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Septimius Severus, the 'African' Roman Emperor was born in Leptis Magna - and he died at York. Both make him different. The author claims this is a 'memoire', neither a novel nor an academic biography. Written in the first person as the Emperor faces death in remote barbarian Britain, it works well (though the footnote numbers may annoy some and the organization is a little confusing). Severus, a provincial hampered by connections with the hated enemy Hannibal, seized the throne by conquest, then seems to have survived because his efficiency was recognized. Always seeing himself as an outsider, he gives us a fascinating view of the Roman Empire in the neglected Second Century, which the modern author has richly researched. The haughty Syrian Empress, Julia Domma, takes a forceful role - though her scheming lust for power is no match for Livia in I Claudius. Perhaps due to lack of background material, the two sons remain mere ciphers. This is a pity, for the famous family portraits with the head of Geta obliterated after his murder by Caracalla, are an enduring, poignant image from this Roman period. Recognition by Severus of his mistakes and their unavoidable tragic consequence lend a sombre tone to this intriguing book. Review by LINDSEY DAVIS (Kirkus UK)
Book Description
Septimius Severus was one of the most unusual and colourful emperors in the history of the Roman Empire. Born in Leptis Magna in North Africa in ad 146, he pursued a distinguished military career. Hailed as Emperor in ad 193, he brought Rome to the peak of its imperial ambition. Founder of the mighty Severan dynasty of solider-emperors, Septimius Severus, the first true African Roman emperor, died alone and exhausted in the most northerly of Roman provinces, the city of York (Eboracum) in ad 211.
Septimius Severus, the 'African' Roman Emperor was born in Leptis Magna - and he died at York. Both make him different. The author claims this is a 'memoire', neither a novel nor an academic biography. Written in the first person as the Emperor faces death in remote barbarian Britain, it works well (though the footnote numbers may annoy some and the organization is a little confusing). Severus, a provincial hampered by connections with the hated enemy Hannibal, seized the throne by conquest, then seems to have survived because his efficiency was recognized. Always seeing himself as an outsider, he gives us a fascinating view of the Roman Empire in the neglected Second Century, which the modern author has richly researched. The haughty Syrian Empress, Julia Domma, takes a forceful role - though her scheming lust for power is no match for Livia in I Claudius. Perhaps due to lack of background material, the two sons remain mere ciphers. This is a pity, for the famous family portraits with the head of Geta obliterated after his murder by Caracalla, are an enduring, poignant image from this Roman period. Recognition by Severus of his mistakes and their unavoidable tragic consequence lend a sombre tone to this intriguing book. Review by LINDSEY DAVIS (Kirkus UK)
Book Description
Septimius Severus was one of the most unusual and colourful emperors in the history of the Roman Empire. Born in Leptis Magna in North Africa in ad 146, he pursued a distinguished military career. Hailed as Emperor in ad 193, he brought Rome to the peak of its imperial ambition. Founder of the mighty Severan dynasty of solider-emperors, Septimius Severus, the first true African Roman emperor, died alone and exhausted in the most northerly of Roman provinces, the city of York (Eboracum) in ad 211.
In this meticulously researched biography, Yasmine Zahran, a Palestinian scholar and historian of international renown, has adopted the unusual style of writing the Emperor's life story as an autobiography, a first-person memoire dictated from his death-bed. The result is a compelling narrative of an extraordinary man's life and times, which captures the imagination with its immediacy, its objectivity and, above all, its humanity.
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First Sentence
I, Imperator, Caesar, Lucius, Septimius, Severus Pius, Pertinax, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Arabicus, Adiabenicus, Parthicus Maximus, Imperator XI, Consul III, Proconsul, Father of the Country, Holder of the Tribunician Authority XVIII, Defender of the World, Britannicus Maximus, son of the divine Marcus Antoninus Pius, Germanicus, Sarmaticus, brother of the divine Commodus, grandson of the divine Hadrian, lineal descendant of the divine Trajan and the divine Nerva, I, who they call invincible1 and most fortunate of men am nothing but an old cripple, ravaged by disease, lying on a narrow deathbed in a barbarous land of darkness. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I, Imperator, Caesar, Lucius, Septimius, Severus Pius, Pertinax, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Arabicus, Adiabenicus, Parthicus Maximus, Imperator XI, Consul III, Proconsul, Father of the Country, Holder of the Tribunician Authority XVIII, Defender of the World, Britannicus Maximus, son of the divine Marcus Antoninus Pius, Germanicus, Sarmaticus, brother of the divine Commodus, grandson of the divine Hadrian, lineal descendant of the divine Trajan and the divine Nerva, I, who they call invincible1 and most fortunate of men am nothing but an old cripple, ravaged by disease, lying on a narrow deathbed in a barbarous land of darkness. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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