Today we are going back into the history hit archive once more and for me this one is

a real treat because in my opinion this is one of the most extraordinary campaigns in Roman

military history. At the start of the third century AD a Roman Emperor came to Britain

at the head of a huge army and navy. The Emperor's name was Septimius Severus, the African

Emperor and he came to Britain to launch a couple of campaigns north of Hadrian's wall

against some troublesome tribes situated in what is now central Scotland. And in today's

podcast Dan Snow is joined by the one and only Simon Elliott, the author of a book all

about Septimius Severus in Scotland to talk through these campaigns.

Simon thanks going back on the podcast. Now you have got a forgotten towering figure

of British but also world history to talk about this time. Tell me about him.

Well this is a Septimius Severus so let me give a bit of perspective first Dan. Septimius

Severus was one of the great warrior empress who hacked his way to power in AD193 and

in so doing this is the year of the five empress he fought off all challenges and then

boxed on successful wars of conquest in the east where he fought the Parthians and

other Eastons. He actually sacked the Parthian capital which very few Roman empress did

and he campaigned in Africa where he was a native because he was born in the blistering

heat of an North African summit to one of the richest families in the empire. Punicorogen

served his forebears of fear nations and he died in the freezing cold of the Yorkshire

Inter in AD211 which as I always say was the Wild West of the Roman Empire if you're

in the north of Britain this never conquered part of the Roman Empire where they were

struggled. But what the reason he was there was to actually try and do the last major attempt

to conquer Scotland when he took 57,000 men in AD29 and AD210 in two campaigns to try

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