Customer Reviews

Septimius Severus: The African Emperor

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Prof. Birley has written the biographies of three Roman emperors: Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus and recently Hadrian. "Septimius Severus: the African Emperor" is his finest work thus far. His fluent narrative and relevant remarks make the life of Severus even more interesting. We follow Severus from his native town of Lepcis Magna (in today's Lybia), the member of a family of Phoenecian origin but Romanized for generations. Severus starts his career in an unremarkable way during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, giving us a glimpse of what life was for individual members of the senatorial class. We then follow Severus's life throughout the reign of Marcus's insane son Commodus, Birley giving the best treatment of his reign that I have ever seen in English. The events leading to the conspiracy to topple Commodus, resulting in civil war and Severus's acession as first Emperor for whom Latin was a foreign language, read like a first-class thriller, all the more fascinating because true. As emperor Severus shows himself to be competent and ruthless, and apparently somewhat disdainful and resentful of the traditional elites of Italian background, which led to his starting to convert the empire into a military dictatorship. On the other hand, his support of the great jurists Papinian and Paul make his reign one of the great ages of Roman jurisprudence, which was to have so much influence on Western law. Severus's military pursuits in Mesopotamia and Scotland are also vividly described. To be sure, the first chapters on the origins of Lepcis Magna are a bit slow, but all the rest is fascinating. I could not recomment this book more.

Anthony Birley does an outstanding job at presenting the life of a man who survived the insane rule of Commodus and founded a new imperial dynasty. Birley give one of the best accounts of the Empire under Commodus and the consipracy leading to his assassination. The brief rule of Pertinax is also delt with and the following civil war.

The begining section on the origins of Lepcis Magna are a bit slow. However, it provides a wealth of knowledge on what life was like in the Empire outside of Rome and Italy. Very few books manage to do this as well this one.

Showing the reign of Septimius Severus in great detail the reader can get an idea of how the 'Crisis of the Third Century' was to become almost inevitable. Septimius Severus favoring the soldiers over all else and his advise to his sons: "Be good brothers, grease the palm of the army and to hell with the rest."(not an exact translation of course) The life of Septimius Severus gives the reader a glimpse into what may have made Caracalla such a tyrant.

Unfortunately, Septimius Severus will probably go down in history as the most important Roman Emperor you've never heard of. His reign marked several important turning points, including the "barbarization" of Rome's army, the rise of military dictators as emperors, and the decline of the city of Rome as the center of action. Birley's book is aimed for academics but surprisingly lively and action-packed. Severus' rise to power featured several wars and usurpers, and Birley tells the story well. Birley is generally sympathetic towards his subject, but never unduly so.

My only problem with the book is that Severus himself seems a bit distance. Birley sometimes speculates a bit too much about Severus and his motives, sometimes to the point of commenting that "if" Severus was in a particular place or knew a particular person, he might have thought "such and such." I understand the temptation given that we know relatively little about Severus.

Overall, this is probably still the best biography of Septimius Severus out there, and a good addition to any library on Roman history.

This biography on Roman Emperor Septimius Severus proves to be quite interesting and very informative. It revealed an Emperor who was not only very able but also quite ruthless. Being the first Emperor from Africa revealed how international the Roman Empire truly was back then. The book provides good material on this Emperor's life, his background and background of where he originated from. Its a must read for anyone who happen to be interested in this subject matter.

However, its not really for casual readers. The writing proves to be bit on the dry side and although the book packed with information, the story doesn't flow as well as it should. It had a dry textbook type of feel to it. If it wasn't for that, the book probably does deserved the five stars that other reviewers have awarded it.

First half of the book focused too much on the geographical and historical background of Severus' hometown, Lepcis Magna. But the second half got into the details of Severus' life (finally), and that made the book so much more enjoyable. Birley could use clearer language at times, but the thoroughness of his research shines through.