Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2123014 in Books
• Published on: 1988-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Synopsis
Septimus Severus was descended from Phoenician settlers in Tripolitania, North Africa and was emperor of Rome AD 193-211. Using archaeological discoveries from the 1960s onwards, together with literary sources, the author shows how "African" and "Roman" this man was and explores the meaning of his background and career. Birley begins by examining Severus' origins and rise to power, before going on to consider his military victories in Mesopotamia, Syria and Arabia which annexed more territory for Rome. Birley also looks at his time in Britain, where he saught to conquer Caledonia and was to die at York. Anthony Birley is author of "The People of Roman Britain", "Life in Roman Britain" and "Marcus Aurelius: A Biography".

Customer Reviews

Excellent survey of Severus and his times
Birley gives an amazingly detailed account of Severus's life, painstakingly assembling all possible evidence. Severus himself remains enigmatic, but the book shows how the decimation of the empire's elite during Marcus's reign left a void to be filled by, among others, Africans like Severus and a slave's son like Pertinax, and how the political consensus of the Antonine age was torn apart under Commodus. On the one hand, the empire is shown to be more socially flexible than usually assumed, if men like Pertinax and Severus could rise so high; on the other hand, it becomes clear how a man of Severus's background, Semitic rather than Italian, would feel like and outsider and distrust the traditional Roman upper classes. However, despite Severus's abilities, one does feel that his reign marked a turning-point towards Rome's decline.