Ah they and welcome to Emperor of Rome, a Roman history podcast from Latrobe University.

I'm your host Matt Smith and with me today is Dr.

Caylin Davenport, lecturer in Roman history from Require University.

This is episode L-X, IX.

A man the world could not hold.

Determined to end his time as Emperor on a high note,

Septimia Severus sets his sights on one of the last places in the empire having trouble with the locals.

Britannia, an island that has never completely come under Roman rule.

Here's Kaylin Davenport.

When we're talking about his British campaign what sources can we look at what

literary sources so Cassiusio our 77, also Herodian.

The Historio Augusta is not very good at all,

particularly because it falls into this group

of fourth century sources that ascribe

the building of Hadrian's wall or perhaps the Antonine

wall were not quite sure to Septimius Severus rather than to Hadrian or Antoninus Pius.

And that's a bit of confusion that lasts for many hundreds of years, isn't it?

Yes, because it's in all these fourth century sources, the Historogustra, Eutropius, Aurelius Victor, it's picked up by later authors such as Erosius, also Bead as well.

So there's this great tradition that Septimius Severus actually built the wall, not Hadrian or the Antonines.

And that would only be sorted out when archaeologists actually uncovered, for example, the building slabs

would actually attribute it to the correct emperor.

Yeah, and the other source that we worked from this age, from this period, from this event

...