Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

Rome’s African Emperor

Join archaeologist, historian and broadcaster Dr Simon Elliott FSA to explore the remarkable life of the Roman Emperor – Septimius Severus.

Born in the heat of a North African spring in Leptis Magna AD 145, Severus rose through the ranks to become one of Rome’s greatest warrior emperors. His career can be counted in superlatives. Severus was in power at the height of Rome’s might. He led the largest army to ever campaign in Britain, comprising 50,000 men, part of a Roman military establishment which peaked at 33 legions under his rule. He finally died in York in February AD 211 in the freezing cold of a British winter. This talk will assess the legacy of the emperor who established the Severan dynasty. Simon Elliott will delve into the life a man who fought in every region across the Empire, almost died in battle several times and whose attitude is best reflected in his deathbed advice to his two sons: ‘Be of one mind with your family, enrich the soldiers, and despise the rest.’

Dr Simon Elliott FSA is a best-selling and award-winning archaeologist, historian and broadcaster, with a PhD in Classics and Archaeology, an MA in Archaeology and an MA in War Studies. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, and has recently completed two terms as a Trustee of the Council for British Archaeology. Dr Elliott has published 20 books to date on Classical and late antique world themes and frequently contributes to broadcast and social media, and podcasts, as a presenter and expert on the Roman world. His new biography of the great warrior emperor Septimius Severus, The African Emperor, is published in early September by Icon Books and Bolinda Audio.

7pm in the Tempest Anderson Lecture Theatre in the Yorkshire Museum on Tuesday 23 September.

Image: Simon Elliott with the Arch of Septimius Severus behind him.

Member’s Report

Dr Simon Elliot, historian, archaeologist and broadcaster presented a crowded audience in the Tempest Anderson Lecture Theatre in the Yorkshire Museum with a comprehensive and well-structured lecture on the remarkable life of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus based on his new biography The African Emperor, The Life of Septimius Severus published earlier in the month by Icon Books and Bolinda Audio.

He made the chronology of the lecture very clear from the outset beginning with Severus’s birth in Leptis Magna in AD145 and ending with his death in York in AD 211. Using a mixture of finely made maps and well considered photographs mostly taken on personal tours of many of the places linked to Severus’ rise to power during which he established the Severan dynasty. What was impressive about the lecture was the way in which Simon Elliot described in detail  the ‘the world of Septimius Severus’, including his family life, the opponents he had to get the better of, the battles he had to win and the creation of many monumental structures memorialising his successes.  Of particular interest was his discussion of identity and race in the Roman World prompted by Severus’s own racial origins.

The lecture was rounded off with a brief description of Severus’s campaigns in Britain, particularly a major invasion of Scotland at the very end of his life, leading the largest army ever to campaign in Britain comprising approximately 50,000 men.  Although Hadrian’s Wall was strengthened and the Antonine Wall reoccupied, the invasion, which included aspects of genocide, eventually failed leading Caracalla, the emperor’s son, to withdraw from the region after his father’s death.

These notes don’t do justice to such a detailed and fascinating lecture which led many in the audience to buy copies of his newly published book and consider purchasing one or more of his many other books on the Roman world.

Jeff Taylor

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