Serious upheaval engulfed Rome at the end of the 2nd century AD, and on the plains outside modern Lyon, France, two rivals decided the future of the empire.

Rome in 193 AD

Lugdunum occurred at the end of the greatest and most peaceful century in Rome’s long history. The emperors from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius (97-180 AD) were all experienced and popular administrators. Crucially each of them had a clear and decisive say in who their successor would be. Tthe Roman Empire enjoyed a golden age of peace, prosperity and stability. The historian Edward Gibbon, writing in the late 18th century, decided that this was the best time in all of history to be born as a free man. So what went so badly wrong?

Nicholo Machiavelli argued that when Aurelius went against the tradition of adopting a worthy successor and instead made his son Commodus his heir, then Rome’s troubles began.  Commodus (the villain of Gladiator) was a disastrous emperor, famous for his alleged random acts of cruelty. In his reign he managed to undo almost a century of good rule. By 192 AD, the prefect of Commodus’ own bodyguard had him strangled in his bath as he prepared to enter the arena as a gladiator. He then declared an ex-teacher and the son of a freed slave, Pertinax, as emperor.

Bust in the National Museum of the Union, possibly of Pertinax

Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0

Opportunity

Pertinax’s intentions are generally seen as worthy, but a desire to discipline the Praetorian Guard led to his own death just five months later. Prefect Laetus then took the extraordinary step of auctioning off the throne, which was bought by a wealthy senator called Didius Julianus.

The people of Rome were outraged. They began to pelt Julianus with filth and stones every time he appeared in public. This chaos was mirrored in the provinces, where the legions who guarded the frontiers were just as incensed by recent developments. Their ambitious generals sensed opportunity.

Septimus Severus

The first of these was Septimius Severus, the experienced and ruthless North African-born governor of the province of Pannonia. Upon hearing of Pertinax’s death, he raised armies and marched on Rome. There was nothing in his way to stop him, and he had Julianus put to death.

The governor of Syria, Pescennius Niger, however, saw the ease with which Severus had seized power and declared himself emperor, too. While Severus could not endure this challenge to his rule, he also had to consider the safety of the western empire from which he was about to draw troops.

Clodius Albinus

His solution was to offer another powerful rival, Clodius Albinus, the governor of Britain, complete control of the western part of the empire and the rank of Caesar and successor if he promised to keep control in Severus’ absence. Portrayed as a Roman with outstanding quality by Julius Capitolinus, Clodius Albinus was a proven military commander originally from modern Sousse, Tunisia. It is even suggested that Commodus had ordered Albinus to succeed him due to the high regard in which he was held.

Albinus agreed to take control of the west. In charge of modern Britain, France and Spain, he had been elevated to equal stature with Severus. With this agreement, Severus was free to head eastward and defeat the remaining contender, Pescennius Niger. When the emperor finally defeated Niger in 194, stability appeared to return to the empire.

Friends turned foes

Severus continued to fight Rome’s Parthian enemies after his victory. For a time the uneasy truce between him and Albinus endured, until Albinus was suddenly replaced by Severus’ son as co-Caesar and declared an enemy of Rome. At the time of the agreement between the two commanders, Severus already had two sons: Bassianus and Geta. Presumably they weren’t pleased when Albinus was declared the preferred successor. But while Albinus had once been useful, now he was an obstacle.

Albinus then declared himself sole emperor, and took 40,000 men from the British legions to Gaul. There he was joined my more men from Spain and set up a vast camp at Lugdunum. Both forces harassed each other, trying to achieve an upper hand. Knowing that the legions in Germany were likely to side with Severus, he decided to strike against them before his enemy returned from the east. Though victorious, the clash was not decisive. Neither had not done enough to radically change the odds by the time the two forces clashed.

In the early weeks of 198, possibly as much as two thirds of the empire’s soldiers were fighting for one of the two sides. Number estimates for the battle extend to 150,000 and even 300,000 troops, depending on the interpretation of Cassius Dio’s later report. The scale was undoubtedly huge and the sides seemed to be roughly balanced.

Why was the Battle of Lugdunum significant?

The result of Lugdunum could have gone either way. After a few skirmishes Severus’ men chased Albinus back to his camp at Lugdunum. We know little about the fighting, only that it was evenly-matched, bitterly contested and lasted over a day, which was extraordinary in this era of close-combat warfare. Whenever Severus appeared to be making a breakthrough on one flank, Albinus countered this on the opposite wing. So close was this engagement that Severus himself was nearly killed.

Eventually, however, Severus rallied his troops and an edge in cavalry swung the battle in Severus’ favour. Dio reports: “At this juncture the cavalry under Laetus came up from one side and completed their victory. Laetus […] so long as the struggle was close, had merely looked on […] but when he saw that Severus’ side was prevailing, he also took a hand in the business.”

The Severan Tondo, c. 199, Severus, Julia Domna, Caracalla and Geta, whose face is erased.

The actions of Laetus recall those of Lord Stanley at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Lord Stanley had waited with his forces to see how the battle between Richard III and Henry Tudor for the English crown would pan out. When Henry appeared to get the upper hand, Stanley sided his forces with him against Richard.

The victory was costly, but decisive. Albinus died somewhere in Lugdunum. His body was beheaded and run over by the victor’s horse in a public ceremony, and his head sent to Rome. Those friendly with Albinus met a similarly unhappy end: senators were executed and  Severus ordered for Albinus’ entire family to be murdered. Severus thus cemented his new dynasty, which lasted the next 40 years. He proved to be a fairly successful if extremely ruthless emperor. But his sons continued the recent tradition of dangerous incompetence, plunging the empire into chaos.

And then there were the Roman Emperors.

From decadent teenagers and incapable megalomaniacs to remarkable military leaders and shrewd administrators, the Roman Empire witnessed all sorts of emperors between 27 BC and 410 AD.

Below is a list of every Roman Emperor – from Augustus to the Sack of Rome.

Augustus (27 BC – 19 August 14 AD)

Formerly ‘Octavian’, Augustus was the first Roman emperor. He made the army a formal constitution, created the Praetorian Guard, the Urban Cohorts and the Vigiles, and oversaw a great building project in Rome.

Despite his conservative nature, Augustus’ reign witnessed a series of expansionist wars that resulted in the Roman Empire doubling in size (overshadowed by the Teutoburg Forest disaster of 9 AD). He also had plans for an invasion of Britain, though they did not materialise.

During Augustus’ reign a ruler cult gathered strength, and he was considered whilst alive to be something between god and man; after his death he became more closely associated with the gods.

Tiberius (18 September 14 – 16 March 37)

Augustus was succeeded by his adopted stepson Tiberius, who ensured the integrity of the empire was maintained throughout his rule.

He rebuilt Rome’s military strength along the Rhine frontier to ensure the river fortifications held in the wake of the Teutoburg Forest disaster.

For the last 10 years of his reign, Tiberius retired from Rome to Capri island off the Bay of Naples. This blackened his reputation back in Rome, but elsewhere in the empire this retreat from the capital actually improved his standing. Provincials viewed him as a philosopher king, more learned and more knowledgeable in the relationship of the gods to men than anyone else in the world.

Caligula (16 March 37 – 24 January 41)

Officially Gaius Julius Caesar, Caligula was the son of the famous Roman general Germanicus. He greatly resented the old traditions of the Republic and sought to destroy the reputation of the senatorial class. Ruthless and cruel, he humiliated the senators, much to the delight of the Roman people.

The story goes that he even once made Incitatus, his horse, a consul – to spite the senators and to emphasise his supreme authority. He was assassinated by a senatorial / Praetorian prefect – led conspiracy.

Claudius (24 January 41 – 13 October 54)

Claudius, grandson of Mark Antony, succeeded Caligula following the latter’s assassination. The Praetorian Guard played a key part in the succession and Claudius was sure to reward them with a large donative.

It was during Claudius’ reign that the Romans invaded Britain and established a permanent presence, at least over the southeast.

Nero (13 October 54 – 9 June 68)

Bust of Nero at the Capitoline Museum, Rome. Image Credit: cjh1452000 / Commons.

Although the first five years of his reign proved positive, like Caligula before him, Nero became disillusioned with the aristocracy and the overarching influence of certain figures when he became his own man.

Most notable among these figures was Agrippina, his mother. Nero ordered her execution on 23 March 59 AD and many view this as a significant turning point. From then on the emperor’s reign became more and more infamous.

Several of Nero’s most infamous acts include the persecution of Christians, the murdering of senators (including forcing his former tutor Seneca to commit suicide) and his participation in theatrical performances. Nero was a hellenophile (lover of Greek culture), and aligned himself more as a Hellenistic king than a virtuous Roman emperor – much to the senators’ displeasure.

It is unlikely he played the lyre when Rome burned and actually played an active role in helping the refugees – something that would certainly help explain Nero’s great and enduring popularity amongst the ordinary people of the empire .

Nero committed suicide on 9 June 68, after discovering the Senate had condemned him to death as a public enemy. He was the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Galba (June 68 – 15 February 69)

Image Credit: Gfawkes05 / Commons.

In 68, Galba was the governor of Spain. He was encouraged to become emperor in 68, particularly by Vindex, a governor in Gaul, and Otho, the governor of Lusitania. He was proclaimed emperor by the Senate just before Nero committed suicide.

Galba returned to Rome, but soon grew unpopular after he refused to pay the Praetorians.

He was murdered on 15 February 69 in the Roman Forum after Otho, his former friend-turned-foe, bribed a party of Praetorians to murder him.

Otho (15 February – 16 April 69)

Image Credit: euthman / Commons.

With the Praetorians’ backing, Otho succeeded Galba as emperor, killing his former ally’s official heir in the process.

He was soon challenged by Aulus Vitellius, the governor of the province of Germania Inferior, for the title of emperor. Otho’s forces were defeated at the First Battle of Bedriacum on 14 April 69, and the emperor committed suicide two days later.

Vitellius (16 April – 20 December 69)

Image Credit: Jastrow / Commons.

Aulus Vitellius was the governor of Germania Inferior in early 69. With his Rhine legions he marched down to Italy, defeated Otho, and was proclaimed emperor on 16 April.

During his brief reign, Vitellius greatly increased the size of his Praetorian Guard, expanding it to 16 cohorts – each 1,000 men strong.

His forces were defeated by those of Vespasian at the Second Battle of Bedriacum on 24 October. After Vitellius was prevented from abdicating his power another battle occurred outside the gates of Rome itself.

Vitellius was defeated, dragged out of the Imperial Palace and killed by Vespasian’s soldiers.

Vespasian (21 December 69 – 23 June 79)

First of the Flavian emperors, he restored a sense of stability following the Year of the 4 Emperors. Significant events during his reign included Titus’ successful (and bloody) Siege of Jerusalem and the Siege of Masada. Construction of the Colosseum also commenced during his reign.

Vespasian’s final words (supposedly) were:

“Vae, puto deus fio.” (“Dear me, I think I’m becoming a god”)

Titus (24 June 79 – 13 September 81)

Image Credit: Carole Raddato / Commons.

The eldest son of Vespasian and the suppressor of the First Jewish Revolt. Best remembered today for the arch constructed in his honour by his successor Domitian. The arch still stands today in the Rome’s Forum, depicting his triumphant Roman army seizing the spoils from the Second Temple of Jerusalem.

Perhaps the most infamous event to occur during Titus’ brief reign was the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, Herculaneum and several other settlements around the Bay of Naples, either on 24 August or during mid-October 79.

The Arch of Titus in Rome today.

Domitian (14 September 81 – 18 September 96)

Image Credit: Sailko / Commons.

The younger brother of Titus; the younger son of Vespasian. He may have had a hand in Titus’ early death; famous for being paranoid against assassination attempts and recalling generals who had gained too much success.

Like Caligula and Nero, Domitian soon came at odds with the Senate, curtailing almost all their power as he sought to become an absolute emperor. Successfully repulsed Dacian invasion of Moesia, but a disastrous invasion of Dacia followed.

Construction of the Colosseum, initiated under Vespasian, was completed near the end of Domitian’s reign in 96. He was murdered by his own courtiers on 18 September 96 – much to the delight of the senators, though it also encouraged the wrath of the Praetorian Guard. He was the last of the Flavian dynasty.

Nerva (18 September 96 – 28 January 98)

Image Credit: Livioandronico2013 / Commons.

Nerva was 60 years old when the senate recognised him as Domitian’s successor on 18 September 96. He had held positions under the Julio-Claudian and Flavian emperors.

In 97 the Praetorian Guard revolted against Nerva’s authority, instigated by their Prefect Casperius Aelianus. They demanded the handing over of Domitian’s assassins. Nerva proved powerless to stop Aelianus, highlighting the weakness of his position. He handed over the assassins and officially adopted Trajan, the soldier-governor of Germania Superior, soon after.

Some have suggested Trajan conspired with Aelianus to instigate the revolt, so as to be named Nerva’s successor.

He died in early 98 and is regarded as the first of the ‘Five Good Emperors.’

Trajan (28 January 98 – 9 August 117)

Marcus Ulpius Trajanus was the most successful military man in Roman history, expanding the Empire to its greatest extent. He won several remarkable military campaigns – against the Dacians and Parthians – and by the time of his death, his empire stretched from the Persian Gulf, to northern Britain.

Although perhaps initiated under Nerva, it was Trajan who formalised the alimenta welfare programme. He also oversaw the construction of several, monumental building projects in Rome: his namesake Column and Forum most notably.

The bridge Trajan had his architect build across the Danube during his Dacian Campaign remained for 1,000 years the longest arched bridge in the world.

Hadrian (11 August 117 – 10 July 138)

Trajan died childless and was succeeded by Hadrian, Trajan’s (unofficial) successor. He spent more time outside Rome than in the capital during his reign. He visited the outposts of the Empire and prioritised solidifying the frontiers. He is best remembered in Britain today for the construction of his namesake wall.

A renowned Hellenophile, Hadrian spent a large amount of his reign in the eastern Mediterranean. He erected several monumental structures in prime Hellenic cities such as Athens and also visited the tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria.

His Hellenistic outlook clashed with Jewish practices, leading to the outbreak of the Third Jewish Revolt, which Hadrian brutally suppressed.

Antoninus Pius (10 July 138 – 7 March 161)

Bust of Antoninus Pius (reign 138–161 CE), ca. 150.

Antoninus Pius was officially adopted by Hadrian 5 months before the latter’s death, but on the condition that he in turn adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Antoninus’ reign was one of relative peace and stability, with the emperor never leaving the safety of central Italy.

It was during Antoninus’ rule that his generals extended the Roman frontier in Britain further north, erecting a turf and timber wall that stretched from the Clyde to the Forth. It was called the Antonine Wall.

Marcus Aurelius (9 March 161 – 17 March 180)

Image Credit: Sébastien Bertrand / Commons.

Marcus Aurelius succeeded Antoninus Pius and co-ruled the Roman Empire with Lucius Verus. He ruled alone following Lucius Verus’ death in 169. He faced his greatest military test against the Marcomanni tribe and their Germanic allies. Depictions of battles from this war are visible on the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, Italy.

Despite constant military and political troubles, Marcus’ competent administration reacted well to crises like the flooding of the Tiber in 162. He reformed the currency intelligently in response to changing economic circumstances and picked his advisers well. He was praised for his mastery of the law and his fairness.

Marcus Aurelius was known as ‘the philosopher’ and was particularly influenced by Stoicism. His book on guidance and self-improvement, called ‘Meditations’, is still widely read today.

The historian of his reign, Cassius Dio, wrote that his death marked a descent “from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.” The last of the 5 Good Emperors.

Lucius Verus (9 March 161 – 23 January 169)

Co-ruled the Roman Empire alongside Marcus Aurelius for nine years. Lucius Verus was younger and more decadent than his co-emperor. His greater military experience meant it was Verus who was sent east with an army to defeat the Parthians.

Verus’ generals won the campaign for him, though the emperor blackened his reputation by sacking the still largely Hellenistic city of Seleukeia on the Tigris.

He returned to Rome with his victorious army and received a triumph alongside Marcus Aurelius, but his men also brought back a plague, known as the Antonine Plague (believed to be smallpox). Lucius succumbed to the plague in 169.

Commodus (177 – 31 December 192)

The son of Marcus Aurelius who failed to live up to his father’s virtuous reputation. He initially ruled as co-emperor alongside his father for three years and afterwards ruled alone. His rule is defined by paranoia, decadence and megalomania; he is considered one of Rome’s worst emperors.

He believed he was Hercules reincarnated, depicting himself as such in sculpture, dressing as the hero and ordering people to call him Hercules; he fought as a gladiator and usually armed himself with a club to mimic his hero Heracles (his opponents stretched from crippled soldiers to exotic beasts which shocked the Roman public); he also renamed Rome following a great fire, calling it Colonia Commodiana.

It is no surprise that Commodus was later murdered – choked to death by his fitness coach.

Pertinax (1 January – 28 March 193)

Roman aureus struck under the rule of Pertinax. Image Credit: Classical Numismatic Group / Commons.

Pertinax was proclaimed emperor by the Senate in the early morning of 1 January 193, having gained the support of the Praetorian Guard by offering them a large donative. Although he managed to pay the Guard this donative, he failed to win their complete trust.

The men had grown use to the luxuries showered on them by Commodus and were averse to Pertinax’s attempts to reduce their extravagances and restore integrity.

Some of the Praetorians were angered by this swift, radical change and on 28 March, they stormed the Palace and killed the Emperor.

With no clear successor, civil war ensued.

Didius Julianus (28 March – 2 June 193)

Image Credit: Sailko / Commons.

The Praetorians proclaimed Didius Julianus emperor at their camp on the same day of Pertinax’s death, after the statesman had offered the soldiers 25,000 sesterces each for their loyalty.

Despite the popular conception, Didius did not win the throne because he simply ‘outbid’ Sulpicianus, another statesman who similarly desired the throne and had offered each Praetorian 20,000 sesterces.

Rather, Sulpicianus was Pertinax’s father-in-law and it is likely the Praetorians had feared retribution if they had picked a man related to the emperor they had just murdered.

Didius’ reign was highly-contested; once news of Pertinax’s murder reached generals and governors in the provinces, three others assumed the royal purple. Didius was deserted of allies and killed on 2 June, after one of his rivals, Septimius Severus, arrived in Italy with an army.

Pescennius Niger (April 93 – April 94)

Image Credit: Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG / Commons.

The governor of Syria at the time of Pertinax’s murder, he was proclaimed emperor by his troops after they received word of Didius’ accession.

Despite controlling a large number of legions and the vital province of Egypt (the main source of Rome’s grain supply), Severus defeated Niger in a series of battles, culminating in the decisive Battle of Issus on 31 March 194.

He was killed within the next month.

Clodius Albinus (93 – 19 February 197)

Image Credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT / Commons.

Clodius Albinus was the Governor of Britain at the time of Pertinax’s assassination and may have played a covert role in the plot to assassinate Commodus through his friends in the senate (it was said that Commodus, due to the Albinus’ renowned reputation, had ordered him be his successor).

As Governor of Britain, Albinus had three legions at his disposal and was acclaimed emperor. He formed an alliance with Severus in 193, becoming his Caesar (successor), leaving the latter free to fight Niger in the east.

In 196 however Severus, in his attempts to start a Severan dynasty, betrayed the agreement with Albinus and attempted to have his Caesar assassinated. Albinus survived and Severus declared him a political enemy of the state.

Albinus mustered his legions and sailed to Gaul with most of the British garrison. He faced Severus for the decisive battle at Lugdunum on 19 February 197. Although more recently debated by scholars, 300,000 Romans are said to have participated at this battle (150,000 on either side), making it the biggest in Roman history.

Albinus narrowly lost the battle, and his life. He was the greatest challenge Severus ever faced to his rule.

Septimius Severus (14 April 193 – 4 February 211)

Septimius Severus originally hailed from Lepcis Magna in North Africa. At the time of Pertinax’s assassination, Severus was the governor of Pannonia Superior and was proclaimed emperor by the Pannonian legions (stationed in modern day Bosnia) soon after.

Severus quickly seized Rome, reformed the Praetorian Guard and made an alliance with Albinus, before he marched east and crushed Niger’s forces in Anatolia. He then turned on Albinus, defeating him at Lugdunum in February 197.

Severus went on to launch military conquests at the limits of his empire: in the Near East against the Parthians, in Africa and in northern Britain.

The largest campaigning force ever to fight in Britain was led by Severus into Scotland in 209 and 210 BC. It numbered 50,000 men, as well as 7,000 sailors and marines from the regional fleet Classis Britannica.

He died in York on 4 February 211.

Caracalla (209 – 8 April 217)

Eldest son of Severus. Initially ruled as co-emperor, first with his father Severus and then with his hated younger brother Geta. He had Geta murdered in December 211, and his face removed from all public images.

Caracalla was one of Rome’s worst emperors. He was a megalomaniac; he believed he was Alexander the Great reborn; he called himself the Great Alexander and equipped some of his soldiers with Alexander-era weapons – arming them with pikes and naming them Alexander’s phalanx. It is not surprising that Caracalla was murdered soon after.

Geta (4 February 211 – 26 December 211)

Image Credit: Rasiel / Commons.

Son of Septimius Severus; younger brother of Caracalla. Ruled with Caracalla for less than a year before his elder brother had him executed. Caracalla then had Geta’s face removed from all public images – damnatio memoriae.

Macrinus (11 April 217 – June 218)

Image Credit: José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / Commons.

Praetorian Prefect of Caracalla who supposedly ordered the emperor’s assassination near the ancient town of Carrhae. He assumed the title of emperor as Caracalla had no clear successor.

Discontent quickly spread in the army regarding Macrinus’ rule however. His reign was challenged; Macrinus was defeated in battle, forced to flee, captured and beheaded.

He never set foot in Rome.

Elagabalus (16 May 218 – 11 March 222)

Image Credit: José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / Commons.

The man chosen by the army to replace Macrinus was Varius Avitus Bassianus, better known as Elagabalus.

He proposed radical and highly-unpopular religious reform upon returning to Rome, when he planned to replace the chief traditional Roman god Jupiter with Elagabal, the Syrian sun god. He then (briefly) married a Vestal Virgin, and proceeded to show no interest in managing the empire.

He became the epitome of decadence and proved highly unpopular. Arguably, he was THE worst Roman Emperor.

He and his controlling mother were executed at the Castra Praetoria on 11 March 222 – their beheaded bodies were dragged through the streets of Rome and deposited in the Tiber.

Severus Alexander (11 or 13 March 222 – 18 March 235)

Cousin of Elagabulus. When Severus was proclaimed the new imperial ruler, he was just 13 years old. During his teenage years Julia Mamaea, Alexander’s mother, effectively ruled.

Both Alexander and his mother proved inept at conducting military campaigns at a time when the empire was under threat in both Europe and the Near East. In the end, the army sought a new emperor who had proven himself in war.

Alexander was assassinated by his own soldiers at Mainz on either 18 or 19 March 235, along with his mother.

His assassination marked the end of the Severan dynasty.

Maximinus Thrax (March 235 – May 238)

Hailing from a lowly family in Thrace, Maximinus Thrax had risen through the ranks of the Roman military. By 235, he was a high-standing general within Alexander Severus’ army and was the commander who the army turned to when they lost faith in the young emperor.

He lacked support in the Senate due to his ‘barbarian’ roots, but he had the support of the army. He won a couple of victories in Germania but little else.

The Patrician Senate soon threw their support behind several other imperial candidates and declared Maximinus an enemy of the state in 238. He was killed by his Praetorian Guard, after he suffered a series of setbacks besieging the city of Aquileia.

He never set foot in Rome and was the first of the Barracks / Soldier Emperors.

Gordian I and II (22 March 238 – 12 April 238)

Gordian I.

Gordian I was the elderly provincial governor of Africa during Maximinus’ reign. An uprising against corrupt tax officials forced him to assume the purple, along with his son, and they soon received the official backing of the senate.

The neighbouring governor of Numidia, however, was an ally of Maximinus. He marched on Carthage and defeated the militia, killing Gordian II in the process.

When Gordian I learned of his son’s death in battle, he hanged himself.

They had ruled just 22 days.

Gordian II. Image Credit: Classical Numismatic Group / Commons.

Pupienus and Balbinus (22 April – 29 July 238)

After the demise of the Gordian co-emperors, the Senate elected two of its own members to the throne: Pupienus Maximus and Balbinus.

Pupienus marched north and oversaw the defeat and death of Maximinus outside Aquileia. He then returned to Rome, which was in a state of anarchy.

The Emperors were soon seized by members of the Praetorian Guard, stripped, dragged through the streets, tortured and killed.

Balbinus. Image Credit: George Shuklin / Commons.

Gordian III (29 July 238 – 25 February 244)

The popular boy-emperor Gordian III, credit: Ancienne collection Borghèse ; acquisition, 1807 / Borghese Collection; purchase, 1807.

The grandson of the elderly Gordian I. He was appointed Caesar (successor) during the brief reign of Pupienus and Balbinus. He ruled from 239 – 244, largely as a figurehead controlled by his advisers, particularly the head of the Praetorian Guard, Timesitheus, who was also his father in law.

Gordian III died of unknown causes while campaigning in the Middle East.

Philip the Arab (244 – 249)

Image Credit: Rabax63 / Commons.

Succeeded the successful Timesitheus as Gordian III’s Praetorian Prefect in early 244. He may have had a role in Gordian III’s death, though this is debated.

Upon his return to Europe, Philip won victories against the Dacian Carpi tribe and the Germans and over the next 5 years several challenges to his rule were suppressed. In 249 however, his successful general Quintus Decius Valerinus defeated a Gothic rebellion and was pronounced emperor by his troops.

Philip was defeated and killed by Decius’ army in late 249.

Philip II (237 – 249)

Image Credit: Architas / Commons.

Son and heir of Philip the Arab. Murdered by the Praetorian Guard in 249, when word reached the capital of his father’s death against Decius. He was only 11 years old.

Decius (249 – June 251)

Image Credit: José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / Commons.

After the deaths of Philip the Arab and his son, Decius ruled as emperor for two years. He spent most of his reign fighting the Goths, who had returned following his victory over them barely two years earlier.

Decius’ second campaign against the Goths did not prove as successful. He and his legions were soundly defeated at the Battle of Abritus. Decius died during the battle and was the first Roman Emperor to be killed by a foreign invader.

Decius persecuted Christians during his brief reign.

Herennius Etruscus (251)

Son and co-emperor alongside Decius during 251. He was killed at the Battle of Abritus, alongside his father.

Trebonianus Gallus (July 251 – 253)

Image Credit: Sailko / Commons.

Chosen as emperor following the death of Decius and Herennius Etruscus at Abritus. His reign was plagued by invasions from Visigoth and Sassanian forces.

Defeated by the imperial challenger Aemilianus at the Battle of Interamna Nahars in 253 and was murdered by his own men soon after.

Hostilian (July – November 251)

Image Credit: Sailko / Commons.

Youngest son of the Emperor Decius. He was made co-emperor alongside Trebonianus Gallus in 251, following Decius’ death at the Abritus, but died from plague in November 251.

Volusianus (November 251 – 253)

The son of Trebonianus Gallus. Becomes co-emperor alongside his father following the death of Hostilian. He was killed, along with his father, by their own troops after Aemilianus defeated them at the Battle of Interamna Nahars.

Aemilianus (253)

Image Credit: Classical Numismatic Group / Commons.

In 253 Aemilianus commanded a large Roman army in Asia Minor. He won a resounding victory against the invading Goths and his troops subsequently crowned him emperor. He marched on Rome, defeated Trebonianus Gallus and Volusanius in battle and assumed the royal title.

He was killed by his own soldiers barely three months after becoming emperor after they discovered that a large army, commanded by the Rhine governor Valerian, was marching south to challenge Aemilianus’ rule.

Valerian (253 – 260)

Image Credit: York Museums Trust Staff / Commons.

Experienced commander and patrician, Valerian succeeded Aemilianus as emperor. He spent very little time in Rome, prioritising the need to combat the rising power of the Sasanian king Shapur I in the east.

He became the first and only Roman emperor to be captured and taken prisoner in battle, when he was defeated by Shapur at the Battle of Edessa in 260. Some claimed Valerian was then humiliated by his captors, being used as a human footstool by Shapur whenever he mounted his horse.

Gallienus (253 – 268)

Image Credit:  Sailko / Commons.

Son of Valerian and co-emperor alongside his father between 253 and 260. He won a series of military victories in the north and east, (perhaps) culminating in a decisive victory over the Goths at Naissus in 268 (there is debate whether it was Gallienus or his successor Claudius who achieved this victory).

Gallienus made reforms to the army, especially among the cavalry to make his forces more effective against the Sasanians. He also proved more tolerant to Christians than his father.

He was assassinated by senior officers in his army while besieging the force of a would-be-usurper at Mediolanum.

Saloninus (260)

The son of Gallienus. Between 258 and 260 Gallienus had named him his official successor. In 260 Saloninus was residing in Colonia Agrippina when Postumus, the governor of Upper and Lower Germany, revolted and laid siege to the city.

Saloninus was declared co-emperor during the siege in the vain hope this would deter the besieging soldiers from continuing their military action. It didn’t work. The city succumbed to Postumus’ forces and Saloninus was executed.

Claudius II ‘Gothicus’ (268 – 270)

Image Credit: Ángel M. Felicísimo  / Commons.

Gallienus’ assassination in 268 brought Claudius to the throne. Claudius had served as the commander of Gallienus’ reformed, elite cavalry wing.

He won a decisive victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus in 268, although some argue this was achieved by the Emperor Gallienus the previous year. He went on to gain another decisive victory a few months later, in late 268, at the Battle of Lake Benacus.

Claudius had hoped to now start reuniting his divided empire by reducing the Gallic Empire in the west and the Palmyrene Empire in the east to his will. He succumbed to plague, however, in early 270.

Quintillus (270)

Image Credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. / Commons.

Brother of Claudius II. Reigned for only a few months in 270. He was either murdered by his soldiers or forced to commit suicide.

Aurelian (270 – 275)

It had been the aim of Claudius II ‘Gothicus’ to reunite the divided Roman Empire, but it was Aurelian who saw this through.

First he threw barbarians from Italy and then Roman territory. He defeated the Goths in the Balkans and wisely decided to step back from defending Dacia.

Boosted by these victories he overthrew the Palmyrene Empire, which had grown from captured Roman provinces in North Africa and the Middle East, important sources of grain for Rome. Next were the Gauls in the west, completing a complete reunification of the Empire and earning Aurelian the title, “Restorer of the World.”

He didn’t just fight, he brought stability to religious and economic life, rebuilding public buildings and tackling corruption.

Despite his successes and support among the troops, Aurelian was assassinated by traitors who envied his success in 275.

Tacitus (275 – June 276)

Following Aurelian’s assassination the Senate appointed the 75 year old senator Marcus Claudius Tacitus to assume the purple. During his brief reign he won a victory against dissident Gothic and Heruli mercenaries originally recruited by Aurelian.

He died of fever in Cappadocia in June 276.

Florianus (June – September 276)

Praetorian Prefect and half-brother of the Emperor Tacitus. Assumed the royal purple after Tacitus’ demise, but immediately found his rule challenged by Probus, a powerful general in the east.

Florianus’ army fell ill while stationed in Cilicia however. Dissent grew and eventually, in September 276, they mutinied and murdered Florianus.

Probus (276 – 282)

One of the finest generals of his generation, Probus added the finishing touches to Aurelian’s military successes, consolidating the newly-united empire in the east and west.

He won victories against various enemies, including the Goths, the Alamanni, the Burgundians and the Vandals. He also brought greater stability to the empire in the east, agreeing a treaty with the Sasanians.

Probus was eventually killed by usurpers – murdered in a military building. He was one of Rome’s greatest later emperors.

Rome’s Aurelian Walls were completed during Probus’ reign.

Carus (282 – 283)

Image Credit: Rasiel / Commons.

Praetorian Prefect of Probus, proclaimed emperor in 282. Bribed soldiers to betray Probus, who was killed soon after.

During his brief reign, Carus won victories on Rome’s Danube river against barbarian tribes, but died in the east while campaigning against the Sasanians in 283. He was supposedly struck by lightening.

Carinus (283 – 285)

Bust of Carinus. Image Credit: Montemartini_-_Carino_1030439.JPG: Lalupa / Commons.

Eldest son of Carus. Famous womaniser. After his father’s death Carinus returned to Rome and initially ruled jointly with his younger brother Numerian.

After the death of Numerian and the army’s proclamation of Diocletian as emperor, Carinus marched east to confront the challenger. After defeating Julian, another usurper, with relative ease, Carinus confronted Diocletian at the Battle of the Margus River.

He was murdered by his own men, either during or soon after the battle.

Numerian (283 – 284)

Son of Carus; younger brother of Carinus. Ruled with his brother between 283 and 284, before dying on his return from the east. He was possibly murdered by Lucius Aper, Numerian’s Praetorian Prefect.

Diocletian (284 – 1 May 305)

Proclaimed emperor by Numerian’s army following his sudden death. Diocletian quickly confirmed he played no part in the assassination, blaming and killing Aper, the Praetorian Prefect.

Defeated Carinus at the Battle of the Margus River.

Diocletian went on to rejuvenate the Roman Empire, doubling the size of the army, reforming the empire’s administration and creating the ‘tetrarchic system’ of rule.

On 1 May 305 Diocletian abdicated his role as Augustus and retired to Dalmatia. He died on 3 December 312, living long enough to see his ‘tetrarchic’ system of rule decay among his successors.

He is considered the emperor who brought an end to the Third Century Crisis.

Maximian (2 April 286 – 1 May 305)

Maximian ruled as co-emperor in the west (with the title Augustus) alongside Diocletian. He was a military man who fought rebels and incursions in Gaul, Germania and Spain. Maximian later tried to depose both his own son, Maxentius and Emperor Constantine. He committed suicide on Constantine’s orders in 310.

Bust of Emperor Maximian. Image Credit: PierreSelim / Commons.

Constantius I (1 May 305 – 25 July 306)

Constantius I, known as Chlorus, was a successful general and emperor in the west who overcame a usuper in Britain, the Alamanni, the Franks and the Picts beyond the Antonine Wall in Scotland.

He died suddenly in Eboracum (York) in 306, sparking the collapse of Diocletian’s tetrarchic system of government and beginning a civil war.

Coin of Constantius I.

Valerius Severus (Summer 306 – March/April 307)

Valerius Severus was proclaimed Augustus in the west when news of Constantius’ death reached his army. After his forces came up against Maximian (the former emperor) and his son Maxentius, they defected to Maximian. Severus was killed soon after.

Coin of Valerius Severus. Image Credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com / Commons.

Maxentius (28 October 306 – 28 October 312)

Maxentius was the son of Maximian. He was declared emperor following Constantius’ death and defeated Severus; shortly afterwards his own father tried to depose him, but failed. When Maxentius was defeated at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Constantine and his allies he fell into the Tiber and drowned.

Constantine the Great (25 July 306 – 22 May 337)

Constantine I was the son of Constantius I. He was proclaimed Augustus at Eboracum (York) following the death of his father, but had to deal with the challenges of Severus and Maxentius before he could rule.

He defeated his rivals in the west at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, where he is said to have told his soldiers to fight under the Christian symbol of chi-rho.

Constantine then overcame Licinius, the emperor in the east, to become ruler of the whole Roman Empire. He established a new capital for the empire at Byzantium, re-naming it Constantinople.

Constantine helped convert the Roman Empire to Christianity. He passed the Edict of Milan which proclaimed religious tolerance towards Christians and convened the Council of Nicaea.  On his deathbed, he was baptised and officially converted to Christianity.

Constantine’s Conversion, Rubens.

Constantine II (22 May 337 – 340)

Constantine II was the eldest son of Constantine the Great. Raised as a Christian, he was made the guardian of his younger brother Constans.

After their father Constantine’s death the empire was split among his sons, but Constantine II complained that his own portion in the west was too small. He was killed in Italy while trying to assert control over Constans.

Statue of Constantine II. Image Credit: TckfaPanairjdde / Commons.

Constans (22 May 337 – 350)

Constans was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. He defeated his eldest brother’s attempt to gain control of the whole western empire in 340 and ruled for another decade.

He was a successful general and religiously tolerant. However, Constans lost control of the army owing to his homosexuality and cruelty, resulting in his assassination in 350.

Bust of Constans.

Constantius II (22 May 337 – November 361)

Constantius II was the middle son of Constantine the Great. He ruled as emperor in the east while his brothers quarrelled over the western empire, and after Constans’ assassination he took control over the entire empire.

He advocated Christianity and vanquished several rivals during his lengthy reign. He died of natural causes while marching against a usurper, his general Julian.

Bust of Constantius II.

Julian the Apostate (3 November 361 – 26 June 363)

Julian ruled the west under Constantius II. In 360 his army declared him sole Augustus and they marched against Constantius II, who died died before their forces met.

Julian is famous for rejecting Christianity (the last Roman emperor to do so) and promoting a form of paganism called Neoplatonic Hellenism. He died while campaigning against the Sasanians.

Portrait of Julian the Apostate.

Jovian (26 June 363 – 17 February 364)

Jovian was a prominent general in Julian’s campaigns. After Julian’s death he agreed a disadvantageous treaty with the Sasanians and reestablished Christianity as the Roman state church. He died (probably) of natural causes after 8 months as emperor.

Sasanian relief at Taq-e Bostan showing the fallen Emperor Julian. Image Credit: Philippe Chavin / Commons.

Valentinian I (26 March 364 – 16 November 375)

Valentinian I is often thought to be the ‘last great western emperor’. After being chosen to replace Jovian he appointed his brother Valens as Eastern Roman Emperor, keeping the west for himself. He repelled barbarian incursions around the Western Empire and established the Valentinian dynasty.

Gratian (16 November 375 – 25 August 383)

Gratian was the eldest son of Valentinian. He was the last emperor to successfully campaign across the Rhine, the historic border between the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes. He ruled parts of the Western Empire alongside his younger brother.

Gratian’s favouritism towards his Scythian bodyguards angered the Roman army and enabled Magnus Maximus to overthrow him.

Coin of Gratian. Image Credit: Rasiel Suarez / Commons.

Valentinian II (22 November 375 – 15 May 392)

Valentinian II was the younger son of Valentinian I. He was appointed as Gratian’s co-emperor at the age of just four years old. Gratian commanded Gaul, Spain and Britain while Valentinian held Italy and North Africa.

After Magnus Maximius was defeated by Eastern Emperor Theodosius, the young Valentinian II was placed under the control of Theodosius’ trusted general, Arbogast. When Valentinian began to defy him, Arbogast had him hanged.

Statue of Valentinian II.

Magnus Maximus (384 – 28 August 388)

Maximus was a commander in Britain who overthrew Gratian. The Eastern Emperor Theodosius allowed Maximus to rule Britain and Gaul, but with Maximus threatening Italy Emperor Theodosius routed his armies.

Maximus stripped Britain of much of its garrison when he marched on Italy, leaving it vulnerable to barbarian incursions.

Portrait of Magnus Maximus.

Eugenius (22 August 392 – 6 September 394)

Eugenius was placed on the throne by Arbogast after he killed Valentinian II. He is notable as the last emperor to promote Roman paganism. Arbogast knew that, as a Frank, he would rule more easily through a puppet like Eugenius. Eugenius and Arbogast were defeated by Eastern Emperor Theodosius at the Battle of the Frigidus.

Theodosius I (15 May 392 – 17 January 395)

Theodosius the Great was first a successful Eastern Roman Emperor. He crushed the usurpers Magnus Maximius, Arbogast and Eugenius and took control of the Western Roman Empire. He was the last man to rule over a united Roman empire.

However, Theodosius began the policy of making barbarian tribes foederati, giving them land inside the Western Empire in exchange for military services. These autonomous tribes were now the backbone of the Roman army. They soon controlled, then destroyed, the Western Empire.

He officially banned paganism throughout the empire.

Dish showing Theodosius I.

Honorius (17 January 395 – 15 August 423)

Honorius was the younger son of Theodosius I. He is the last figure on our list of Roman emperors. He was protected in the early part of his reign by his father-in-law Stilicho, a powerful general who has been called ‘the last of the Romans’.

Honorius’ later reign was plagued by barbarian invasions into Italy by the Goths and Visigoths. For his own safety he moved his capital from Rome to Milan, and then again to Ravenna.

Mid-way through his rule Honorius refused to meet the demands of King Alaric I of the Visigoths, who laid siege to Rome itself. On 24 August 410 Alaric’s troops sacked the city.

The sack, a massive blow to all Romans, was a watershed moment in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was the first time Rome had been captured by a foreign foe in 800 years.

The Sack of Rome by the Visigoths.

Severus became the emperor in AD 193 in the Year of the Five Emperors. His attention was drawn to Britain quite quickly because he had to face a usurpation attempt in AD 196-197 by the British Governor, Clodius Albinus.

He only narrowly defeated Albinus at the titanic Battle of Lugdunum (Lyon), in what may have been one of the biggest engagements in Roman history. From that point, Britain was on his map.

Severus’ attention turns to Britain

Now, Severus was a great warrior emperor. In the AD 200s he was coming towards the end of his life, and was looking for something to give him one last taste of glory.

Bust of Septimius Severus. Credit: Anagoria / Commons.

He’s already conquered the Parthians, so he wants to conquer the Britains because those two things together will make him the ultimate emperor. No other emperor has conquered the far north of Britain and the Parthians.

So Severus sets his target on the far north of Britain. The opportunity comes in AD 207, when the British governor sends him a letter saying that the whole province is in danger of being overrun.

Let’s reflect on the letter. The governor is not saying that the north of Britain is going to be overrun, he’s saying that the whole province is in danger of being overrun. This conflagration he’s talking about is in the far north of Britain.

The arrival of Severus

Severus decides to come over in what I call the Severan Surge; think of the Gulf Wars. He brings over an army, a campaigning force of 50,000 men, which is the largest campaigning force which has ever fought on British soil. Forget the English Civil War. Forget the Wars Of The Roses. This is the largest campaigning force ever to fight on British soil.

In AD 209 and AD 210, Severus launches two enormous campaigns into Scotland from York, which he’s established as the imperial capital.

Imagine this: from the time of Severus coming over in 208 to his death in 211, York became the capital of the Roman Empire.

He brings his imperial family, his wife, Julia Domina, his sons, Caracalla and Geta. Severus brings the imperial fiscus (the treasury), and he brings senators over. He establishes family members and friends as the governors in all the key provinces around the empire where there may be trouble, in order to secure his rear.

A genocide in Scotland?

Severus launches campaigns north along Dere Street, eviscerating everything in his way in the Scottish Borders. He fights a terrible guerrilla war against the native Caledonians. Ultimately, Severus defeats them in 209; they rebel over the winter after he’s gone back to York with his army, and he defeats them again in 210.

In 210, he announces to his troops that he wants them to commit a genocide. The soldiers are ordered to kill everybody they come across in their campaigning. It would appear that in the archaeological record now there is evidence to suggest this actually did occur.

A genocide occurred in the south of Scotland: in the Scottish borders, Fife, the Upper Midland Valley below the Highland Boundary Fault.

It looks like the genocide may have occurred because re-population took about 80 years to really take place, before the far north of Britain becomes problematic for the Romans again.

An engraving by an unknown artist of the Antonine / Severan Wall.

The legacy of Severus

It doesn’t help Severus though, because he died in the freezing cold of a Yorkshire winter in February AD 211. For the Romans to try and conquer the Far North of Scotland, it was always about political imperative.

With Severus’ death, without that political imperative to conquer the far north of Scotland, his sons Caracalla and Geta flee back to Rome as fast as they can, because they’re squabbling.

By the end of the year, Caracalla had Geta killed or killed Geta himself. The far north of Britain is evacuated again and the whole frontier dropped back down to the line of Hadrian’s wall.

Featured image credit: Dynastic aureus of Septimius Severus, minted in 202. The reverse feature the portraits of Geta (right), Julia Domna (centre), and Caracalla (left). Classical Numismatic Group / Commons.

Yet it was not the only monumental Roman barrier on this far flung part of the Empire. For a short period the Romans had a further physical frontier: the Antonine Wall.

Although less well known than its famous cousin further south, this fortified turf and timber wall stretched from the Firth to the Clyde at the neck, the Isthmus, of Scotland.

Here are ten facts about Rome’s northernmost frontier.

1. It was constructed 20 years after Hadrian’s Wall

The wall was ordered by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, the successor to Hadrian and one of the ‘Five Good Emperors’. Construction of Antoninus’ namesake wall began in about AD 142 and followed the southern side of the Midland Valley.

2. It stretched from the Clyde to the Firth

Stretching 36 miles, the wall overlooked the fertile Midland Valley and dominated the neck of Scotland. A British tribe called the Damnonii inhabited this area of Scotland, not to be confused with the Dumnonii tribe in Cornwall.

3. 16 forts were situated along the wall

Each fort consisted of a front-line auxiliary garrison that would have endured a gruelling daily service: long sentry duties, patrols beyond the frontier, maintaining the defences, weapons training and courier services to name just a few expected duties.

Smaller forts, or fortlets, were situated between each main fort – the equivalent of the milecastles the Romans placed along the length of Hadrian’s Wall.

Forts and Fortlets associated with the Antonine Wall. Credit: myself / Commons.

4. The Romans had previously ventured even deeper into Scotland

The Romans had established a military presence north of the Antonine Wall during the previous century. In the early 80s AD, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman governor of Britannia, lead a sizeable army (including the famous Ninth Legion) deep into Scotland and crushed the Caledonians at Mons Graupius.

It was during this campaign that the Roman regional fleet, the Classis Britannica, circumnavigated the British Isles. Roman marching camps have been discovered as far north as Inverness.

Agricola also planned an invasion of Ireland, but the Roman Emperor Domition recalled the victorious governor to Rome before it could materialise.

5. It represented the northernmost physical frontier of the Roman Empire

Although we have evidence of temporary Roman presences north of the Firth-Clyde neck, the Antonine Wall was the northernmost physical barrier in the Roman Empire.

6. The structure was predominantly made from wood and turf

A picture showing the ditch that stretched in front of the Antonine Wall, visible today near Rough Castle Roman fort.

Unlike its more famous predecessor further south, the Antonine Wall was not constructed primarily out of stone. Although it had a stone base, the wall consisted of a strong timber palisade protected by turf and a deep ditch.

Because of this, the Antonine Wall is much less well-preserved than Hadrian’s Wall.

7. The Wall was abandoned in 162…

It appears the Romans were unable to maintain this northern barrier and the front-line garrisons withdrew to Hadrian’s Wall.

8. …but Septimius Severus restored it 46 years later

In 208, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus – originally from Lepcis Magna in Africa – arrived in Britain with the largest campaigning force ever to set foot on the island – some 50,000 men backed by the Classis Britannica.

He marched north into Scotland with his army and re-established the Antonine Wall as the Roman border. Along with his infamous son Caracalla, he led two of the most brutal campaigns in history beyond the frontier to pacify two Highland tribes: the Maeatae and the Caledonians.

Because of this some refer to the Antonine Wall as the ‘Severan Wall.’

9. The Wall’s reoccupation proved only temporary

Septimius Severus died at York in February 211. Following the soldier emperor’s death, his successors Caracalla and Geta were far more interested in establishing their own power bases in Rome rather than return to Scotland.

The huge force assembled in Britain thus gradually returned to their own home bases and the northern border of Roman Britain was once again re-established at Hadrian’s Wall.

10. The Wall was commonly called Graham’s Dyke for many centuries because of a Pictish legend

The legend goes that a Pictish army led by a warlord called Graham, or Grim, broke through the Antonine Wall just west of modern day Falkirk. The 16^th century Scottish historian Hector Boece recorded the legend:

(Graham) brak doun (the Wall) in all partis so halelie, that he left na thing thairof standing… and for that cause this wall wes callit efter, Grahamis Dike.

An engraving by an unknown artist of the Antonine / Severan Wall.

Top Image Credit: The Antonine Wall ditch looking west at Roughcastle, Falkirk, Scotland..

Septimius Severus was a Roman emperor who set out to subjugate Scotland, his primary goal being to suppress the Scottish tribes who were creating problems for the Roman province of Britain or Britannia. On paper, it was a very asymmetrical campaign. Severus brought around 50,000 men with him to Britain in 208, and he also had the Classis Britannica fleet on the east coast.

He marched up Dere Street, went through Corbridge, passed through the Hadrian’s Wall, crossed the Scottish borders, and then eviscerated everything in his way – completely scouring the place.

We know his route because he built a sequence of marching camps that measured up to 70 hectares in size each and could house his entire 50,000 force. One of these was at Newstead; another at Saint Leonards. He  also flattened the Vindolanda fortress, south of Hadrian’s Wall, and made a plateau out of it, building hundreds of late Iron Age roundhouses on top in a Roman grid pattern. It looks like the site could have been a concentration camp for natives in the borders.

Severus reached Inveresk, crossed over the river there and continued westward on Dere Street, reaching the Antonine Fort at Cramond which he rebuilt, turning it into a major supply base. He then had two links in the campaign’s supply chain – South Shields and Cramond on the river Forth. Next, he built a bridge of up to 500 boats across the Forth, which is probably the line that the Forth Railway Bridge follows today.

Sealing off the Highlands

Severus then divided his forces into two-thirds and one-third, with the former group marching to the Highland Boundary Fault, under the command of his son Caracalla. A series of 45-hectare marching camps were built by Caracalla which would have been capable of housing a force of that size. Caracalla’s group was likely accompanied by the three British legions who would have been used to campaigning in the region.

The group marched south-west to north-east on the Highland Boundary Fault, sealing off the Highlands. That meant that all the people to the south, including members of the Maeatae tribal confederation around the Antonine Wall and members of both the Maeatae and Caledonian confederations in the Lowlands above, were locked in.

Caracalla also used the Classis Britannica to seal them off by sea. Eventually, the naval fleet and Caracalla’s legionary spearheads met somewhere near Stonehaven on the coast.

Brutal campaigning

By 209, the whole of the Lowlands had been sealed off. The Caledonians in the Highlands were pinned in in the north and the Maeatae were trapped in the south. Severus then took the remaining third of his force – which probably consisted of elite troops, including the Praetorian Guard, the Imperial Guard Cavalry and the Legion II Parthica, as well as a similar number of auxiliaries – to Scotland.

This force drove through Fife and built two 25-hectare marching camps that today reveal its route. The group then reached the old Antonine Harbour and Fort on the river Tay, which is called Carpow. This harbour and fort was also rebuilt, providing Severus’ campaign with a third link in the supply chain. Severus then built his own bridge of boats across the Tay at Carpow before slamming into the soft underbelly of the Maeatae and Caledonians in the Midland Valley and brutalising the place.

There was no set piece battle as there had been during the 1st-century Agricolan campaign in Scotland. Instead, there was brutal campaigning and guerrilla warfare – and all in terrible weather conditions. Sources suggest that the natives were better at fighting in those conditions than the Romans.

A victory (of sorts)

The source Dio says that the Romans suffered 50,000 casualties during Severus’ first Scottish campaign, but that is a bizarre number because it would have meant that the entire fighting force was killed. However, we should perhaps see it as literary license demonstrative of the campaign’s brutality. The campaign resulted in some kind of victory for the Romans – probably the cession of Fife to Rome.

A map depicting the route taken during the Severan Campaigns (208-211). Credit: Notuncurious / Commons

Coins were minted showing that Severus and Caracalla had been successful and a peace was agreed. The northern frontiers were garrisoned properly and marching camps were maintained with garrisons, but the majority of Severus’ forces headed south in 209 to winter in York. Thus, it initially seemed as though Severus could say that he had conquered Britain.

But suddenly, over the winter, the Maeatae rebelled again. They were clearly unhappy with the terms they had received. When they rebelled, Severus realised that he had to go back to Scotland. Bear in mind, Severus was in his early 60s by that point, riddled with chronic gout, and he was carried in his sedan chair for the whole of the first campaign.

He was frustrated and fed up with the Maeatae rebelling again and the Caledonians predictably joining them. He reset, and then ran the campaign again, almost like a video game. Reset, and start again.

This article is an edited transcript of Roman Navy in Britain: The Classis Britannica with Simon Elliott available on History Hit TV.

The Roman emperor Septimius Severus was born into an aristocratic Punic family in 145 AD in Leptis Magna, one of the richest parts of the Roman Empire, in the heat of a blistering summer. He was one of the first in his family to become a senator but made steady progress in the cursus honorum, the sequential progression of offices for Roman senators.

The first province he oversaw as a governor was Gallia Lugdunensis, the capital of which was modern-day Lyon. Northwestern Gaul looked out towards Britain and the Classis Britannica, the Roman fleet in the area around Britain, was also in charge of controlling the continental coast. And so, it was in the late 180s that Severus, a man from North Africa, looked out at Britain for the first time.

During his time as governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, Severus became good friends with Pertinax, the British governor. But his relationship with Roman Britain turned sour when his good friend faced a legion revolt against him.

Severus’ rise to power

A bronze head of Septimius Severus. Credit: Carole Raddato / Commons

Soon after, Severus became the governor of Pannonia Superior, a crucial province on the Danube that guarded the northeastern approaches to Italy.

That was where he was in 192 on New Year’s Eve when Commodus assassinated the emperor and there ensued a scramble for power. The following year was known as the Year of the Five Emperors, during which Severus’ friend Pertinax became the emperor before falling out with the Praetorian Guard (an elite army unit whose members served as the emperor’s personal bodyguards) and being killed.

Severus was then declared the emperor by his legion in his headquarters on the Danube. He launched a blitzkrieg assault on northern Italy, made his way into Rome, staged a coup and ultimately became the winner of the Year of the Five Emperors.

He held severe contempt for the political classes in Rome; if you look at the Arch of Septimius Severus at the Forum in Rome, it was almost built on the foundations of the Curia Senate House.

Severus was effectively saying, “You remember who’s in charge. It’s me”.

Britain re-entered the picture in the year 196 when the British governor, Clodius Albinus, rebelled against Severus and took his three legions to the continent.

The two sides fought an apocalyptic battle at Lugdunum near Lyon in 197. Severus won – but only by the skin of his teeth.

The episode only reinforced Severus’ negative view of Britain and he sent military inspectors to the province at the end of the campaign to rebuild the military there in a way that ensured its loyalty to him.

You can still see the physical evidence of this in London today. The Severan land walls of London – including the still-standing section near Tower Hill tube station – were built by Severus to tell the people of the city, “You remember who’s the boss”.

They were designed to have the same impact as the Arch of Severus at the Forum.

The Arch of Septimius Severus at the Forum in Rome. Credit: Jean-Christophe BENOIST / Commons

The problem of Britain

By 207, Britain was still struggling to rebuild itself after the Albinus revolt. Severus didn’t seem to want to reinstall a full military presence there and he may have left the northern frontier with Scotland unmanned.

In the late 190s, the then governor of Britain, Lupus, was forced to buy off the Scottish tribal confederations of the Caledonians and the Maeatae to keep them quiet.

However, in 207, Severus received a letter, according to Herodian, who is admittedly something of an unreliable source, which said that Britain was in danger of being overrun – the entire province, not simply the north.

The governor of Britain at that time was Senecio, and he requested help from Severus or reinforcements. Severus delivered both.

The Caledonians and the Maeatae were first mentioned by sources in the 180s, so they had been around for 20 or 30 years at that point. The Scottish populations was growing and the tribal elites had become used to receiving vast sums of money from the Romans as a way of buying them off.

Sources tell us that the weather in the late 200s was very poor and so there may have been a problem with the harvest. With Scotland a grain population, the Caledonians and the Maeatae may have headed south to hunt for food.

Britain’s largest army

All of those factors coalesced into Severus arriving in Britain in 208 to conquer Scotland with around 50,000 men, the largest force that Britain had ever seen at that point.

There were three legions usually stationed in the Roman province, normally amounting to about 15,000 men, and there were also about 15,000 auxiliaries, as well as other ancillary troops.

So there was already a garrison in Britain of around 30,000 men. But despite that, Severus brought with him a reformed Praetorian Guard as well as his Imperial Guard Cavalry and his new Roman legion, the Legio II Parthica. The latter was one of three Parthica legions that Severus formed through his eastern campaigns.

Most legions at that time were still based near the frontiers. But Severus based the Legio II Parthica 30 kilometres from Rome. It was pure intimidation for the people of Rome, and it served the same function as his arch at the Forum and the walls of London.

He also brought all of the Parthian legions to Britain, as well as vexillationes of troops from the Rhine and the Danube. It added up to around 50,000 men. Meanwhile, 7,000 men from the Roman fleet, Classis Britannica, also played a crucial role in his campaigns to conquer Scotland.

These units arrived in Britain via several points – the great estuary in East Anglia, Brough-on-Humber, South Shields and Wallsend. South Shields actually became one of the crucial ports in Severus’ Scottish campaigns, with its granaries increasing 10-fold in size to support them.

The primary sources suggest that Severus didn’t expect to go home.

Horace, a Roman poet who wrote in the early Principate period, around the time of Augustus, eloquently said that Augustus would not become a god unless he conquered the Parthians, the Persians and the Britons.

Well Severus had already conquered the Parthians, sacking their capital, and then chose the last three years of his life to finish off the conquest of Britannia.

He also probably initiated the separation of the province of Britannia into two. This division was fully realised under his son Caracalla, but it was under Severus that Britain was split for the first time into Britannia Inferior (Lower Britain) in the north and Britannia Superior (Upper Britain) in the south.

A bronze statue of Constantine the Great sits outside York Minster in England. The emperor looks down upon his broken sword, which forms the shape of a cross. Credit: York Minster / Commons.

The new capital

Severus deliberately chose to spend the last three years of his life in Britain and turned York into the imperial capital. We know this because the primary sources say that he didn’t just bring military forces.

He brought his wife, Julia Domna, who played a major role in influencing the policy decisions of her husband, as well as his sons, Caracalla and Geta, and his entire court.

He also brought the Imperial Fiscus Treasury and key senators, turning the Principia – the headquarters of the legionary fortress in York – into the Imperial Roman Capital.

This building is now the cathedral York Minster. If you go through York today, you will probably see the massive column that sits next to the statue of Constantine outside the Minster. This column is from the Basilica of the Principia that Severus built. It has been estimated that the Basilica would have been almost as tall as the Minster is today.

This article is an edited transcript of Roman Navy in Britain: The Classis Britannica with Simon Elliott available on History Hit TV.

Septimus Severus was one of the great Roman warrior emperors who hacked his way to power in the year 193 AD. In so doing, he fought off all challengers before embarking on successful wars of conquest in the east where he fought the Parthians and other eastern powers.

He actually sacked the Parthian capital, which very few Roman emperors did. He was native to Africa, born as he was in the blistering heat of a North African summer to one of the richest families in the empire.

Severus was of Punic origin, so his forebears were Phoenicians, yet he died in the freezing cold of a Yorkshire winter in 211.

What was he doing in Yorkshire?

In both 208 and 2010, Severus took around 57,000 men to try and achieve what no Roman emperor had done before: conquer Scotland. It was during the second campaign – the last major attempt by the empire to subjugate Scotland – that he fell fatally ill. He died the following year in Yorkshire.

A bust of Septimius Severus – likely posthumous – displayed in the Capitoline Museums. Credit: antmoose (4 June 2005) at https://www.flickr.com/photos/antmoose/17433741/

Severus failed his objective despite taking an enormous army to Britain to invade Scotland. Indeed, his force was so big that it must have been one of, if not the, largest campaigning army ever to arrive on British soil.

During the second campaign, he became so frustrated by the fact he couldn’t conquer the north that he gave a genocidal order. It basically said, “Kill everybody”.

Although Severus failed to conquer Scotland, dying preemptively, the ramifications of his second campaign were nevertheless huge. They are now coming to light via the medium of archeological data, which shows that there was a major depopulation event in Scotland for about eight years.

The Scottish threat

When we discuss the 1st-century Agricolan campaign, the tribes in Scotland are referred to under the bracket term of “Caledonian”. But within another 100 years, they had coalesced into two broad tribal confederations.

One of these confederations, the Maeatae, was based in the middle Midland Valley, around the Antonine Wall. The other was the Caledonians, who were based to the north in the northern Midland Valley (located in the northern Lowlands), and then in the Highlands as well.

It was probably interaction with the Romans in the north of England that caused the confederations of the Maeatae and the Caledonians to come into being.

Rome still had an interest in Scotland during the 2nd century and carried out punitive expeditions. In fact,  it was during this time that the Romans built both Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall. But it doesn’t look like they tried to conquer Scotland in any meaningful way.

Towards the end of the 2nd century, however, the tribal confederations had reached a level of organisation where they were beginning to really trouble the northern border.

Around the time that Severus came to the throne in 193, the governor of Roman England was Clodius Albinus, who more or less had the border with Scotland secure. But in the decade that followed, trouble began to occur – and that trouble ultimately led to Severus travelling to Britain.

Lack of source material

One of the reasons why the Severan campaigns haven’t been covered in detail to date is because there are only two main written sources on which to rely for information: Cassius Dio and Herodian. Although these sources are near-contemporary – Dio actually knew Severus – they are problematic as historical sources.

A number of other Roman sources on the campaigns, meanwhile, date from between 100 and 200 years later.

However, in the last 10 to 15 years, a lot of data has come through from some fantastic excavations and investigations in Scotland that has enabled us to look at the Severan campaigns in a lot more detail.

There is archaeological evidence of a large sequence of Roman marching camps in Scotland, which were built by the Roman military at the end of a marching day to defend themselves in enemy territory.

Thus, given the size of the force that Severus had, it is possible to match the larger marching camps to the Severan campaigns and actually track his routes.

In addition, there have been major investigations into some of the campaigning sites across Scotland that have enabled archaeologists to understand more about the nature of the warfare at that time.

For example, there is a hill fort that was assaulted by the Romans during the Antonine period, which has now been properly investigated and shows that the Romans were fast, vicious and vindictive when taking such settlements out.

This article is an edited transcript of Septimius Severus in Scotland with Simon Elliott on Dan Snow’s History Hit, first broadcast 9 April 2018. You can listen to the full episode below or to the full podcast for free on Acast.

Initially, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus’ first campaign in Scotland had seemed to successfully subjugate the Caledonians and the Maeatae, the two main tribal groups in the region. But in the year 210 AD, the Maeatae rebelled again.

That was when Severus gave the genocidal order. According to the source Dio, Severus quoted Homer and the Iliad to his army as it was massed in front of him in York.

The quote in question runs along the lines of, “What shall I do with these prisoners?”, with the response being, “You should kill everyone, even the babes in their mothers’ wombs”.

It is clear that an order was given to carry out a form of genocide.

Severus was too ill to campaign the second time and so his son Caracalla, who was even more hard-bitten than his father, led the campaign and carried out the genocidal order in full.

The campaign was brutal and evidence has shown that there needed to be reforestation in the Lowlands, so devastating were the razing tactics used by the Romans.

There is also evidence of settlements being abandoned.

It is clear that an order was given to carry out a form of genocide.

Another peace was agreed between the Romans and the Scottish tribes at the end of 210 and there was no rebellion afterwards, probably because there was no one in the Lowlands left to rebel.

Severus planned to fully man Fife and possibly the whole of the Lowlands within the Roman Empire. If he had succeeded and survived, southern Scotland’s story would have been completely different and it would perhaps have been home to stone-built settlements and things like that.

Whether the Picts would have come into being in the same way is also questionable. However, Severus died in February 211 in York.

A lust for power

Caracalla, meanwhile, was desperate for the throne. He is quoted by primary sources as saying that he almost carried out a patricide against his father in 209. You could almost imagine him as Joaquin Phoenix’s character in the film Gladiator.

Thus, as soon as Severus was dead, the two brothers completely lost interest in the Scottish campaign. The Roman forces returned to their bases, with the vexillationes (detachments of Roman legions that formed temporary task forces) going back to the Rhine and the Danube.

There was then an almost unseemly scramble from Caracalla and Geta to return to Rome and each try and become emperor. Severus wanted them both to rule together but that clearly wasn’t going to happen and, by the end of the year, Caracalla would have actually killed Geta.

Geta apparently died bleeding in his mother’s arms in Rome.

As soon as Severus was dead, the two brothers completely lost interest in the Scottish campaign.

Meanwhile, although the actual outcome of the Severan campaigns wasn’t the conquest of Scotland, they did result in probably the longest period of comparative peace along the northern border of Roman Britain in pre-modern history.

The border was once again reset along Hadrian’s Wall, but there were 80 years of peace in the Scottish Lowlands, according to the archeological record.

Military reform

Severus was the first of the great reforming emperors of the Roman military after Augustus, who ruled in the Principate (the early Roman empire). You could argue that the first Roman field army was the field army he put together for the conquest of Scotland.

If you look at the monuments in Rome, you can see the transition taking place from the Principate, to the later Dominate (the later Roman empire). If you look at the Column of Marcus Aurelius and Trajan’s Column, the Roman legionaries are largely wearing lorica segmentata (type of personal armour), and they have the classic scutum (type of shield) with pilums (type of javelin) and the gladius (type of sword).

If you look at the Arch of Septimius Severus, built not long afterwards, there are one or two figures in lorica segmentata but they also have large oval body shields and spears.

The Arch of Septimius Severus at the Forum in Rome. Credit: Jean-Christophe-BENOIST / Commons

If you look closely, you can see that a lot of the legionary figures are depicted in long, thigh-length lorica hamata chainmail coats and, again, with oval body shields and long spears.

This shows that there was a transition between the Principate legionary (Roman foot soldier) and the Dominate legionary in terms of how they were equipped.

From the time of Constantine, all legionaries and auxiliaries were then armed in the same way, with a large oval body shield, spear, lorica hamata chainmail and the spatha.

You could argue that the first Roman field army was the field army Severus put together for the conquest of Scotland.

The reason for this change was probably nothing to do with the British expedition, however, but rather Severus’ experiences in the east, fighting the Parthians.

The Parthians were predominantly cavalry-based and Severus would have been looking for weapons that had longer reach.

The other point to remember is that, shortly after Severus’ time, there was the Crisis of the Third Century, which involved a large economic crisis.

The changes Severus began were then accelerated because it was cheaper to maintain and make chainmail and oval body shields.

This article is an edited transcript from Roman Legionaries with Simon Elliott, available on History Hit TV.

For centuries, the army of the Romans dominated the Mediterranean and we remember it today as one of the most effective forces the world has ever seen.

Yet to ensure the Roman army was able to compete against various enemies – from the swift Parthians in the east to the menacing Celts in northern Britain – evolution was necessary.

So how did this army change tactically and operationally from Augustus onwards? Was there any rapid development in battlefield technology and tactics? Or was there a cradle of continuity?

Continuity

If you look at the legionaries from the end of the reign of Augustus (14 AD) through to the legionaries at the beginning of the reign of Septimius Severus (193 AD), there was not a huge amount of change. The Roman soldiers we grow up reading books about, wearing lorica segmentata and having the scutum shields, pila, the gladius and the pugio, did not dramatically change in that time period. The military formations did not really change in that time period either.

You therefore tend to start looking at the evolution of Roman military tactics and technology from the time of the emperor Septimius Severus, and if you look at some of the arches and monuments in Rome – for instance the arch of Septimius Severus – you can still see there on that arch the Roman auxiliaries and their lorica hamata chainmail and the legionaries in segmentata.

Similarly on the Arch of Constantine, created towards the end of the fourth century, then you’re looking again at the changing technology. But even there on this much later arch you still get legionaries wearing lorica segmentata. Still, if you want a clear pathway of this change of technology and tactics you can see it beginning with Septimius Severus.

The Severan reforms

When Severus became the emperor in the Year of the Five Emperors in AD 193 he immediately began his military reforms. The first thing he did was abolish the Praetorian Guard as it had functioned so poorly in the recent past (even contributing to the demise of some of the emperors who did not last very long during the Year of Five Emperors).

The Praetorian Guard proclaim Claudius emperor.

So he abolished it and he replaced it with a new Praetorian Guard which he formed from his own veteran soldiers from the legions he’d commanded when governor on the Danube.

Suddenly the Praetorian Guard transformed from being a fighting force based in Rome, to one composed of elite soldiers. This provided the emperor a core body of men in Rome, and let’s remember throughout the Principate the legions tended to be based around the borders not within the Roman Empire. It was therefore very unusual to actually have a proper military force in Rome itself.

Alongside creating the fighting Praetorian Guard, Severus created three legions, one, two, and three Parthica. He based Legio II Parthica just 30 kilometres from Rome which was a clear message to the political elites in Rome to behave or else as this was the first time a full, fat legion had actually been based in close proximity to the heart of the empire.

The reformed Praetorian Guard and his new legions therefore provided Severus two big units around which he could build a mobile army if he wished. When Severus then increased the size of the horse guards in Rome, he then had what is effectively this embryonic mobile army which was the core of the force which he took with him when he campaigned to try and conquer Scotland in AD 209 and 210 before he died in York in AD 211.

Later transition

Severus was the beginning of the change. You can then run through to the time of Diocletian when there occurred a transition to having mobile units within the empire and fewer smaller units along the borders. By the time you get to Constantine, you have a full transition where the core of the Roman military was not the classic division of legionaries and Auxilia but was much more focused on these mobile armies – including larger cavalry contingencies based deep within the empire.

Ultimately you had this split between Comitatenses, the field army troops, and Limitanei, which were effectively gendarmerie who were along the borders acting as a trigger for any penetrations into the empire.

So there was a clear arc of change in developments, in tactics, in technology in the Roman army, but it did not begin until around the time of Septimius Severus. For the majority of the Roman Imperial Period the iconic Roman legionary, equipped with their lorica segmentata and scutum shields, remained a constant.

This article is an edited transcript from Roman Legionaries with Simon Elliott, available on History Hit TV.

At the beginning of the Principate (27 BC), powerful Roman dynasties managed to rule the Roman Empire for numerous decades – perhaps most famously the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties. Yet as the Imperial period went on, Emperors started to come and go quite regularly and it became quite hard for an emperor to not only establish legitimacy but then gain legitimacy for his descendants.

So how big a role did the army play in this growing difficulty? And did they become a cause for instability?

Not just a fighting force

The Roman military, as most if not all militaries are throughout history, were ‘other’ when compared to the rest of society; they were within society but were ‘other.’ They were not just a fighting force for external threats; they were also the sharper end of the policing force within the empire and also administered the empire as well, which meant that they actually functioned as part of the judiciary.

Occasionally the soldiers clearly were a force of instability, not always, but occasionally they were. The crisis of the mid-third century is a great example as many things went wrong within the empire during this time, part of which was internecine warfare between contenders for the throne and contending imperial lineages.

Instability in Britannia

One of the best examples about this sort of instability is with regards to the Roman province of Britannia – the farthest point from the centre of the Roman Empire, the furthest from Rome. The Romans had never conquered the north and west of the Island and they therefore needed an exponentially large military presence there all the time.

If you look at the Severan campaigns in Scotland for instance, Severus had a force of 60,000 men. Think about that. The modern British army is 80,000 men strong. Severus had a force of 60,000 men, the kernel of which was this embryonic field army which he created, and he arrived in Britain with his 60,000 men in a population of 3.5 million.

Meanwhile the modern British army is 80,000 men in a population of 65 million. So the Roman army was therefore not just other; it was a significant other.

Furthermore in Britain the army was furthest from Rome. If these military forces for whatever reason were idle or if the military leaders or the governor or the procurator had reason to be worried about what was happening in Rome, then there was therefore always going to be the chance of usurpations. On many occasions this became a reality: Constantius, Magnus Maximus, Magnentius.

Postumus dragged Britain into his Gallic Empire, but the only one which actually worked was Constantine the Great. He was declared emperor by his troops when he was in York after the death of his father. So it was always a possibility that the soldiers could be a cause for instability.

16th century depiction of Constantine the Great’s conversion at the Milvian Bridge.

Keeping the soldiers busy

Nevertheless there were long periods of stability in the Principate. The reign of Antoninus Pius is a great example of that; but the Roman military was always there and if it was not kept busy doing what its day job was and if it was then around people who had some kind of grief with what was going off elsewhere in the empire it was always a risk that something could happen that was untoward towards the ruling imperial family.

This was why the emperor was always trying to keep the Roman military busy doing things if they weren’t fighting.