He was of Italian Roman ancestry on his mother's side and of Punic or Libyan-Punic ancestry on his father's. Severus came from a wealthy, distinguished family of equestrian rank. Septimius Severus was born on 11 April 145 at Leptis Magna (in modern Libya), son of Publius Septimius Geta and Fulvia Pia. With the succession of his sons, Severus founded the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the empire before the Crisis of the Third Century. Severus died in 211 at Eboracum, succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta. Late in his reign he fought the Picts in Caledonia and strengthened Hadrian's Wall in Britain. In 202 he campaigned in Africa against the Garamantes, briefly taking their capital Garama and expanding the southern frontier of the empire radically. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus, and Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum.Īfter solidifying his rule, Severus waged a brief war against the Parthian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 197. After deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. As a young man, Severus advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. Lucius Septimius Severus (11 April 145 – 4 February 211), commonly known as Septimius Severus or Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211.

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