Septimius Severus: the African Emperor by Anthony R. Birley
Severus was descended from Phoenician settlers in Tripolitania, and his reign, AD 193-211, represents a key point in Roman history. He asks whether Septimius was a ‘typical cosmopolitan bureaucrat’, a ‘new Hannibal on the throne of Caesar’ or ‘principal author of the decline of the Roman Empire’?.
Septimius Severus The African Emperor Anthony Birley Ancient Rome Yale HC Rev Ed
Long the standard English-language life of its subject, Anthony R. Birley’s biography follows Septimius Severus from his origins among the Punic-descended families of Lepcis Magna in Roman North Africa to the throne he held from AD 193 to 211.