The Romans and their World by Brian Campbell

Author:Brian Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-300-11795-0
Publisher: Yale University Press

Changing Relationships

When Septimius Severus set out from Upper Pannonia on the river Danube in 193 AD, it was the first time for 124 years that an army commander had marched on Rome and captured it. This traumatic event conditioned much of what happened subsequently, in that the new ruler had to make sure that he would not be overthrown in a similar fashion. It put a harsh light on the role of the army in politics, which Augustus (who also relied on the army) had been able to cover up to some extent. Severus openly relied on the military, granting a pay rise, allowing soldiers to marry legally, and disbanding the Italian praetorian guard, which he replaced with soldiers from the Danubian legions that had first supported him. The unreliable and corrupt guard probably deserved this fate, but the contemporary historians Dio and Herodian (a Greek from Syria) allege that Severus corrupted military discipline, though this has perhaps been exaggerated. The army fought tough campaigns between 193 and 211 and in a way established a militaristic ambience for his reign. On his deathbed Severus advised his sons to ‘stick together, give the soldiers plenty of money and to hell with the rest ‘.

In other respects of his administration Severus tried to maintain traditional practices, diligently carrying out his responsibilities in legal jurisdiction. But his relationship with the senate was uneven; although he tried to be conciliatory there were executions and confiscations. Particularly embarrassing was the murder of Julius Solon, the senator who had helped to formulate the decree in which Severus promised not to execute any senators (Dio 75.2.2). He may have found it difficult to trust some senators, and indeed the role of the senate and senators was called into question as equites began to creep into more positions normally held by senators. We find them assuming command of the legion Severus stationed in Italy, and of the two in Mesopotamia, where the governor of this new province was of equestrian rank. This was not necessarily sinister or a matter of policy, since it may have been difficult to find a suitable senator to govern Mesopotamia, and once an eques was in place then the legionary commanders had to be equestrian. There were also security concerns in the eastern provinces, which had been the base of Niger, one of Severus's rivals for power, in that there was a large concentration of legions under the control of senators.

It is true that in a relatively small number of cases equites temporarily replaced a senatorial governor, although in general these were emergencies. Nevertheless, these developments do indicate a significant trend in the increasing use of equites, which began before Severus's reign and reached its culmination in the late third century. Furthermore, it is true that instead of emerging from the traditional route of commanding auxiliary units, now more equestrian officials had served as centurions, which might suggest the militarization of government, though it is hard to see a significant upward trend here.

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