The African Emperor – Septimius Severus with Simon Elliott

Join noted historian and author Dr Simon Elliott to hear about his latest book, ‘The African Emperor’. Afterwards there will be the chance to ask questions and purchase a book signed by the author.

Book tickets now

Severus was born into the richest family in a North African spring in Leptis and came to power at the height of Rome’s might. Comprised of 50,000 men, the emperor not only led the largest army to ever campaign in Britain as part of a Roman military establishment, but he also left a might legacy in the built environment. There is undeniable Severan influence over the Forum Romanum, his hometown of Leptis Magna, and even the land walls in London that define the City’s Square Mile were delineated under his rule.

Severus used his North African upbringing as the template for, what Simon refers to as, the Severan reset. This was the first major post-Augustan reformation of the Roman world and established the emperor’s dynasty, which lasted almost half a century. Such was the scale of this reorganisation, which some may name a hostile takeover, that it was not repeated until the succession of Diocletian more than ninety years after Severus became emperor.

The African Emperor explores the life and eventual death of one of the greatest warrior emperors in history. Read of his several near-death experiences and how he monumentalised his rule across the empire and his visits to every region. Born in the blistering heat, Severus died in the freezing cold of a Northern British winter in York with the deathbed advice: ‘Be of one mind with your family, enrich the soldiers, and despise the rest.