Septimius Severus
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
4.7 • 13.7K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2023
⏱️ 41 minutes
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Summary
Given his incredible career, you'd perhaps expect the name of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus to be better known. Born in North Africa in 145AD, he rose to power after distinguishing himself as a military commander at a time of great instability in the Roman Empire. Finally bringing the Year of the Five Emperors to an end, Severus was in power for nearly two decades - so how did he end up perishing in York?
In this episode, Tristan welcomes back author (and Severus' unofficial 21st Century biographer) Dr Simon Elliot. Together, they explore the life and legacy of Septimius Severus - looking at his impact on the history of Ancient Rome, as well as the bloody events surrounding his campaign in Scotland, and asking how one of the most powerful men in the world was eventually brought down.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Ancients on History Hit. |
| 0:11.1 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and in today's episode, while we're talking about an absolutely |
| 0:16.3 | brutal, terrible figure, a warrior emperor of ancient Rome, a man who reigned in the late |
| 0:25.2 | second and early third centuries AD, who also proved one of the most significant Roman |
| 0:32.0 | emperors to, who also originated from North Africa and died in New York. |
| 0:37.7 | His name was Septimius Severus, and in today's episode, we've got a fan favorite of the |
| 0:45.1 | ancients returning to tell Severus' story. |
| 0:48.9 | He is Septimius Severus' 21st century biographer. |
| 0:53.7 | It's none other than Dr Simon Elliott. |
| 0:57.2 | Simon's been on the pod before, as I've mentioned, he's talked through topics on Roman history |
| 1:01.3 | varying from Carousius, the pirate king to the mystery, and the many theories behind |
| 1:07.8 | what happened to Legion IX, hispanic, to Rome's ninth legion. |
| 1:12.6 | But now Simon is back to talk through the story of Septimius Severus, one of his favorite |
| 1:17.9 | figures from ancient Roman history. |
| 1:20.2 | And as you're going to hear, the story of Severus, well it very much is an ancient game |
| 1:25.0 | of thrones. |
| 1:26.0 | It is brutal. |
| 1:27.8 | It is bloody, but it is also really extraordinary. |
| 1:32.2 | And no doubt you're going to love it. |
| 1:34.4 | So without further ado, to talk through the story of Septimius Severus, he is Simon. |
| 1:43.7 | Simon, you'd have your back on the podcast, my friend. |
| 1:45.9 | Tristan, it only seems like yesterday when I was recording another podcast with you, so |
... |
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