Septimius Severus was Roman emperor from 193 to 211 and seized power in the Year of Five Emperors following the assassination of Commodus. Severus was of half-Italian and half-North African parentage and born in Libya in 145. He was the first emperor born outside Italy and to be of at least partially non-Italian ancestry. Severus went to Rome as a young man to seek a political career. The Antonine Plague swept the city, forcing him to return home to North Africa for a while. He returned to Rome after turning 25, the minimum age to be a quaestor and at year's end he was a senator--since many senators had died in the plague, Severus was able to climb the ranks rapidly.Severus married a woman named Paccia Marciana in his early 30s; she died after ten years of an apparently childless marriage. He was told through astrologers of a Syrian woman named Julia Domna, whose family were a herditary priesthood to the local god Elagabal. The couple were married in 187, a happy union that resulted in two sons, Lucius Bassanius (the future emperor Caracalla) and Publius Geta.
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Emperor Commodus appointed him governor of Pannonia Superior. The emperor was assassinated a year later to be succeeded by Pertinax, who was then killed by the Praetorian Guard and the Legio XIV Gemina proclaimed Severus emperor in April 193. Nearby legions also acknowledged him and Severus headed to Italy. Didius Julianus had bought the emperorship at an auction, was condemned by the Senate, and killed. Severus took control of the capital unopposed, had Pertinax's assassins executed, and replaced the Praetorian Guard with troops loyal to him--the old members of the Guard were forbidden to venture within 100 miles of Rome on penalty of death. Meanwhile, the Syrian legions proclaimed Pescennius Niger emperor. Severus offered Britain's governor Clodius Albinus the rank of Caesar, which implied some claim to the succession, then headed east and defeated Niger at Issus.For the next year, Severus crushed the eastern provinces that had backed Niger. He named his son Caracalla as his heir, which caused an infuriated Albinus to revolt and invade Gaul. Severus met him in battle at Lugdunum in February 197, defeated and killed him, and thus eliminated the last challenger to his rule as emperor. He had 29 senators executed for treason for backing Albinus, despite his oath (customary for Roman emperors) to not put any senators to death. Severus then went to the eastern provinces to campaign against Persia, partially out of retaliation for their support of Niger. In 198, his troops sacked the capital at Ctesiphon and he annexed north Mesopotamia, but much like Trajan 80 years earlier, was unable to capture the fortress of Hatra.
The Senate never liked Severus and their relations with him were frosty. The empire was increasingly becoming a military dictatorship, but he was popular with the citizens of Rome after suppressing the corruption of Commodus's reign. Cassius Dio stated that the emperor was increasingly swayed by the Praetorian prefect Gaius Plautianus and became his near-puppet, while Plautianus also fought with Julia Domna after his daughter Fulvia Plautilla married Caracalla. The emperor's dying brother denounced him in 204 and he was executed a few months later when Julia and Caracalla accused him of an assassination plot against Severus. Dio also recounted that he executed numerous other senators.Severus expanded the army to 33 legions by creation of the new I, II, and III Parthica. Legio II Parthica was stationed 12 miles outside Rome and the emperor gave the soldiers a 100 denarii pay raise and bonuses. This was the first time under the empire that a legion was stationed in Italy as Severus decided there needed to be a central military reserve that could be sent anywhere.
The religious policy of Trajan had been in place for some 80 years--Christians were to be tolerated as long as they honored the state gods. Needing some internal harmony, Severus was claimed to have passed an edict forbidding conversion to Judaism or Christianity. Several persecutions of Christians were carried out during his reign; some propagandistic Christian authors cited the emperor with personally ordering them, but Tertullian said he was tolerant and employed a Christian as his personal physician. Persecutions of Christians during his reign appear to have been localized events not ordered by him.Severus campaigned in Africa in 202 to secure the frontier against the Garamantes and captured several of their settlements. The frontier was expanded and re-fortified. In 208, he went to Britain with the intention of conquering Scotland. The emperor strengthened Hadrian's Wall and took the Southern Uplands to the Antonine Wall, which was also improved. With naval support, Severus crossed into Scotland where he rebuilt and garrisoned many abandoned Roman forts along the east coast.
According to Cassius Dio, the Scottish countryside was rough with many woods, hills, and swamps while the locals declined to give battle, instead preferring to lure the Romans further in until they became exhausted and ill from drinking bad water, upon which the Scots would launch attacks. The weakened soldiers, unable to retreat, were killed by their own comrades so they would not be captured by the enemy. Dio claimed that 50,000 men perished. Still, Severus pressed on until he reached the northern tip of Scotland where he documented the Sun's movement and the length of the days in summer and winter at the latitude of 58N. The emperor returned south to friendly territory, having forced the Britons to come to terms on condition that they should surrender most of their territory.Nonetheless, the Scots were gradually overwhelmed by Roman military might and sued for peace, which was granted on condition that they surrender the Central Lowlands. In desperation, they revolted in late 210. Severus vowed to exterminate the locals down to every last woman and child. During the winter of 210-211, he became ill, withdrew to Eboracum (modern York), and died there on February 4, 211. Caracalla succeeded his father as emperor and soon abandoned the campaign; the Romans never attempted to push into Scotland again.
>Caracalla succeeded his father as emperor and soon abandoned the campaign; the Romans never attempted to push into Scotland againMassive fucking mistake. They should have just tanked the casualties and annexed the whole thing, Ireland too.
>>18771176>wanting worthless cold wet shitholes filled with angry gingersI shiggidy diggity.
>>18771180Hadrians wall was a boondoggle waste of money. Better to finish the job
>>18771161>Roman Empire starts to go to pot the moment non-Italian emperors happen...
>>18771180there was no plunder there worth taking
>>18771200Ya but it stops nigger retard Celtic raiders from coming down and attacking you. This would have been really helpful in the late empire. It also shortens the border
>>18771200Same reason they didn't conquer Germany.
>>18771180the Scots' strategy as OP said was to wear out the Romans until most of them died of illness and exhaustion
>>18771161>Severus was of half-Italian and half-North African parentageQRVQN BEQST...
>>18771170>and ill from drinking bad waterThe British Isles were long known for having shitty drinking water due to the humid, swampy environment.
>>18771165>be Persians>put your capital in an exposed open plain where the Romans can sack it at least a dozen timesGenius.
>>18771176>Massive fucking mistake. They should have just tanked the casualties and annexed the whole thing, Ireland too.Why? Not annexing Germania could be argued to be a mistake, even a fatal one, but Scotland and Ireland? Remember that the Romans weren't even driven out of Britain, they just gave up on it and told them it was on its own.
>>18771203>Ya but it stops nigger retard Celtic raiders from coming down and attacking you. This would have been really helpful in the late empire. It also shortens the borderConsidering the multiple usurpers who came out of Britain to throw the Western Empire into chaos, having more border chaos to keep them busy could be seen as a good thing.
>>18771161>He was the first emperor born outside Italy and to be of at least partially non-Italian ancestryLucius Quietus would probably have been the first non italian/north african emperor but Hadrian killed him because of that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusius_Quietus
>>18771161Wasn't Trajan the first one to not be born in Italy?
>>18771494as he said, Germany was just ooga booga tribes with no cities--the first German cities were Roman colonies such as Cologne and Vienna. no plunder for the army to take.
>>18771516Technically Claudius was born in Gaul while his father Drusus was doing stuff there but most people don't count that
>>18771497>multiple usurpers who came out of Britain to throw the Western Empire into chaosevery part of the empire had usurpers Britain doesn't actually stand out that much
>>18771369>The British Isles were long known for having shitty drinking water due to the humid, swampy environment.the other thing was the mild winters meaning it would usually not get cold enough to kill a lot of microbes. typically wintertime lows hover around 40F.
>>18771203try setting up a Roman Empire scenario in Civilization. leave Scotland untouched and barbarians will spawn there and attack your cities.
>>18771528also a lot of Germany gets pretty cold in wintertime and the Roman armies were equipped for service in regions with mild winters
>>18771516>>18771530Trajan was considered a provisional who spoke latin with an accent while claudius was of an impeccable italian stock with traceable lineage
