A detailed account of Severus’ reign with particular emphasis on his military campaigns against the Parthians and the Garamantes in North Africa. The assassination of Emperor Commodus in 192 sparked a civil war. Septimius Severus emerged as the eventual victor and his dynasty (the Severans) ruled until 235. He fought numerous campaigns, against both internal rivals and external enemies, extending the Empire to the east (adding Mesopotamia), the south (in Africa) and the north (beyond Hadrian’s Wall). The military aspects of his reign, including his reforms of the army, are the main focus of this new study. After discussing his early career and governorship of Pannonia, Michael Sage narrates his war with Pescennius Niger, the siege of Byzantium, and the campaign in northern Mesopotamia that added it as a province. The much more difficult campaign against Clodius Albinus in Gaul is also studied in detail, as is that in North Africa. The narrative concludes with an account of the last campaign in Britain and Severus’ death. The final chapters analyze Septimius’ reforms of the army and assess their impact on events of the next seventy years until the accession of Diocletian. His greatest weakness was his love for his family. Like Marcus Aurelius he loved his children too much. They failed to maintain what he had bequeathed them. “Sage performs a masterful job putting Severus into a broad strategic overview of the times.” —The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society “Highly recommended to fans of the Roman Empire, and of the Roman Military, old and new alike. It is easily accessible and well written, and it features research of the highest quality.” —Ancient Warfare

This classic work of scholarship scrutinizes all aspects of Roman military forces throughout the Roman Empire, in Europe, North Africa, and the Near and Middle East. Graham Webster describes the Roman army’s composition, frontier systems, camps and forts, activities in the field (including battle tactics, signaling, and medical services), and peacetime duties, as well as the army’s overall influence in the Empire. First published in 1969, the work is corrected and expanded in this third edition, which includes new information from excavations and the finding of contemporary scholars. Hugh Elton provides an introduction surveying scholarship on the Roman army since the last edition of 1985.

The assassination of Emperor Commodus in 192 sparked a civil war. Septimius Severus emerged as the eventual victor and his dynasty (the Severans) ruled until 235. He fought numerous campaigns, against both internal rivals and external enemies, extending the Empire to the east (adding Mesopotamia), the south (in Africa) and the north (beyond Hadrian's Wall). The military aspects of his reign, including his reforms of the army, are the main focus of this new study.After discussing his early career and governorship of Pannonia, Michael Sage narrates his war with Pescennius Niger, the siege of Byzantium, and the campaign in northern Mesopotamia that added it as a province. The much more difficult campaign against Clodius Albinus in Gaul is also studied in detail, as is that in North Africa. The narrative concludes with an account of the last campaign in Britain and Severus' death. The final chapters analyze Septimius' reforms of the army and assess their impact on events of the next seventy years until the accession of Diocletian.His greatest weakness was his love for his family. Like Marcus Aurelius he loved his children too much. They failed to maintain what he had bequeathed them.

This book explores how Greek authors who witnessed sudden political change reacted by re-imagining the larger narrative of the Roman past.

The disastrous reign of the Emperor Commodus, which saw a great expansion of the power of the emperor, eventually resulted in his asassination, but also in a civil war, which was as revolutionary as that of 69. Though the original assassination had been in the name of a restoration of the authority of the Senate - the program of Pertinax and his supporters - the victory of Septimius Severus established a murderous autocracy, which degenerated into incompetence under his successors. It also set up a continuous tension within the government between imperial and senatorial powers and authority. The weakness of the imperial power after Caracalla was emphasised by the assassination of all emperors between 217 and 238; it also produced an increase in warfare on all frontiers from Syria to Britannia. In the later years of Alexander Severus the Senate began to recover its authority, thanks to the emperor's long absences from Rome in the east and in Germany. His frontier policy displeased the army, however, and his assassination produced the Emperor Maximinus. The recovery of the Senate was immediately stopped in its tracks and Maximinus disdained all authority apart from his own. This was a classic prerevolutionary situation, and the reaction amongst the senators was the revolution of 238, sparked by trouble in Africa under the Gordians, but also producing another civil war and the deaths of several emperors. The authority of the Senate was enhanced by the senatorial victory but in in the end the Senate proved unable to defend the empire, and the contest between imperial and senatorial power continued until the 260s when in effect Gallienus returned to imperial autocracy. This marked the end of real senatorial power, and the empire as an autocracy was finally established.

In this book, Sara Phang explores the ideals and realities of Roman military discipline, which regulated the behaviour of soldiers in combat and their punishment, as well as economic aspects of their service, including compensation and other benefits, work and consumption. This thematically-organized study analyzes these aspects of discipline, using both literary and documentary sources. Phang emphasizes social and cultural conflicts in the Roman army. Contrary to the impression that Roman emperors 'bought' their soldiers and indulged them, discipline restrained such behaviour and legitimized and stabilized the imperial power. Phang argues that emperors and aristocratic commanders gained prestige from imposing discipline, while displaying leadership in person and a willingness to compromise with a restive soldiery.

In the closing years of the second century B.C., the ancient world watched as the Roman armies maintained clear superiority over all they surveyed. But, social turmoil prevailed at the heart of her territories, led by an increasing number of dispossessed farmers, too little manpower for the army, and an inevitable conflict with the allies who had fought side by side with the Romans to establish Roman dominion. Storming the Heavens looks at this dramatic history from a variety of angles. What changed most radically, Santosuosso argues, was the behavior of soldiers in the Roman armies. The troops became the enemies within, their pillage and slaughter of fellow citizens indiscriminate, their loyalty not to the Republic but to their leaders, as long as they were ample providers of booty. By opening the military ranks to all, the new army abandoned its role as depository of the values of the upper classes and the propertied. Instead, it became an institution of the poor and drain on the power of the Empire. Santosuosso also investigates other topics, such as the monopoly of military power in the hands of a few, the connection between the armed forces and the cherished values of the state, the manipulation of the lower classes so that they would accept the view of life, control, and power dictated by the oligarchy, and the subjugation and dehumanization of subject peoples, whether they be Gauls, Britons, Germans, Africans, or even the Romans themselves.