Septimius Severus : Countdown To Death

Born in the province of Leptis Magna in Africa Septimius Severus was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. Once he had reaffirmed his rule over the Western Provinces, Severus waged a brief war in the East against the Parthian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 197 and expanding the eastern frontier to the Tigris. Late in his reign he travelled to Britain, strengthening Hadrian's Wall and and re-occupying the Antonine Wall. In 208 he began the conquest of Caledonia (modern Scotland) but his ambitions were cut short when he fell fatally ill in late 210. With the succession of his sons, Severus founded the Severan Dynasty, the last dynasty of the Empire before the Crisis of the Third Century.