Download the northern campaigns of emperor septimius severus – success or

THE NORTHERN CAMPAIGNS OF EMPEROR SEPTIMIUS
SEVERUS – SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
Aim:
To evaluate the degree of success of the Severan campaigns.
RECAP
Severus’ campaigns in Northern Britain had a number of aims. These included:
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Quelling unrest in Northern Britain
Teaching his unruly sons how to control the army and be good emperors
Completing the conquest of Britain (according to Dio Cassius)
Personal prestige – Severus was a military man who wanted a final
victory/swansong
Securing the province.
Clearly, his precise aims in Northern Britain remain open to debate. Nicholas Reed
argues that Severus never intended a permanent occupation of the Highlands, which
lacked the mineral resources to make an occupation economically worthwhile;
Severus’ goal was rather to effect a permanent reoccupation of the more fertile
lowlands of the south and east. He argues that the construction of a major legionary
fortress at Carpow on the Tay suggests that he intended to subdue the troublesome
Caledonii, while reasserting direct Roman control over the Maeatae and reincorporating the fertile lowlands of Fife within the Roman Empire. Fife contained
valuable resources such as coal, salt and particularly grain, and Reed further believes
that Severus may have intended to use the Maeatae as a “buffer state” against the
Caledonians further to the north.
HOW SUCCESSFUL WERE THE SEVERAN INVASIONS?
PRIMARY EVIDENCE
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The natives’ use of guerrilla tactics during the first campaign (AD 209) frustrated
Severus. It appears that the natives had learned from their defeat at Mons
Graupius and were determined to avoid a pitched battle. Herodian records
that there were “frequent encounters and skirmishes with the enemy in which
they were put to flight”, but that their knowledge of the local terrain and their
ability to disappear into the woods and marshes “hampered the Romans and
dragged the war out considerably”.
Dio Cassius also says the terrain in Caledonia was a major obstacle for the
advancing Romans. He claims that Severus experienced “untold difficulties in
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cutting down the forests, levelling the high ground, filling in the swamps, and
bridging the rivers”.
According to Dio, the natives’ use of guerrilla tactics and ambushes led to the
deaths of 50,000 Roman soldiers.
Dio states that Severus “neared the furthest point of the island” – i.e. the Roman
forces penetrated far into northern Scotland.
Dio claims that after the first campaign (AD 209), Severus “forced the Britons to
come to terms whereby they ceded a large sector of their land”. This may
suggest that Fife was re-occupied by the Romans at this time.
Dio observes that “the inhabitants of the island rose again in rebellion” in AD
210 following Severus’ withdrawal to Eboracum/York at the end of the first
campaign. This may imply that the Maeatae were unwilling to accept a
permanent Roman occupation of their territory.
According to Dio, Severus’ campaign of “total destruction”/genocide against
the rebellious Maeatae appears to have provoked the Caledonii into joining
them in revolt.
Herodian is more complimentary about Severus than Dio. He claims that when
Severus died at York in February 211, he “passed away after a life more
distinguished in military terms than any previous emperor. No one before him
had won so many victories either in civil wars against rivals or in foreign wars
against barbarians.”
Herodian claims that Severus left the army and the Empire in good health:
“After a reign of 18 years he made way for his young sons to succeed, leaving
them greater wealth than anyone before and an irresistible army.”
Roman coins certainly record that Severus (and Caracalla) won victories in
Britain - numismatic evidence shows that Severus claimed the title Britannicus
(conqueror of Britain).
Later Roman writers, and the 8th century Northumbrian monk Bede, (mistakenly)
credited Severus with building the Antonine Wall. Archaeological evidence
may suggest that the Antonine frontier was briefly reoccupied under Severus –
but such claims remain highly contentious.
Caracalla promptly abandoned the conquests in the north and returned to
Rome with his brother Geta, to claim the imperial throne. Dio records that “He
made peace with the enemy, withdrew from their territory, and abandoned
the forts.” Herodian agrees that Caracalla “came to terms with the barbarians,
granting them peace in return for pledges of good faith”.
SECONDARY SOURCES
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The Maeatae appear to have allowed Severus to advance unopposed
through their territory in AD 209. However, the fact that they subsequently rose
in revolt may suggest a poor handling of the diplomatic situation on Severus’
part. The Caledonii also broke the treaties they made with Severus at the end
of the first campaign.
Nicholas Reed observes that Severus’ “brutal policy” towards the Maeatae
may have directly influenced the decision of the Caledonii to join them in revolt
in AD 210: “There can be little doubt that this was the reason why they revolted
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as well: they were not going to stand idly by while their fellow countrymen were
being systematically massacred.”
Reed observes that in the short term, Severus’ actions in the north only served
to unite the Caledonii and the Maeatae against Rome, since when he died in
February 211 both tribes were in revolt. He comments that “three years of
campaigning had in practice merely worsened the situation”.
William Hanson and Gordon Maxwell agree that in the short term, Severus’
campaigns “stirred up something of a hornet’s nest” in Northern Britain.
Reed notes that after Caracalla’s withdrawal, “Severus’ attempt to solve the
Scottish problem once and for all was forgotten”. The northern frontier was reestablished at Hadrian’s Wall, where it stayed until the end of the Roman
occupation.
S. Ireland points out that Caracalla’s settlement of the northern frontier appears
to have been successful, and there are no references to trouble in the north for
than 75 years after the Roman withdrawal.
David Breeze notes that there was almost a century of quiet on the northern
frontier after the Severan invasions. This suggests that Severus’ campaigns, and
the treaties made by Caracalla, were successful in securing relative stability in
the north in the long term.
Hanson and Maxwell similarly observe that “an apparently undisturbed age of
tranquillity” followed the Severan invasions.
Severus instructed his governor Senecio to restore the frontier on Hadrian’s Wall.
Epigraphic evidence (inscriptions) confirm that in the early 3 rd century
rebuilding took place in forts such as Birdoswald, Chesters and Housesteads, as
well as northerly outposts forts such as Risingham. This strengthened the
northern frontier against further barbarian invasions.
Dio’s figures on Roman casualties are clearly exaggerated; Severus’ forces in
total would have numbered around 30,000 troops according to Reed, and
Lawrence Keppie estimates the figure at around 40,000.
Severus died without really gaining the victory he had hoped for – his “swan
song”. (Herodian claims that he died “worn out for the most part by grief”.) He
was planning a further invasion when he died at York in February 211.
The location of Severan marching camps confirms that the Romans
penetrated far into northern Scotland at this time – certainly into
Aberdeenshire, and possibly as far as Moray.
Territory was ceded and treaties were signed following Severus’ first invasion in
AD 209. However, these agreements were quickly broken and any territory
gained was promptly lost.
If Severus intended a permanent occupation of Scotland – or even merely
southern Scotland and Fife, as seems most likely – his invasions cannot be
considered to have been successful in achieving this aim. Hanson and Maxwell
believe that all the main Severan forts, including Carpow, Cramond and
possibly Newstead, were abandoned c. AD 215.
Breeze nonetheless observes that the Romans were able to maintain closer
control over southern Scotland after the Severan period through the
occupation of outpost forts such as Risingham and Netherby. He even claims
that it is possible that a fort as far north as Cramond on the Forth may have
continued to be occupied until AD 222 – 235.
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Hanson and Maxwell also note that the use of reconnaissance units –
exploratores – helped maintain the peace in southern Scotland after the
Severan withdrawal.
The fact that there was a lasting peace on the northern frontier after Severus’
withdrawal suggests that Severus’ punitive campaign of “genocide” (Colin
Martin) was successful in the long term.
The Severan campaigns, and the agreements which followed them, were
ultimately successful in their aim of restoring order in Northern Britain following
a period of unrest.
Sheppard Frere argues that it was never Severus’ aim to conquer Scotland,
rather to punish the rebellious northern tribes and restore order. He argues that
Dio and Herodian both portray the campaigns in a negative light due to their
personal dislike of Severus. “Certainly the picture of expensive failure painted
by the historians is belied by the subsequent history of the frontier…. In the
event both Caledonians and Maeatae learnt their lesson and the British frontier
remained at peace until 296.”
Frere points out that Caracalla and Geta clearly did not return directly to Rome
after Severus’ death as Dio claims, and that numismatic evidence (coins) from
AD 212 continue to record their victory. He claims that “Dio’s hostility has
suppressed a further campaign in 211 which brought the war to a conclusion”.
Severus succeeded in securing the throne for his sons. They ruled as joint
emperors briefly before Caracalla murdered his younger brother Geta; he
subsequently ruled as sole emperor between AD 211 – 217, until he too was
deposed and murdered.
TASKS
1. Complete the following table:
SEVERAN FAILURES
SEVERAN SUCCESSES
2. Which of his supposed aims was Severus most successful in achieving?
Explain why.
3. Which of his supposed aims was Severus least successful in achieving?
Explain why.
4. Overall, were the Severan campaigns a success or a failure? Consider their
impact in both the short- and long-term.