Septimius Severus Emesa mint Rare genuine Ancient Silver Roman Coin 193-211 A.D

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Septimius Severus Emesa mint Rare genuine Ancient Silver Roman Coin 193-211 A.D:
$9.50

One original ancient Roman silver coin of: Septimius Severus - Roman Emperor: 193-211 A.D.

AR denarius 17-18mm 2.6grams. Original tone.

Authenticity guaranteed.

Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) (April 11, 145/146-February 4, 211) was aRoman general, andRoman Emperor from April 14, 193 to 211. He was born in what is now theBerber part of Rome\'s historicAfrica Province.

Septimius Severus was born and raised atLeptis Magna (modern Berber, southeast ofCarthage, modern Tunisia). Severus came from a wealthy, distinguished family ofequestrian rank. Severus was ofItalian Roman ancestry on his mother\'s side and ofPunic orLibyan-Punic ancestry on his father\'s. Little is known of his father,Publius Septimius Geta, who held no major political status but had two cousins who served as consuls under emperorAntoninus Pius. His mother, Fulvia Pia\'s family moved fromItaly toNorth Africa and was of theFulvius gens, an ancient and politically influential clan, which was originally ofplebeian status. His siblings were a youngerPublius Septimius Geta and Septimia Octavilla. Severus’s maternal cousin wasPraetorian Guard and consulGaius Fulvius Plautianu

In 172, Severus was made aSenator by the then emperorMarcus Aurelius. In 187 he married secondlyJulia Domna. In 190 Severus becameconsul, and in the following year received from the emperorCommodus (successor to Marcus Aurelius) the command of thelegions in Pannoni

On the murder ofPertinax by the troops in 193, they proclaimed Severus Emperor atCarnuntum, whereupon he hurried to Italy. The former emperor,Didius Julianus, was condemned to death by the Senate and killed, and Severus took possession of Rome without opposition.

The legions ofSyria, however, had proclaimedPescennius Niger emperor. At the same time, Severus felt it was reasonable to offerClodius Albinus, the powerful governor of Britannia who had probably supported Didius against him, the rank of Caesar, which implied some claim to succession. With his rearguard safe, he moved to the East and crushed Niger\'s forces at theBattle of Issus. The following year was devoted to suppressing Mesopotamia and other Parthian vassals who had backed Niger. When afterwards Severus declared openly his sonCaracalla as successor, Albinus was hailed emperor by his troops and moved to Gallia. Severus, after a short stay in Rome, moved northwards to meet him. OnFebruary 19, 197, in theBattle of Lugdunum, with an army of 100,000 men, mostly composed ofIllyrian,Moesian andDacian legions, Severus defeated and killed Clodius Albinus, securing his full control over the Empire.

Emperor

Severus was at heart asoldier, and sought glory through military exploits. In 197 he waged a brief and successful war against theParthian Empire in retaliation for the support given to Pescennius Niger. The Parthian capitalCtesiphon was sacked by the legions, and the northern half ofMesopotamia was restored to Rome.

His relations with theRoman Senate were never good. He was unpopular with them from the outset, having seized power with the help of the military, and he returned the sentiment. Severus ordered the execution of dozens of Senators on charges of corruption andconspiracy against him, replacing them with his own favorites.

He also disbanded thePraetorian Guard and replaced it with one of his own, made up of 50,000 loyal soldiers mainly camped atAlbanum, near Rome (also probably to grant the emperor a kind of centralized reserve). During his reign the number of legions was also increased from 25/30 to 33. He also increased the number of auxiliary corps (numerii), many of these troops coming from the Eastern borders. Additionally the annual wage for a soldier was raised from 300 to 500 denarii.

Although his actions turned Rome into a militarydictatorship, he was popular with the citizens of Rome, having stamped out the rampant corruption of Commodus\'s reign. When he returned from his victory over the Parthians, he erected theArch of Septimius Severus in Rome.

According to Cassius Dio, however, after 197 Severus fell heavily under the influence of his Praetorian Prefect,Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, who came to have almost total control of most branches of the imperial administration. Plautianus\'s daughter,Fulvia Plautilla, was married to Severus\'s son, Caracalla. Plautianus’s excessive power came to an end in 205, when he was denounced by the Emperor\'s dying brother and killed. The two following praefecti, including the juristAemilius Papinianus, received however even larger powers.

Campaigns in Caledonia (Scotland)

Starting from 208 Severus undertook a number of military actions inRoman Britain, reconstructingHadrian\'s Wall and campaigning inScotland.

He reached the area of theMoray Firth in his last campaign in Caledonia, as was called Scotland by the Romans.. In 210 obtained a peace with thePicts that lasted practically until the final withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain, before falling severely ill inEboracum (York).

Death

He is famously said to have given the advice to his sons: \"Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men\" before he died at Eboracum onFebruary 4,211. Upon his death in 211, Severus wasdeified by the Senate and succeeded by his sons,Caracalla andGeta, who were advised by his wifeJulia Domna. The stability Severus provided the Empire was soon gone under their reign.

Accomplishments and Record

Though his military expenditure was costly to the empire, Severus was the strong, able ruler that Rome needed at the time. He began a tradition of effective emperors elevated solely by the military. His policy of an expanded and better-rewarded army was criticized by his contemporaryDio Cassius andHerodianus: in particular, they pointed out the increasing burden (in the form of taxes and services) the civilian population had to bear to maintain the new army.

Severus was also distinguished for his buildings. Apart from the triumphal arch in the Roman Forum carrying his full name, he also built theSeptizodium in Rome and enriched greatly his native city ofLeptis Magna (including another triumphal arch on the occasion of his visit of 203).

Severus and Christianity

Christians werepersecuted during the reign of Septimus Severus. Severus allowed the enforcement of policies already long-established, which meant that Roman authorities did not intentionally seek out Christians, but when people were accused of being Christians they could either curseJesus and make an offering toRoman gods, or be executed. Furthermore, wishing to strengthen the peace by encouraging religious harmony throughsyncretism, Severus tried to limit the spread of the two quarrelsome groups who refused to yield to syncretism by outlawingconversion to Christianity orJudaism. Individual officials availed themselves of the laws to proceed with rigor against the Christians. Naturally the emperor, with his strict conception of law, did not hinder such partial persecution, which took place inEgypt and theThebaid, as well as inAfrica proconsularis and the East. Christianmartyrs were numerous in Alexandria (cf.Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, ii. 20;Eusebius, Church History, V., xxvi., VI., i.). No less severe were the persecutions in Africa, which seem to have begun in 197 or 198 (cf.Tertullian\'s Ad martyres), and included the Christians known in theRoman martyrology as the martyrs ofMadaura. Probably in 202 or 203Felicitas andPerpetua suffered for their faith. Persecution again raged for a short time under the proconsulScapula in 211, especially inNumidia andMauritania. Later accounts of a Gallic persecution, especially atLyon, are legendary. In general it may thus be said that the position of the Christians under Septimius Severus was the same as under theAntonines; but the law of this Emperor at least shows clearly that therescript ofTrajan[clarification need

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