ROMA---------------O NOUA DINASTIE !

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Septimius Severus, who had cut his teeth serving as Proconsul in his native Africa Province, took the opportunity of his alliance with Albinus to head east and nullify the threat of the Syrian governor Niger. Details of the campaign are sparse, but Severus inflicted successive defeats on Niger’s forces at Cyzicus and Nicaea in 193 AD, and then replaced his with his field general Candidus with Anullinus, like due to the former’s failure to destroy Niger’s army after his victory. Pushing deeper into Asia Minor, the decisive encounter came at Issus the following year – the same town where Alexander the Great had first put Darius III of Persia to flight 517 years before as he destroyed the Achaemenid Empire.

Before the advent of modern technology, it was very difficult to assert centralised control over large geographic areas – hence there was usually a lot of local autonomy. In practice though, this meant that rival claimants for power were often able to act quickly to news of changes in the imperial court to establish themselves as the de facto authority in the region. This, coupled with local support from troops and residents who were far removed from central affairs, meant that competing factions springing up across the empire would be a perpetual problem for Rome. The issue had existed since the time of Caesar, when despite controlling Italia he saw his rivals assert themselves simultaneously in Greece, Hispania and Africa. There was no instant way to spread news of an event like you would have today, and no way to quickly respond to various threats. Imagine today if the president died, but that news travelled by horse, rather than internet or television, and so governors of California, New York, Texas and Chicago simultaneously announced that they were the new president, especially as they had received the new of the death before everyone else, and you can start to imagine the problem that persistently plagued not just Rome, but almost every empire through history. The majority of local officials and soldiers likely were not acting as opponents to the state, or enemies of the new emperor – they were likely just reacting to the news they had, and the powerful local official who told them that he was now in charge.

Severus was able to manipulate many of the local governors as their children were back in Rome, it being commonplace for a man to serve military appointments abroad while his family remained home. It would thus take unwavering commitment to continue in service to Niger when many of his subordinates knew that such loyalty would result in the deaths of their families. This, coupled with inter-city rivalry in the region, caused many cities to defect to Severus, while a legion deserted Niger too. Severus was the first to attack at the Battle of Issus, forming a testudo (tortoise formation) while Niger’s forces pelted them with missiles. While the legions advanced, his cavalry attacked Niger’s rear. The fighting was fierce, but a thunderstorm that struck as Niger’s army was beginning to waver completed the rout, as they attributed it to divine intervention. Niger was captured in the days following the battle, and executed. The city of Byzantium – which would go on to become the capital of Constantinople – would remain besieged in defiance of Severus for two more years. While Severus was in Byzantium, he had the tomb of his fellow Carthaginian Hannibal Barca cased in marble – ironically, the great enemy of Rome who nearly destroyed the republic would be the beneficiary of Roman benevolence almost 400 years after his death.

While Severus was in the east, Albinus remained in the west, essentially as the ruler of Gaul, Hispania and Britannia. The duo shared a consulship in 194. Severus spent that time attacking the Parthians and Mesopotamians, admonishing those who had supported Niger. Severus then declared that his son Caracalla would succeed him as emperor, and had the Senate declare Albinus as an enemy of the state. This triggered Albinus crossing The Channel to invade Gaul, with his own legions declaring him as emperor. Severus’ legate Lupus was defeated, and although Albinus now had access to the resources of Gaul, the Rhine legions refused to declare for him.

The two emperors met at the Battle of Lugdunum in February 197, each fielding around 75,000 legionaries, and some reports of up to 150,000 on each side – which would have been three quarters of all of the legions in the empire at that time. The bloody battle raged on for two days, with the tide shifting and the outcome on aknife edge. Severus’ cavalry advantage ultimately gave him the edge, and allowed him to crush Albinus’ exhausted force. Albinus either committed suicide or was assassinated, his body then stripped and beheaded. His body, and those of his family, were tossed into the Rhone, with his head sent back to Rome with a letter criticising the Senate for their support of him. Lugdunum was sacked, and Albinus’ advocated were purged. Albinus ‘reign’ as sole emperor had last less than six months.

The death of Albinus left the way clear for Severus to reign as sole emperor. Rome had been crippled by the loss of legions in fruitless civil wars though, Britannia in particular weakened and suffered from several uprisings, which would see the Roman frontier retreat from the Antonine Wall (betwixt the Firths of Forth, today at Edinburgh, and Clyne, at Glasgow) to Hadrian’s Wall (roughly the England – Scotland border). Severus would now turn his attention to military endeavours, as he looked to stabilise Rome again and advance her territory. His key concern was the military, not the Senate nor the people, and he knew that generous cash payments to the legions to ensure their loyalty would ensure his hold of the Principate. This spending would prove to be economically ruinous for Rome though, and far from creating a stable dynasty, his successor would enjoy cruelty and depravity to rival the detested days of Nero and Commodus.