gigthis, an almost
forgotten town in the province of Tripoli, mentions the three
Augusti in connection with the conquest of Britain, but there is
no clue to the date nor any special mention of Severus, who
commanded in person this ill-fated expedition.1 It may be
assigned to A.D. 212, the year after the death of the Emperor at
Eboracum (York).
VICTORIAE BRITANNICAE IMPP • L ■ SEPTIMI • SEVRI • PII
PERTINACIS ET M ■ AVRELII ANTONIN ET P • SEPTIMI
GETAE AVGGG• GIGTHENSES •PVBLICE
Inscriptions relating to Geta alone, who was murdered by
his brother A.D. 212, within twelve months after the death of
Severus, are few in number, but his memory is preserved on a
slab in the museum at Aumale (the ancient AuziaJ bearing the
date A.D. 205, when this prince had attained his sixteenth year.
The dedication is to L. Septimio Getce, Pontifici maximo,
nobilissimo Cczsari Principi juventutis, sufficiently indicating his
popularity in his father's lifetime, and the ground for the
animosity of his elder brother. So far was Caracalla impressed
with the necessity of his removal that, on his assumption of
1 C.l.L. No. 1101S. Bull, da Comilc, iSS6, p. 46.
Roman Africa
It was girt by a wall of defence of which the foundations remain
to the present day, and was approached by two bridges which
crossed the river at considerable altitude.
Conspicuous among the very few good qualities which history
has associated with Septimius Severus was a studious regard for
an abundant supply of corn and oil. And so largely did he
value the African supply that, when his great rival Pescennius
Niger, the governor of Syria, contemplated the invasion of
Africa by transporting his army through Egypt and Libya, the
Emperor despatched his legions across the Mediterranean to
guard the grain stores and prevent their falling into the hands
of his enemy. On his death he left corn enough to last seven
years, and oil in abundance. As a working Emperor, Severus
held his own against any of his predecessors, and when he felt
that his last hour had come, he gave as the watchword of the
day ' Laboremus! Associated with him during his latter days
were his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, the elder created Augustus
by the army, and the younger at the instigation of his mother
Julia Domna. The following inscription from Gigthis, an almost
forgotten town in the province of Tripoli, mentions the three
Augusti in connection with the conquest of Britain, but there is
no clue to the date nor any special mention of Severus, who
commanded in person this ill-fated expedition.1 It may be
assigned to A.D. 212, the year after the death of the Emperor at
Eboracum (York).
VICTORIAE BRITANNICAE IMPP • L ■ SEPTIMI • SEVRI • PII
PERTINACIS ET M ■ AVRELII ANTONIN ET P • SEPTIMI
GETAE AVGGG• GIGTHENSES •PVBLICE
Inscriptions relating to Geta alone, who was murdered by
his brother A.D. 212, within twelve months after the death of
Severus, are few in number, but his memory is preserved on a
slab in the museum at Aumale (the ancient AuziaJ bearing the
date A.D. 205, when this prince had attained his sixteenth year.
The dedication is to L. Septimio Getce, Pontifici maximo,
nobilissimo Cczsari Principi juventutis, sufficiently indicating his
popularity in his father's lifetime, and the ground for the
animosity of his elder brother. So far was Caracalla impressed
with the necessity of his removal that, on his assumption of
1 C.l.L. No. 1101S. Bull, da Comilc, iSS6, p. 46.