In this, the only biography of Septimius Severus in English, Anthony R. Birley explors how 'Roman' or otherwise this man was and examines his remarkable background and career. Severus was descended from Phoenician settlers in Tripolitania, and his reign, AD 193-211, represents a key point in Roman history. Birley explores what was African and what was Roman in Septimius' background, given that he came from an African city. He asks whether Septimius was a 'typical cosmopolitan bureaucrat', a 'new Hannibal on the throne of Caesar' or 'principle author of the decline of the Roman Empire'?

Anthony R. Birley is Professor of Ancient History at Heinrich Heine University, Dusseldorf. He was previously Professor of Ancient History at Manchester University. His previous books include three on Roman Britain as well as biographies of Marcus Aurelius and Hadrian.

List of Illustrations, Preface, 1. The Emoria, 2. Lepcis Magna: From Free State to Colonia, 3. Life in Roman Tripolitania, 4. The Broad stripe, 5. Into the Emperor's Service, 6. A Caesar Born to the Purple, 7. The Great Marshall, 8. Julia Domna, 9. The Conspirators, 10. The Year 193, 11. The War Against Niger, 12. The War Against Albinus, 13. Parthia and Egypt, 14. Return to Africa, 15. The Years in Italy, 16. Expiditio Felicissima Brittanica, 17. Aftermath and Assessment.