§ 1  The Life of Septimius Severus
On the murder of Didius Julianus, Severus, a native of Africa, took possession of the empire. 2 His native city was Leptis, his father was Geta; his ancestors were Roman knights before citizenship was made universal. Fulvia Pia was his mother, Aper and Severus, both of consular rank, his great-uncles. His father's father was Macer, his mother's father Fulvius Pius. 3 He himself was born six days before the Ides of April, in the first consulship of Severus and the second of Erucius Clarus. 4 While still a child, even before he had been drilled in the Latin and Greek literatures (with which he was very well acquainted), he would engage in no game with the other children except playing judge, and on such occasions he would have the rods and axes borne before him, and, surrounded by the throng of children, he would take his seat and thus give judgments. 5 In his eighteenth year he delivered an oration in public. Soon after, in order to continue his studies, he came to Rome; and with the support of his kinsman Septimius Severus, who had already been consul twice, he sought and secured from the Deified Marcus the broad stripe.
6 Soon after he had come to Rome he fell in with a stranger who at that very moment was reading the life of the Emperor Hadrian, and he snatched at this incident as an omen of future prosperity. 7 He had still another omen of empire: for once, when he was invited to an imperial banquet and came wearing a cloak, when he should have worn his toga, he was lent an official toga of the emperor's own. 8 And that same night he dreamed that he tugged at the udders of a wolf, like Remus and Romulus. 9 He sat down, furthermore, in the emperor's chair, which a servant had carelessly left accessible, being quite unaware that this was not allowed. 10 And once, while he was sleeping in a tavern, a snake coiled about his head, and when his friends awoke from their sleep and shouted at it, it departed without doing him any harm.

§ 2  His early manhood was filled with follies and not free from crime. 2 He was charged with adultery, but pleaded his own case and was acquitted by the proconsul Julianus, the man who was his immediate predecessor in the proconsulship, his colleague in the consulship, and likewise his predecessor on the throne. 3 Omitting the office of tribune of the soldiers, he became quaestor and performed his duties with diligence. At the expiration of his quaestorship he was allotted the province of Baetica, and from there he crossed over to Africa in order to settle his domestic affairs, for his father had meanwhile died. 4 But while he was in Africa, Sardinia was assigned him in place of Baetica, because the latter was being ravaged by the Moors. 5 He therefore served his quaestorship in Sardinia, and afterwards was appointed aide to the proconsul of Africa. 6 While he was in this office, a certain fellow-townsman of his, a plebeian, embraced him as an old comrade, though the fasces were being carried before him; whereupon he had the fellow beaten with clubs and then ordered a proclamation to be made by the herald to this effect: "Let no plebeian embrace without due cause a legate of the Roman people". 7 On account of this incident, legates, who had previously gone on foot, thereafter rode in carriages. 8 About this time, also, being worried about the future, he had recourse to an astrologer in a certain city of Africa. The astrologer, when he had cast the horoscope, saw high destinies in store for him, but added: "Tell me your own nativity and not that of another man". 9 And when Severus swore an oath that it was really his, the astrologer revealed to him all the things that did later come to pass.

§ 3  He was promoted to be tribune of the plebs by order of the Emperor Marcus, and he performed his duties with austerity and vigour. 2 It was then that he married Marcia, but of her he made no mention in the history of his life as a private man. Afterwards, however, while emperor, he erected statues in her honour. 3 In the thirty-second year of his life Marcus appointed him praetor, although he was not one of the Emperor's candidates but only one of the ordinary crowd of competitors. 4 He was thereupon sent to Spain, and here he had a dream, first that he was told to repair the temple of Augustus at Tarraco, which at that time was falling into ruin, 5 and then that from the top of a very high mountain he beheld Rome and all the world, while the provinces sang together to the accompaniment of the lyre and flute. Though absent from the city, he gave games. 6 Presently he was put in command of the Fourth Legion, the Scythica, stationed near Massilia, 7 and after that he proceeded to Athens — partly in order to continue his studies and perform certain sacred rites, and partly on account of the public buildings and ancient monuments there. Here he suffered certain wrongs at the hands of the Athenians; and on that account he became their foes, and afterwards, as emperor, took vengeance on them by curtailing their rights. 8 After this he was appointed to the province of Lugdunensis as legate. 9 He had meanwhile lost his wife, and now, wishing to take another, he made inquiries about the horoscopes of marriageable women, being himself no mean astrologer; and when he learned that there was a woman in Syria whose horoscope predicted that she would wed a king (I mean Julia, of course), he sought her for his wife, and through the mediation of his friends secured her. By her, presently, he became a father.

§ 4  And because he was strict, honourable and self-restrained, he was beloved by the Gauls as was no one else.
2 Next he ruled the Pannonias with proconsular powers, and after this he drew in the allotment the proconsular province of Sicily. At Rome, meanwhile, he was presented with a second son. 3 While he was in Sicily he was indicted for consulting about the imperial dignity with seers and astrologers, but, because Commodus was now beginning to be detested, he was acquitted by the prefects of the guard to whom he had been handed over for trial, while his accuser was crucified. 4 He now served his first consulship, having Apuleius Rufinus for his colleague — an office to which Commodus appointed him from among a large number of aspirants. After the consulship he spent about a year free from public duties; then, on the recommendation of Laetus, he was put in charge of the army in Germany. 5 Just as he was setting out for Germany, he acquired elaborate gardens, although he had previously kept only an unpretentious dwelling in the city and a single farm in Venetia. 6 And now, when he was reclining on the ground in these gardens, partaking of a frugal supper with his children, his elder son, who was then five years old, divided the fruit, when it was served, with rather a bounteous hand among his young playmates. And when his father reproved him, saying: "Be more sparing; for you have not the riches of a king," the five-year-old child replied: "No, but I shall have". 7 On coming to Germany, Severus conducted himself in this office in such a manner as to increase a reputation which was already illustrious.

§ 5  So far did he pursue his military career as a subject. Now, when it was learned that Commodus had been slain and that Julianus was holding the throne amid general hatred, at the behest of many, but against his own will, he was hailed emperor by the German legions; this took place at Carnuntum on the Ides of August. 2 A thousand sesterces — a sum which no prince had ever given before — were presented to each soldier. 3 And then, after garrisoning the provinces which he was leaving in his rear, he hastened his march on Rome. Wherever his path lay, all yielded to him, and the legions in Illyricum and Gaul had already, under compulsion from their generals, espoused his cause, 4 for he was universally regarded as the avenger of Pertinax. 5 Meanwhile, at Julianus' instigation, the senate declared him a public enemy, and legates were sent to his army with a message from the senate ordering his soldiers in the name of the senate to desert him. 6 And in truth, when Severus heard that legates had been sent by unanimous order of the senate, he was at first terrified; afterwards, however, he managed to bribe the legates to address the army in his favour and then to desert to his side themselves. 7 When Julianus learned of this, he caused the senate to pass a decree that Severus and he should share the throne. 8 Whether this was done in good faith or treacherously is not clear; for already, ere this, Julianus had sent certain fellows, notorious assassins of generals, to murder Severus, and indeed he had sent men to murder Pescennius Niger as well, who, at the instigation of the armies in Syria, had also declared himself emperor in opposition to Julianus. 9 However, Severus escaped the clutches of the men whom Julianus had sent to kill him and despatched a letter to the guard instructing them either to desert Julianus or to kill him; and his order was immediately obeyed. 10 For not only was Julianus slain in the Palace, but Severus was invited to Rome. 11 And so, by the mere nod of his head, Severus became the victor — a thing that had befallen no man ever before — and still under arms hastened towards Rome.

§ 6  After the murder of Julianus Severus still remained encamped and in his tents as though he were advancing through a hostile territory; the senate, therefore, sent a delegation of a hundred senators to bear him congratulations and sue for pardon. 2 And when these met him at Interamna,a they were searched for concealed weapons and only then suffered to greet him as he stood armed and in the midst of armed men. 3 But on the following day, after all the palace attendants had arrived, he presented each member of the delegation 4 with seven hundred and twenty pieces of gold, and sent them on ahead, granting to such as desired, however, the privilege of remaining and returning to Rome with himself. 5 Without further delay, he appointed as prefect of the guard that Flavius Juvenalis whom Julianus had chosen for his third prefect.
6 Meanwhile at Rome a mighty panic seized both soldiers and civilians, for they realized that Severus was advancing under arms and against those who had declared him a public enemy. 7 The excitement was further increased when Severus learned that Pescennius Niger had been hailed emperor by the legions in Syria. 8 However, the proclamations and letters that Pescennius sent to the people and senate were, with the connivance of the messengers who had been sent with them, intercepted by Severus, for he wished to prevent their being published among the people or read in the senate-house. 9 At the same time, too, he considered abdicating in favour of Clodius Albinus, to whom, it appeared, the power of a Caesar had already been decreed at the instance of Commodus. 10 But instead, he sent Heraclitus to secure Britain and Plautianus to seize Niger's children, in fear of these men and having formed a correct opinion about them. 11 And when he arrived at Rome, he ordered the guard to meet him clad only in their undergarments and without arms; then, with armed men posted all about him, he summoned them, thus apparelled, to the tribunal.

§ 7  Severus, armed himself and attended by armed men, entered the city and went up to the Capitol; thence he proceeded, still fully armed, to the Palace, having the standards, which he had taken from the praetorians, borne before him not raised erect but trailing on the ground. 2 And then throughout the whole city, in temples, in porticoes, and in the dwellings on the Palatine, the soldiers took up their quarters as though in barracks; 3 and Severus' entry inspired both hate and fear, for the soldiers seized goods they did not pay for and threatened to lay the city waste. 4 On the next day, accompanied not only by armed soldiers but also by a body of armed friends, Severus appeared before the senate, and there, in the senate-house, gave his reasons for assuming the imperial power, alleging in defence thereof that men notorious for assassinating generals had been sent by Julianus to murder him. 5 He secured also the passage of a senatorial decree to the effect that the emperor should not be permitted to put any senator to death without first consulting the senate. 6 But while he was still in the senate-house, his soldiers, with threats of mutiny, demanded of the senate ten thousand sesterces each, citing the precedent of those who had conducted Augustus Octavian to Rome and received a similar sum. 7 And although Severus himself desired to repress them, he found himself unable; eventually, however, by giving them a bounty he managed to appease them and then sent them away. 8 Thereupon he held for an effigy of Pertinax a funeral such as is given a censor, elevated him to a place among the deified emperors and gave him, besides, a flamen and a Helvian Brotherhood, composed of the priests who had previously constituted the Marcian Brotherhood. 9 Moreover, he himself was, at his own command, given the name Pertinax; although later he wished it withdrawn, for fear that it would prove an omen.

§ 8  Next he freed his friends from debt. He then settled dowries on his daughters and gave them in marriage to Probus and Aetius. As for his son-in-law Probus, when he offered to make him prefect of the city, Probus declined, averring that it meant less to him to be prefect of the city than son-in-law to the emperor. 2 However, he immediately appointed each of them consul and made each rich. 3 Soon thereafter he appeared before the senate, and bringing in accusations against the friends of Julianus, caused them to be outlawed and put to death. 4 He heard a vast number of lawsuits, and magistrates who had been accused by the provincials he punished severely whenever the accusations against them were proved; 5 and finding the grain-supply at a very low ebb, he managed it so well that on departing this life he left the Roman people a surplus to the amount of seven years' tribute.
6 And now he set out to remedy the situation in the East, still making no public mention of Niger. 7 None the less, however, he sent troops to Africa, for fear that Niger might advance through Libya and Egypt and seize this province, and thereby distress the Roman people with a scarcity of grain. 8 Then, leaving Domitius Dexter as prefect of the city in place of Bassus, within thirty days of his coming to Rome he set out again; 9 and he had proceeded from the city no farther than Saxa Rubra when he had to face a great mutiny in his army, which arose on account of the place selected for pitching camp. 10 Then his brother Geta came at once to meet him, but merely received orders to rule the province already in his charge, though Geta had other hopes. 11 Niger's children, who were brought to him, he treated with the same care that he showed his own. 12 Previous to this, he had sent a legion to occupy Greece and Thrace, and thereby prevent Niger from seizing them. 13 But Niger already held Byzantium, and now wishing to seize Perinthus too, he slew a great number of this force and accordingly, together with Aemilianus, was declared an enemy to the state. 14 He next proposed joint rule with Severus; this was rejected with scorn. 15 As a matter of fact, Severus did promise him an unmolested exile if he wished it, but refused to pardon Aemilianus. 16 Soon thereafter Aemilianus was defeated by Severus' generals at the Hellespont and fled first to Cyzicus and from there to another city, and here he was put to death by order of Severus' generals. 17 Niger's own forces, moreover, were routed by the same generals.

§ 9  On receipt of this news Severus despatched letters to the senate as if the whole affair were finished. And not long afterwards he met with Niger near Cyzicus, slew him, and paraded his head on a pike. 2 Niger's children, whom he had maintained in the same state as his own, he sent into exile after this event, together with their mother.
3 He sent a letter to the senate announcing the victory, but he inflicted no punishment upon any of the senators who had sided with Niger, with the exception of one man. 4 Towards the citizens of Antioch he was more resentful, because they had laughed at him in his administration of the East and also had aided Niger with supplies. 5 Eventually he deprived them of many privileges. The citizens of Neapolis in Palestine, because they had long been in arms on Niger's side, he deprived of all their civic rights, 6 and to many individuals, other than members of the senatorial order, who had followed Niger he meted out cruel punishments. 7 Many communities, too, which had been on Niger's side, were punished with fines and degradation; 8 and such senators as had seen active service on Niger's side with the title of general or tribune were put to death.
9 Next, he engaged in further operations in the region about Arabia and brought the Parthians back to allegiance and also the Adiabeni — all of whom had sided with Pescennius. 10 For this exploit, after he returned home, he was given a triumph and the names Arabicus, Adiabenicus, and Parthicus. 11 He refused the triumph, however, lest he seem to triumph for a victory over Romans; and he declined the name Parthicus lest he hurt the Parthians' feelings.

§ 10  And then, just as he was returning to Rome after the civil war caused by Niger, he received news of another civil war, caused by Clodius Albinus, who had revolted in Gaul. It was because of this revolt that Niger's children and their mother were later put to death. 2 As for Albinus, Severus at once declared him a public foe, and likewise those who, in their letters to him or replies to his letters, had expressed themselves as favourably inclined to him. 3 As he was advancing against Albinus, moreover, and had reached Viminacium on his march, he gave his elder son Bassianus the name Aurelius Antoninus and the title of Caesar, in order to destroy whatever hopes of succeeding to the throne his brother Geta had conceived. 4 His reason for giving his son the name Antoninus was that he had dreamed that an Antoninus would succeed him. 5 It was because of this dream, some believe, that Geta also was called Antoninus, in order that he too might succeed to the throne. 6 Others, however, think that Bassianus was given the name Antoninus because Severus himself wished to pass over into the family of Marcus.
7 At first, Severus' generals were worsted by those of Albinus; but when, in his anxiety, he consulted augurs in Pannonia, he learned that he would be the victor, and that his opponent would neither fall into his hands nor yet escape, but would die close by the water. 8 Many of Albinus' friends soon deserted and came over to Severus; and many of his generals were captured, all of whom Severus punished. 11 Meanwhile, after many operations had been carried on in Gaul with varying success, Severus had his first successful encounter with Albinus at Tinurtium. 2 Through the fall of his horse, however, he was at one time in the utmost peril; and it was even believed that he had been slain by a blow with a ball of lead, and the army almost elected another emperor. 3 It was at this time that Severus, on reading the resolutions passed by the senate in praise of Clodius Celsinus, who was a native of Hadrumetum and Albinus' kinsman, became highly incensed at the senate, as though it had recognized Albinus by this act, and issued a decree that Commodus should be placed among the deified, as though he could take vengeance on the senate by this sort of thing. 4 He proclaimed the deification of Commodus to the soldiers first, and then announced it to the senate in a letter, to which he added a discourse on his own victory. 5 Next, he gave orders that the bodies of the senators who had been slain in the battle should be mutilated. 6 And then, when Albinus' body was brought before him, he had him beheaded while still half alive, gave orders that his head should be taken to Rome, and followed up the order with a letter. 7 Albinus was defeated on the eleventh day before the Kalends of March.
The rest of Albinus' body was, by Severus' order, laid out in front of his own home, and kept there for a long time exposed to view. 8 Furthermore, Severus himself rode on horseback over the body, and when the horse shied, he spoke to it and loosed the reins, that it might trample boldly. 9 Some add that he ordered Albinus' body to be cast into the Rhone, and also the bodies of his wife and children.

§ 12  Countless persons who had sided with Albinus were put to death, among them numerous leading men and many distinguished women, and all their goods were confiscated and went to swell the public treasury. Many nobles of the Gauls and Spains were also put to death at this time. 2 Finally, he gave his soldiers sums of money such as no emperor had ever given before. 3 Yet as a result of these confiscations, he left his sons a fortune greater than any other emperor had left to his heirs, for he had made a large part of the gold in the Gauls, Spains, and Italy imperial property. 4 At this time the office of steward for private affairs was first established. 5 After Albinus' death many who remained loyal to him were defeated by Severus in battle. 6 At this same time, however, he received word that the legion in Arabia had gone over to Albinus.
7 And so, after having taken harsh vengeance for Albinus' revolt by putting many men to death and exterminating Albinus' family, he came to Rome filled with wrath at the people and senate. 8 He delivered a eulogy of Commodus before the senate and before an assembly of the people and declared him a god; he averred, moreover, that Commodus had been unpopular only among the degraded. 9 Indeed, it was evident that Severus was openly furious. After this he spoke about the mercy he had shown, whereas he was really exceedingly blood-thirsty and executed the senators enumerated below.

§ 13  He put to death without even a fair trial the following noblemen: Mummius Secundinus, Asellius Claudianus, 2 Claudius Rufus, Vitalius Victor, Papius Faustus, Aelius Celsus, Julius Rufus, Lollius Professus, Aurunculeius Cornelianus, Antonius Balbus, Postumius Severus, Sergius Lustralis, 3 Fabius Paulinus, Nonius Gracchus, Masticius Fabianus, Casperius Agrippinus, Ceionius Albinus, 4 Claudius Sulpicianus, Memmius Rufinus, Casperius Aemilianus, Cocceius Verus, Erucius Clarus, 5 Aelius Stilo, Clodius Rufinus, Egnatuleius Honoratus, 6 Petronius Junior, the six Pescennii, Festus, Veratianus, Aurelianus, Materianus, Julianus, and Albinus; the three Cerellii, Macrinus, Faustinianus, and Julianus; 7 Herennius Nepos, Sulpicius Canus, Valerius Catullinus, Novius Rufus, Claudius Arabianus, and Marcius Asellio. 8 And yet he who murdered all these distinguished men, many of whom had been consuls and many praetors, while all were of high estate, is regarded by the Africans as a god. 9 He falsely accused Cincius Severus of attempting his life by poison, and thereupon put him to death; next, he cast to the lions Narcissus, the man who had strangled Commodus.

§ 14  And besides, he put to death many men from the more humble walks of life, not to speak of those whom the fury of battle had consumed.
2 After this, wishing to ingratiate himself with the people, he took the postal service out of private hands and transferred its cost to the privy-purse. 3 Then he caused the senate to give Bassianus Antoninus the title of Caesar and grant him the imperial insignia. 4 Next, when called away by the rumour of a Parthian war, he set up at his own expense statues in honour of his father, mother, grandfather and first wife. 5 He had been very friendly with Plautianus; but, on learning his true character, he conceived such an aversion to him as even to declare him a public enemy, overthrow his statues, and make him famous throughout the entire world for the severity of his punishment, the chief reason for his anger being that Plautianus had set up his own statue among the statues of Severus' kinsmen and connections. 6 He revoked the punishment which had been imposed upon the people of Palestine on Niger's account. 7 Later, he again entered into friendly relations with Plautianus, and after entering the city in his company like one who celebrates an ovation, he went up to the Capitol, although in the course of time he killed him. 8 He bestowed the toga virilis on his younger son, Geta, and he united his elder son in marriage with Plautianus' daughter. 9 Those who had declared Plautianus a public enemy were now driven into exile. Thus, as if by a law of nature, do all things ever shift and change. 10 Soon thereafter he appointed his sons to the consulship; also he greatly honoured his brother Geta. 11 Then, after giving a gladiatorial show and bestowing largess upon the people, he set out for the Parthian war. 12 Many men meanwhile were put to death, some on true and some on trumped-up charges. 13 Several were condemned because they had spoken in jest, others because they had not spoken at all, others again because they had cried out many things with double meaning, such as "Behold an emperor worthy of his name — Pertinacious in very truth, in very truth Severe".

§ 15  It was commonly rumoured, to be sure, that in planning a war on the Parthians, Septimius Severus was influenced rather by a desire for glory than by any real necessity. 2 Finally, he transported his army from Brundisium, reached Syria without breaking his voyage, and forced the Parthians to retreat. 3 After that, however, he returned to Syria in order to make preparations to carry on an offensive war against the Parthians. 4 In the meantime, on the advice of Plautianus, he hunted down the last survivors of Pescennius' revolt, and he even went so far as to bring charges against several of his own friends on the ground that they were plotting to kill him. 5 He put numerous others to death on the charge of having asked Chaldeans or soothsayers how long he was destined to live; and he was especially suspicious of anyone who seemed qualified for the imperial power, for his sons were still very young, and he believed or had heard that this fact was being observed by those who were seeking omens regarding their own prospects of the throne. 6 Eventually, however, when several had been put to death, Severus disclaimed all responsibility, and after their death denied that he had given orders to do what had been done. Marius Maximus says that this was particularly true in the case of Laetus. 7 His sister from Leptis once came to see him, and, since she could scarcely speak Latin, made the emperor blush for her hotly. And so, after giving the broad stripe to her son and many presents to the woman herself, he sent her home again, and also her son, who died a short time afterwards.

§ 16  When the summer was well-nigh over, Severus invaded Parthia, defeated the king, and came to Ctesiphon; and about the beginning of the winter season he took the city. For indeed in those regions it is better to wage war during the winter, although the soldiers live on the roots of the plants and so contract various ills and diseases. 2 For this reason then, although he could make no further progress, since the Parthian army was blocking the way and his men were suffering from diarrhoea because of the unfamiliar food, he nevertheless held his ground, took the city, put the king to flight, slew a great multitude, and gained the name Parthicus. 3 For this feat, likewise, the soldiers declared his son, Bassianus Antoninus, co-emperor; he had already been named Caesar and was now in his thirteenth year. 4 And to Geta, his younger son, they gave the name Caesar, and called him in addition Antoninus, as several men relate in their writings. 5 To celebrate the bestowal of these names Severus gave the soldiers an enormous donative, none other, in truth, than liberty to plunder the Parthian capital, a privilege for which they had been clamouring. 6 He then returned victorious to Syria. But when the senators offered him a triumph for the Parthian campaign, he declined it because he was so afflicted with gout that he was unable to stand upright in his chariot. 7 Notwithstanding this, he gave permission that his son should celebrate a triumph; for the senate had decreed to him a triumph over Judaea because of the successes achieved by Severus in Syria.
8 Next, when he had reached Antioch, he bestowed the toga virilis upon his elder son and appointed him consul as colleague to himself; 9 and without further delay, while still in Syria, the two entered upon their consulship.

§ 17  After this, having first raised his soldiers' pay, he turned his steps toward Alexandria, and while on his way thither he conferred numerous rights upon the communities of Palestine. He forbade conversion to Judaism under heavy penalties and enacted a similar law in regard to the Christians. 2 He then gave the Alexandrians the privilege of a local senate, for they were still without any public council, just as they had been under their own kings, and were obliged to be content with the single governor appointed by Caesar. 3 Besides this, he changed many of their laws. 4 In after years Severus himself continually avowed that he had found this journey very enjoyable, because he had taken part in the worship of the god Serapis, had learned something of antiquity, and had seen unfamiliar animals and strange places. For he visited Memphis, Memnon, the Pyramids, and the Labyrinth, and examined them all with great care.
5 But since it is tedious to mention in detail the less important matters, only the most noteworthy of his deeds are here related. He discharged the cohorts of the guard after Julianus was defeated and slain; he deified Pertinax against the wishes of the army; and he gave orders that the decisions of Salvius Julianus should be annulled, though this he did not succeed in accomplishing. 6 Lastly, he was given the surname Pertinax, not so much by his own wish, it seems, as because of his frugal ways. 7 In fact, he was considered somewhat cruel, both on account of his innumerable executions and because, when one his enemies came before him on a certain occasion to crave forgiveness and said "What would you have done?", 8 Severus was not softened by so sensible a speech, but ordered him to be put to death. He was determined to crush out conspiracies. He seldom departed from a battle except as victor.

§ 18  He defeated Abgarus, the king of the Persians. He extended his sway over the Arabs. He forced the Adiabeni to give tribute. 2 He built a wall across the island of Britain from sea to sea, and thus made the province secure — the crowning glory of his reign; in recognition thereof he was given the name Britannicus. 3 He freed Tripolis, the region of his birth, from fear of attack by crushing sundry warlike tribes. And he bestowed upon the Roman people, without cost, a most generous daily allowance of oil in perpetuity.
4 He was implacable toward the guilty; at the same time he showed singular judgment in advancing the efficient. 5 He took a fair interest in philosophy and oratory, and showed a great eagerness for learning in general. 6 He was relentless everywhere toward brigands. He wrote a trustworthy account of his own life, both before and after he became emperor, in which the only charge that he tried to explain away was that of cruelty. 7 In regard to this charge, the senate declared that Severus either should never have been born at all or never should have died, because on the one hand, he had proved too cruel, and on the other, too useful to the state. 8 For all that, he was less careful in his home-life, for he retained his wife Julia even though she was notorious for her adulteries and also guilty of plotting against him. 9 On one occasion, when he so suffered from gout as to delay a campaign, his soldiers in their dismay conferred on his son Bassianus, who was with him at the time, the title of Augustus. Severus, however, had himself lifted up and carried to the tribunal, summoned 10 all the tribunes, centurions, generals, and cohorts responsible for this occurrence, and after commanding his son, who had received the name Augustus, to stand up, gave orders that all the authors of this deed, save only his son, should be punished. When they threw themselves before the tribunal and begged for pardon, Severus touched his head with his hand and said, "Now at last you know that the head does the ruling, and not the feet". 11 And even after fortune had led him step by step through the pursuits of study and of warfare even to the throne, he used to say: "Everything have I been, and nothing have I gained".

§ 19  In the eighteenth year of his reign, now an old man and overcome by a most grievous disease, he died at Eboracum in Britain, after subduing various tribes that seemed a possible menace to the province. 2 He left two sons, Antoninus Bassianus and Geta, also named by him Antoninus in honour of Marcus. 3 Severus was laid in the tomb of Marcus Antoninus, whom of all the emperors he revered so greatly that he even deified Commodus and held that all emperors should thenceforth assume the name Antoninus as they did that of Augustus. 4 At the demand of his sons, who gave him a most splendid funeral, he was added by the senate to the deified.
5 The principal public works of his now in existence are the Septizonium and the Baths of Severus. He also built the Septimian Baths in the district across the Tiber near the gate named after him, but the aqueduct fell down immediately after its completion and the people were unable to make any use of them.
6 After his death the opinion that all men held of him was high indeed; for, in the long period that followed, no good came to the state from his sons, and after them, when many invaders came pouring in upon the state, the Roman Empire became a thing for free-booters to plunder.
7 His clothing was of the plainest; indeed, even his tunic had scarcely any purple on it, while he covered his shoulders with a shaggy cloak. 8 He was very sparing in his diet, was fond of his native beans, liked wine at times, and often went without meat. 9 In person he was large and handsome. His beard was long; his hair was grey and curly, his face was such as to inspire respect. His voice was clear, but retained an African accent even to his old age. 10 After his death he was much beloved, for then all envy of his power or fear of his cruelty had vanished.

§ 20  I can remember reading in Aelius Maurus, the freedman of that Phlegon who was Hadrian's freedman, that Septimius Severus rejoiced exceedingly at the time of his death, because he was leaving two Antonini to rule the state with equal powers, herein following the example of Pius, who left to the state Verus and Marcus Antoninus, his two sons by adoption; 2 and that he rejoiced all the more, because, while Pius had left only adopted sons, he was leaving sons of his own blood to rule the Roman state, namely Antoninus Bassianus, whom he had begotten from his first marriage, and Geta, whom Julia had borne him. 3 In these high hopes, however, he was grievously deceived; for the state was denied the one by murder, the other by his own character. And in scarcely any case did that revered name long or creditably survive. 4 Indeed, when I reflect on the matter, Diocletian Augustus, it is quite clear to me that practically no great man has left the world a son of real excellence or value. 5 In short, most of them either died without issue of their own, or had such children that it would have been better for humanity had they departed without offspring.

§ 21  As for Romulus, to begin with him, he left no children who might have proved useful to the state, nor did Numa Pompilius. What of Camillus? Did he have children like himself? What of Scipio? What of the Catos, who were so distinguished? 2 Indeed, for that matter, what shall I say of Homer, Demosthenes, Vergil, Crispus, Terence, Plautus, and such as they? What of Caesar? What of Tully? — for whom, particularly, it had been better had he had no son. 3 What of Augustus, who could not get a worthy son even by adoption, though he had the whole world to choose from? Even Trajan was deceived when he chose for his heir his fellow-townsman and nephew. 4 But let us except sons by adoption, lest our thoughts turn to those two guardian spirits of the state, Pius and Marcus Antoninus, and let us proceed to sons by birth. 5 What could have been more fortunate for Marcus than not to have left Commodus as his heir? 6 What more fortunate for Septimius Severus than not to have even begotten Bassianus? — a man who speedily charged his brother with contriving plots against him — a murderous falsehood — and put him to death; 7 who took his own stepmother to wife — stepmother did I say? — nay rather the mother on whose bosom he had slain Geta, her son; 8 who slew, because he refused to absolve him of his brother's murder, Papinian, a sanctuary of law and treasure-house of jurisprudence, who had been raised to the office of prefect that a man who had become illustrious through his own efforts and his learning might not lack official rank. 9 In short, not to mention other things, I believe that it was because of this man's character that Severus, a gloomier man in every way, nay even a crueller one, was considered righteous and worthy of the worship of a god. 10 Once indeed, it is said, Severus, when laid low by sickness, sent to his elder son that divine speech in Sallust in which Micipsa urges his sons to the ways of peace. In vain, however. . . . 11 For a long time, finally, the people hated Antoninus, and that venerable name was long less beloved, even though he gave the people clothing (whence he got his name Caracallus) and built the most splendid baths. 12 There is a colonnade of Severus at Rome, I might mention, depicting his exploits, which was built by his son, or so most men say.

§ 22  The death of Severus was foreshadowed by the following events: he himself dreamed that he was snatched up to the heavens in a jewelled car drawn by four eagles, whilst some vast shape, I know not what, but resembling a man, flew on before. And while he was being snatched up, he counted out the numbers eighty and nine, and beyond this number of years he did not live so much as one, for he was an old man when he came to the throne. 2 And then, after he had been placed in a huge circle in the air, for a long time he stood alone and desolate, until finally, when he began to fear that he might fall headlong, he saw himself summoned by Jupiter and placed among the Antonines. 3 Again, on the day of the circus-games, when three plaster figures of Victory were set up in the customary way, with palms in their hands, the one in the middle, which held a sphere inscribed with his name, struck by a gust of wind, fell down from the balcony in an upright position and remained on the ground in this posture; while the one on which Geta's name was inscribed was dashed down and completely shattered, and the one which bore Bassianus' name lost its palm and barely managed to keep its place, such was the whirling of the wind. 4 On another occasion, when he was returning to his nearest quarters from an inspection of the wall at Luguvallum in Britain, at a time when he had not only proved victorious but had concluded a perpetual peace, just as he was wondering what omen would present itself, an Ethiopian soldier, who was famous among buffoons and always a notable jester, met him with a garland of cypress-boughs. 5 And when Severus in a rage ordered that the man be removed from his sight, troubled as he was by the man's ominous colour and the ominous nature of the garland, the Ethiopian by way of jest cried, it is said, "You have been all things, you have conquered all things, now, O conqueror, be a god." 6 And when on reaching the town he wished to perform a sacrifice, in the first place, through a misunderstanding on the part of the rustic soothsayer, he was taken to the Temple of Bellona, and, in the second place, the victims provided him were black. 7 And then, when he abandoned the sacrifice in disgust and betook himself to the Palace, through some carelessness on the part of the attendants the black victims followed him up to its very doors.

§ 23  In many communities there are public buildings erected by him which are famous, but particularly noteworthy among the achievements of his life was the restoration of all the public sanctuaries in Rome, which were then falling to ruin through the passage of time. And seldom did he inscribe his own name on these restorations or fail to preserve the names of those who built them. 2 At his death he left a surplus of grain to the amount of seven years' tribute, or enough to distribute seventy-five thousand pecks a day, and so much oil, indeed, that for five years there was plenty for the uses, not only of the city, but also for as much as of Italy as was in need of it.
3 His last words, it is said, were these: "The state, when I received it, was harassed on every side; I leave it at peace, even in Britain; old now and with crippled feet, I bequeath to my two Antonini an empire which is strong, if they prove good, feeble, if they prove bad." 4 After this, he issued orders to give the tribune the watchword "Let us toil," because Pertinax, when he assumed the imperial power, had given the word "Let us be soldiers". 5 He then ordered a duplicate made of the royal statue of Fortune which was customarily carried about with the emperors and placed in their bedrooms, in order that he might leave this most holy statue to each of his sons; 6 but later, when he realized that the hour of death was upon him, he gave instructions, they say, that the original should be placed in the bed-chambers of each of his sons, the co-emperors, on alternate days. 7 As for this direction, Bassianus ignored it and then murdered his brother.

§ 24  His body was borne from Britain to Rome, and was everywhere received by the provincials with profound reverence. 2 Some men say, however, that only a golden urn containing Severus' ashes was so conveyed, and that this was laid in the tomb of the Antonines, while Septimius himself was cremated where he died.
3 When he built the Septizonium he had no other thought than that his building should strike the eyes of those who came to Rome from Africa. 4 It is said that he wished to make an entrance on this side of the Palatine mansion — the royal dwelling, that is — and he would have done so had not the prefect of the city planted his statue in the centre of it while he was away. 5 Afterwards Alexander wished to carry out this plan, but he, it is said, was prevented by the soothsayers, for on making inquiry he obtained unfavourable omens.