Description
Septimius Severus was a native of Lepcis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. When the Civil War that followed the murder of Commodus broke out, he was governor of Pannonia Superior on the Danube. Proclaimed emperor by his troops, he defeated the other claimants to the imperial throne to emerge as sole ruler in 197 CE. His reign saw military victories against Persia and in northern Britain. The Severan dynasty would continue to rule the empire until 235 CE, largely under the direction of his Emesan Syrian wife Julia Domna and the other women of her influential clan.
