On This Day In Roman History, February 4
Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus, commonly known as Septimius Severus, dies from an illness in Eboracum on February 4, 211 CE. At this time, Severus was on a campaign into deep Caledonia, potentially to bring the entire island of Britain under Roman control. He began this campaign with an estimated 40,000 men, which can be proven from the archaeological evidence left behind in the form of encampments that would house about this many soldiers. His initial objectives appeared to be fortifying Hadrian's Wall and then constructing a camp to amass the rest of his soldiers just south of the Antonine Wall. Even though Severus would suffer large casualties from Caledonian guerrilla attacks, he would eventually succeed in the form of forcing the Caledonians to give up their territorial stake in the Central Lowlands of Britain.
Did you know?
Severus was responsible for devaluing the purity of the silver currency from 81.5 percent silver to 54 percent by 196 CE. This would be noted as the largest currency devaluation since that of Nero, who had reduced the currency from 99.5 percent silver to 93.5 percent. Severus was required to do this because of his massive amount of hired men within the army, which was necessary for his victories both on the Parthian front and later British front. He also commissioned several expensive construction works including a triumphal arch in the Roman Forum bearing only his full name, the Septizoduim in his home city of Leptis Magna, and large additions to the Flavian Palace near the Circus Maximus.
Pictured: Bust of Septimius Severus (reign 193–211 CE). White, fine-grained marble, modern restorations (nose, parts of the beard, draped bust). Image by Wikipedia user Bibi Saint-Pol, via Wikimedia Commons.
Cassius Dio writes about troubles Severus faced during his campaign against the Caledonians: "Severus, accordingly, desiring to subjugate the whole of it, invaded Caledonia. But as he advanced through the country he experienced countless hardships in cutting down the forests, leveling the heights, filling up the swamps, and bridging the rivers; but he fought no battle and beheld no enemy in battle array. The enemy purposely put sheep and cattle in front of the soldiers for them to seize, in order that they might be lured on still further until they were worn out; for in fact the water caused great suffering to the Romans, and when they became scattered, they would be attacked. Then, unable to walk, they would be slain by their own men, in order to avoid capture, so that a full fifty thousand died. But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! It would have been all kinds of terrifying being part of a military campaign in northern Britain during this time. Guerrilla attacks in foreign land, no maps, heavily wooded, and sometimes even the occasional screaming naked warriors harassing you at every turn. Just a century prior, the warrior queen of the Iceni, known as Boudica, led a somewhat successful uprising with extreme fever that even the Romans noted as impressive. The natives local to these isles were fearsome and at times savage, or what we could consider barbarous. Another interesting note is Severus' wife, Julia Domna, criticized the sexual morals of the Caledonian women. The Caledonian chief's wife, Argentocoxos, replied to her stating "We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women; for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest". Julia is going to need some burn ointment for that one.
Sources
Cocceianus, C. D., Cary, E., & Foster, H. B. (1914). Dio's Roman history. London: W. Heinemann.
Davies, J. (1994). A history of Wales. London: Penguin Books.
Grant, M. (1996). The Severans: the changed Roman Empire. London: Routledge.
Harl, K. W. (1996). Coinage in the Roman economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Further Reading:
Special Thanks: Michael Houghan
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