SEVERAL SEPTIMA Lucius Septimius Severus April 9, 193 - Febr - Lot 238

SEVERAL SEPTIMA Lucius Septimius Severus April 9, 193 - February 4, 211 and CARACALLA Septimius Cassanus Pius 211 - 217 IMPP INVICTI PII AVGG. The two busts joined and laurelled on the right. R/ VICTORIA PARTHICA MAXIMA. Victory running left, holding crown and palm. ♦ Cohen 8/250 frs or; RIC 311; Calicó 2597 Aureus struck in Rome in 202-210. (7,31 g) Attractive coinage, wide flan and very rare. A very fine example. Septimius Severus (Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax) was born on April 11, 146 in Libya and died on February 4, 211 in Eboracum, England. After executing the emperor Didius Julianus and fighting his rivals in the Year of the Five Emperors, he took the imperial throne on June 1, 193 until his death in 211. With him came provincials of non-Roman descent and the Severan dynasty, of which he is the eponymous figure. He built a reputation as a good administrator rather than a general. He was able to impose himself by maintaining order and asserting his dynastic principles. He surrounded himself with his children Caracalla (aged 12) and Géta. His relations with the Senate were poor, and he earned the hostility of its members by limiting their power with the support of the army. He ordered the execution of dozens of senators accused of corruption, replacing them with men loyal to his cause, and disbanded the Praetorian Guard, replacing it with a personal guard. During his reign, some 50,000 soldiers camped on the outskirts of Rome. Although his lust for power transformed the Empire into a military dictatorship, Septimius Severus enjoyed a certain popularity thanks to a return to tradition that contrasted with the policies of his predecessor Commodus.