Synopsis: Severus confronts Albinus at Lugdunum, then launches a war against the Parthians. At the pinnacle of his power, the oracle of Zeus Belos reveals his family’s fate. “The youth of Severus had been trained in the implicit obedience of the camps, and the riper […]
Tag: Severans
Episode B30 – Mater Castrorum
Synopsis: Severus defeats Niger and wages a limited Eastern campaign. While Julia Domna is hailed as Mother of the Camps, Caracalla’s elevation to Caesar prompts a second civil war. “There used to be an oracle about Hannibal’s death. ‘The soil of Libyssa would cover Hannibal’s […]
Episode B29 – 193
Synopsis: After Pertinax and his successor are killed in the same year, Severus’s claim to the Empire is contested by two rivals. “Pertinax was one of those men to whom no exception can be taken, but he ruled only for an exceedingly brief space of […]
Episode B28 – Bestiarius
Synopsis: Julia Domna marries Septimius Severus and gives birth to Caracalla and Geta. Left behind in Rome with her young children, Julia watches as Commodus re-founds the Empire in his own image. “The effect of Commodus upon the Romans was worse than that of all pestilences and all […]
Episode B27 – Lucifugus
Synopsis: Julia Domna was daughter of the Emesene High Priest, destined to marry a king. Then she met Septimius Severus. “Our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 71 “The primitive Christians perpetually […]