EARLY LIFE

Severus was born in Lepcis Magna (Khoms in present-day Libya). His mother’s family were from Italy and his father’s family, the Septimii, were Punic – descended from Phoenicians who had settled in what is now North Africa. While retaining aspects of Punic cultural traditions, including for example language, like many of the Lepcis elite the family had long been Roman citizens, spoke Latin and were inculcated in Roman culture.

By Severus’ time, members of the family had attained senatorial status – the richest and most powerful elite group in the empire. Severus embarked upon a career in public office in an era when people from North Africa were increasingly influential at the higher echelons of the empire.

Severus’ career was at first routine. He entered the senate in AD 173 during the relatively stable reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and held some of the standard offices of the Roman administration, but no important military commands.

He was eventually made consul – traditionally a position of the highest honour – in AD 190 under Marcus Aurelius’ son and successor, Commodus. He was then appointed to the governorship of the Roman province of Pannonia Superior (now in present-day Eastern Europe), giving him command of a large army. This was a timely appointment, as the dynastic stability of the previous decades was about to be shattered.