Septimius Severus: The Roman Emperor Who Invaded Scotland | Britain's African Emperor | Timeline

[Music] North Britain about 2,000 years [Music] ago the Romans ruled most of Europe but not here [Applause] [Music] scattered groups from all over North Britain rose up against the Roman Empire [Music] the emperor they defied was Septimus Severus he was an African now is the moment to steal Rome's Throne he had waited Through Blood let's put our faith in our strength and arm arms and occupy [Applause] run seirus came to Britain with the largest Invasion Army the island had ever seen he was determined to succeed where other Emperors had failed to unify all Britain under Roman rule it would be the fight of his life and a war that would change Britain forever [Music] in the center of Rome are the relics from the time when this city was the capital of the world's only superpower the triumphal arch of the emperor Septimus seirus was built in the very early 3rd Century it describes the victories of sever in stone and glorifies the man as a living God but he was not Roman Emperor by Birthright he was an outsider who forced his way onto the [Music] throne in 193 ad severus's predecessor as Emperor was assassinated by his own Bodyguard the pretorians seirus was then military governor of a Roman province in Central Europe just like you I loved and revered the emperor and now the petorian who were supposed to protect him they have killed him at 48 seirus was already one of the most influential men in the Empire Rome must be protected from these murderers now he made a play for Rome's throne even though he was an [Music] African the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic to the Middle East from Britain to North Africa [Music] seirus had been born in Libya in lepus Magna one of the jewels of the Empire his family were oil magnets in their case it was olive [Music] oil at its spectacular theater young seirus would have been enthralled by the legends of Rome in the streets he'd rubed shoulders with other wealthy Africans who had also been big players in Rome in Rome money bought power wherever you came from by the lifetime of Septimus uh Rome has been the major power in the Mediterranean and beyond for about 200 300 years and the way that the Empire has survived and perpetuated itself is by giving provincials a stake in the administration of Rome so that Senators have increasingly come Beyond Rome Beyond Italy and the family of Severus is one of these seirus had hungered for success in Rome he had used his inherited wealth to buy his way almost to the top of Rome's ruling class but until Severus no African had been [Music] Emperor the career of Severus can be traced through archaeological evidence it's also described in detail in surviving written sources one Roman Chronicle was based on severus's now lost autobiography another was written by someone who clearly knew him well these Roman sources revealed the ruthless cunning in the rise to power of the African [Music] Emperor after the murder of the previous Emperor seirus seized on the treachery of the petorian as an excuse he pretended that he did not seek power for his own sake but only wished to avenge the emperor they believed him when he had his officers in his hands seus spoke to the [Music] Troops what have we to fear [Music] the pretorians those luxury loving sots wouldn't face your Battle Cry much less your battle line you're used to hard living to heat and cold the campaign is the true chest of the soldier not easy living at Rome so let's put our faith in our strength and arms and and occupy [Applause] R now seirus could at last enjoy his dream of Glory in a dream I saw myself suckling of a wolf like Remis and Rome the founders of Rome [Music] having declared himself Emperor seus moved on Rome with utmost haste Can you feel it we are the kind of men the world cannot [Music] hold in just 40 days Severus and his men marched 600 miles from Vienna across the Alps to Rome his arrival was so sudden it took the petorian by surprise they could do nothing to stop him the defenseless senate had to Proclaim Severus Emperor The Outsider was now the most powerful man in the world after taking the throne seirus prowled his Empire for over a decade crushing rebellions and securing the Frontiers he marked out his territory Severus is an upstart he is a provincial he has no real Imperial pedigree and so he is concerned to um win glory for himself and thereby establish himself as a a Great Hero in the broad tradition of Roman history in the early 3rd Century seirus had been on the throne 15 years at last his Empire was Secure but then a new Insurgency erupted on his Northern [Applause] Frontier [Music] [Music] [Music] seus received dispatches from his governor in Britain that The Barbarians there were in Revolt looting and plundering along the frontier the emperor's presence was requested [Music] in 208 seirus crossed the sea to the province Rome called britania for an emperor in search of Glory this remote island was The Ultimate Prize at that time most of England was a centuries old Roman civilization of Villas and Vineyard yards underfloor Heating and brothel but Adrian's wall built almost a century earlier still marked the northern limit of Roman Britain it snake to cross the hills all the way from the North Sea to the Irish sea splitting the island in two no Roman Commander not even Julius Caesar had completely subjugated the Barbarian lands to the North Britain has always been a fabulous land full of savages to the Ran's barely believable Place uh that's why Caesar comes originally and even once the province of Britannia has been founded and secured uh there is a yearning to go further and to secure the entire Island Severa coming here is consciously taking on a challenge that has defeated his predecessors Glory loving by Nature Severus wished to add to his triumphs with victory over the barbarians of North Britain but seirus was getting old he'd been 48 when he took the throne now he was 63 the man who earlier strowed into Rome could now barely stand up his mind was already occupied with his succession this portrait of Severus and his family is one of the very few paintings to have survived from classical Antiquity caraca the Elder son of seirus is shown as the chosen Heir gaca was said to be extremely fond of the luxuries of Rome but in 208 ad he was forced to accompany his father to Britain and they say the north Britain's a Savages that they endure every kind of hardship that they can survive for days in a swamp with only their heads above water an emperor must go where his Empire needs him but father you barely walk what will you do have yourself carried into bath on a chair seirus was a superstitious man it was said that he'd seen the end of his life written in the stars and believ that he would not return from Britain but the glory to be won here would help secure his legacy and his African Dynasty so Severus had to conquer Britain even if it killed him discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and AdFree podcasts presented by world-renowned historians all from history hit watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device download the app now to explore everything from the wonders of ancient Pompei and the Mystery of the princess in the tower to the life of Anne Belin and D-Day sign up via the link in the [Music] description 2,000 years ago North Britain was Rome's violent Frontier so in 209 a Roman army marched into Scotland to conquer it and unify the whole island under Roman [Music] rule in command was Septimus seirus an African who had become emperor of Rome crippled by age seirus was carried North riding alongside was his sun and air caraca they say they're at the extremity of the island the summer nights are so short there's scarcely a break between clo and return of day we'll see for ourselves soon [Music] enough ahead of them lay an unknown land of Bleak mountains and thick forest soome entered these bad lands with overwhelming Force 2,000 years after seus marched across North Britain archaeologists are still discovering evidence of his huge Army each night in enemy territory a Roman army always built a fortified camp and traces of them can still be seen from the air a Archaeology is the best technique for discovering the remains of the camps which they stay in overnight whilst they were well overnight for several weeks potentially as they were marching through the country so the third Peak if we scoot around that and come back and then we'll have a look the Roman site that we're about to see is known as trimontium and of course we've got the Three Hills here so that's where the name comes from trimontium was just over 50 Mi north of Hadrian's Wall Just 4 days March for Roman soldier can you see the lighter brown Mark in that field the field that's got the row of trees running through it yes that is the camp that is fantastic this pale line on the ground was once a trench dug around a marching Camp it is evidence of the vast size of the severan army there was space for the troops the supply train and the Imperial household around the outer row of tents was a 60 M Gap then a palisade then a trench dug so deep that it's still visible today the size of the severan marching camps proves this was an immense Army that's a huge Invasion force that camp is round about 170 ACR in size it's just enormous and it's the biggest one in Scotland and the biggest one anywhere in the Roman Empire that we know [Music] of aerial Archaeology is not the only way to find evidence of the sheer size of severus's British [Music] campaign the emperor was at the head of one of the largest Invasion forces of the Roman Empire ever mobilized it needed massive logistical support [Music] Monumental remains of its military supply chain can still be found in Northern Britain today South Shields a few miles east of Newcastle 1800 years ago this housing estate was a strategic Outpost of the Roman Empire here stood the Supply Depot of AR there were 24 cavernous warehouses all stored mostly grain the fuel of the Roman [Music] army the warehouses were built for The severan Invasion and his personal luggage tags have been found in these remains this small lead casting sealed the cargo of Severus here he is with his trademark spiky beard this seal shows seirus with his son [Music] caraca at ARA seirus could store 3 and 1 12,000 tons of grain enough to feed an army 40,000 strong the hill of trap rain law looms over the plains of Lan Scotland archaeological digs have identified that North Britain's lived here during The severan Invasion the Britain here would have had a bewildering view in the summer of 209 ad standing here looking towards the Southwest we would have seen an army of 40,000 Roman troops the largest army ever assembled in Britain coming over those Hills what they're seeing is a mobilization of Manpower on a a scale I never have experienced or imagined before the British had no vast Army of their own to confront the severan Juggernaut head on but they did fight back with Guerilla tactics any army is vulnerable in detail when it's patrolling around the edges it scouts out of the front or its wagon trains coming up behind uh constantly supplying along extended Road lines if you think about the problems that armies have today against insurgencies whether it's in Jungle or Mountain you can get some idea of what the Romans were dealing with in this part of the world in the early 3rd Century ad 2,000 years ago British gorillas came out of nowhere and rode down upon the severan [Music] Army the Britain's attacked from chariots pulled by small Swift horses isolated patrols were taken by [Music] surprise [Applause] and it was easy for the Northerners to slip away they just disappeared in the woods and marshes they knew so well in this way Severus lost thousands of men there must have been a sense of frustration uh but that was one of only a range of pressures on Severus himself at the time remember of course he is critically ill he's been carried around in a palanquin effectively uh which is not the best way to campaign actively so this is not a man who sleeps easily at night for any reason a messy irregular war was giving Severus little opportunity to make history that needed a visible and decisive Victory seirus knew this well it was how he rose to power in the first place 12 years before in the earliest years of his Reign seirus faced Civil War he confronted his rival for the throne at the Battle of lugdunum one of the largest and bloodiest pitched battles in the history of [Music] Rome 150,000 legionaries fought that day seus was in the front line rorian with me terrible indeed was the loss of life among the army of Severus for [Music] for the rebels thought the day was theirs then seirus led a powerful Counterattack soldiers of Rome now is the [Music] moment the rebels ran the men of Severus pursued them and slaughtered them the emperor thus won a magnificent [Music] Victory 12 years later seirus was marching through Scotland seeking another clearcut military Victory but his army was engaged in a grueling Guerilla War what the Romans like to do is to get an enemy in this particular Point attack it and wipe it out this is what enemy are supposed to do those who don't are essentially seen as [Music] cheats but Cirus was cunning his invasion Force came from all over the Empire within its ranks were men with fighting skills well adapted to Guerilla [Music] War the northern part of Britain was one of the most Multicultural parts of the Roman Empire as it stood already on Hadrian's Wall we have Syrian archers we have Spanish Cavalry we have regiments from all over the know Empire what Septimus Severus does is he brings extra soldiers even more soldiers into the mix from other parts of the Empire and this is very clearly seen through the types of material culture which they leave behind these round houses are an extension of the Roman Fortress of vindolanda built in the San period but the roundhouses cannot be Roman Roman buildings were always Square archaeologist Andrew Burley believes the vindolanda roundhouses provide proof that Severus was deploying Special Forces from Africa constructed in the severan period you can see the walls curving round with a nice little door into the building here because we don't have roundhouses if you will or circular inside any other Roman Fort anywhere in Roman Britain or any other part of the empire for that matter these suggest that we've got very particular people living here one Theory which we prefer at vinder Landa is that what we're looking at here is a settlement that's been built for a regular North African Cavalry now back in Libya they still live in their old houses like this round houses the local architecture looks like this and there's enough space between the different rows of buildings for them to tether their horses these guys who live on the edge of the desert who would be very very familiar uh to septimia SAS he'd know these people very very well from his time in leus Magna coming across to do a very specific job experts at Guerilla Warfare fighting up in Scotland there there yes that's a Roman [Music] for after a few months of marching seirus and his army were at the foot of the Scottish Highlands and the fort of Ard do we're looking at the Roman Fort of Ard do here where we can actually see the the surviving remains of one of what we believe is severus's camps you can see a a section of the ditch and a section of the rampart of the camp that was built plus also one of the distinctive gateways and another little ditch outside which is it to protect the Gateway [Music] logistical superiority and special forces were giving the Romans security but seirus was also insulated from useful contact with North Britains that would help him to understand his enemy there is a long history of Empire stumbling into areas they don't really understand in politics they don't really understand um you know we can find Parallels for that in many modern conflicts and it's true in the ancient world as well they come into societies that are already complex and already interacting in various ways and they try to interfere with that and that interference ends up creating an enemy far worse than what they originally came to deal [Music] with ,000 years ago leus Magna in what is now Libya was one of the great cities of the world Septimus Severus Britain's African Emperor had grown up here but in late 209 ad Cirus was very far away from this Mediterranean good life he was at the head of an army 40,000 strong approaching the Scottish Highlands in this Windswept Backwater there were no cities not even a paved Street the North Britain were scattered across their land in small independent communities to the Romans this was a country of Barbarians in North Britain the sky is obscured by Perpetual rain the cold is severe but the barbarians there are strangers to clothing they are extremely Savage and fond of [Music] plunder 2,000 years ago the people here had no written language so there are no surviving British Chronicles to contradict what the Romans wrote but the truth is being Unearthed at Bernie on the Moray F there is a remarkable archaeological record of Scotland's Lost Civilization this is no isolated Backwater these are no barbarians except in Roman eyes we've got evidence of some 20 or so houses here the dark spread you're looking at set into the the sand and that natural sand is the curve of a roundhouse you can see the line of the wall coming around defined by these black spreads the walls here are made of turf the roof is also clearly made of turf so you got to imagine these massive green Mounds or green cones which you'd see on this kind of scale for a considerable distance but North British settlements were not acknowledged by the Romans marching through here the Britain's toughed homes were not even recognized as houses the British have no houses nor walls and they eat only Wild game and certain fruits the forests are their cities and as seirus mared through North Britain he fought no battle not even did he see his enemy in battle array [Music] what is that an animal this is a carnic a 2,000-year-old Scottish trumpet the remains of one were found in a Pete Bo when I stand next to it it's happening now this very moment I'm shivering at the the thought of actually touching what somebody did 2,000 years ago what these people have done is to construct a musical instrument which is more sophisticated than anything that the Roman culture produced in this family and this is without question the Romans never produced anything as complex as this this is as close a Recon construction of the original artifact as we can possibly [Music] manage here now you can see a tongue actually inside the throat and in here a soft pallet which is riged and it's riged because the roof of the mouth of any ruminant animal is also riged in fact our mouths are rided we have that vestigal characteristic still there and in here there's a brain pan a trumpet or a trombone is a megaphone it does that it projects sound forward but your head my head an animal head is a resonating chamber and the sound comes out all around this is a very powerful instrument you can play it very very very loud but not all the sound shoots forward it goes forward backward down up all around now no other wind instrument does [Music] that this is no land of bogs swamps and barbarians you know this is these are um sophisticated intelligent people who are very much adapted to the landscape who able to construct complex houses who able to conduct a whole range of craft activities the Roman picture is a highly biased one the Romans had strong motives to dismiss the culture of their enemies and to call the north British barbarians it was making it less troubling to slaughter them these are hairy Savages who don't have cities who don't have central heating um they are Grist to um the mill of the Roman military machine they exist to be slaughtered thereby winning glory for the general who performs the slaughter you don't get an omelet without breaking eggs you don't become a glorious Roman Emperor without slaughtering a few barbarians that is taken for granted the killing of the British wouldn't be indiscriminate in the Roman Empire the hunt for Glory was brutal but there were rules Severus swon the throne playing by the rules over a decade before at the very start of his Reign severus's grip on power had been weak an aristocrat called albinus claimed he was fitter to rule than the African Outsider at first seus pretended to be friendly but good relations didn't last this triggered the Civil War that Severus settled at the great battle of luk duno [Applause] seus utterly defeated the army of his rival the men of Severus caught albinus they cut off his head and offered it to [Music] Severus send it to Rome with the head of albinus seirus made his Reign secure in accepted Roman [Music] fashion 12 years later the African Emperor was in Scotland hunting for an army to do battle with and most of all a king to kill what the Romans like is an enemy that they can decapitate they can get rid of the leader move in take over Lock Stock and Barrel an entire Kingdom according to Roman records Severus and his 40,000 reached the coast sometime in late 209 but archaeologists believe that he was not at the far north of Scotland Severus had veered East it was somewhere near modern-day abine s was in the wrong place hundreds of miles inside enemy territory with the sea at his back and a northern winter closing in he still hadn't fought a decisive battle and he hadn't found an enemy British leader to be hit severus's problem was that North Britain had no king no individual here had Authority that spread beyond their particular patch the people can have connections with the folk down the the next next Village or the folk over the hills this involves trade connections Blood Ties kin connections marriage connections and so on it doesn't mean that one is more powerful than the other or if they are it doesn't mean that lasts the Romans expected their order would defeat Barbarian chaos but the cell-like social structure in Scotland was proving tough to break down you can't just win in one big battle you can't just you know control the king control the leader and you control everything here there's a king or a leader every 10 miles how do you know that you have won how do you know that you've conquered how do you make it pay in late 209 Cirus began looking for an exit strategy from North Britain he couldn't just skull home Rome was a predatory Society a defeated Emperor was a dead one in 209 ad 40,000 Romans marched to the foot of the Scottish Highlands in command was the emperor Cirus he meant to go down in history as the man who unified Britain under Roman rule but seirus was weakening and his son caraca was getting impatient for his own Reign caraca considered his father a burdensome Nuance but father you barely walk what will you do have yourself carried into battle on a chair caraca showed he thought his father slow to die but Severus did caraca no harm the Roman chroniclers thought love for his son clouded the old man's judgment but there was a ruthless logic behind severus's [Music] leniency the African Emperor saw himself as the founder of a dynasty so what did it matter if winning Glory killed him but his son had to survive to [Music] rule by late 209 after many months in Scotland seirus had fought no great battle nor even hit upon a king so instead he rounded up some Britain who could be described as Chieftain and who were prepared to admit defeat but as seirus was riding into the ceremony to Mark the surrender of North Britain terrible treachery was unfolding seus though in pain rode forward to meet the Britains accompanied by his son caraca while all were proceeding in silence caraca drew his sword seus did not utter a word but fear of his father kept the youth from going through with the murder and Severus went to the meeting and finished what he had to [Music] do the British admitted defeat and promised to end the Insurgency seirus announced mission accomplished a new coin was Meed denouncing seirus as Victor of Britain it was circulated right across the empire unless you've had a really catastrophic defeat as a Roman Emperor you don't go around facing up to your the fact that maybe you haven't been completely successful um you are the emperor you control the coinage you control the way that news is reported so essentially you can say anything you like and people will probably vaguely believe it so okay so he hasn't conquered the whole of Britain but he can still tell people that he's won a great Victory he can have it stamped on his coins as there um and uh he's not going to turn around and say yes it's been a total disaster um and that happens even to this day you even now you very rarely get politicians going on the news and saying yes I I'm a total shower everything I've done has been a disaster they always try and explain it away and this essentially is I suppose the sort of Roman equivalent of a stammering interview on news night he's not going to admit that he's ballsed it up having made his Hollow boast of unifying Britain Severus was retreating from Scotland but his weakness was now there for all his enemies to see and Severus had glimpsed the twin horrors of failure and treachery that would haunt the end of his [Music] life York was the largest city in Roman occup occupied Northern [Music] England this was where seirus came to lick his wounds after his return from Scotland where the medieval Minster now stands were severus's Imperial headquarters the remains of painted Roman walls can still be seen in the minster's Crypt this was where Severus came to die [Music] from the Stars Severus knew his Doom he saw himself snatched up to the heavens on a jeweled Chariot drawn by Eagles but as seirus was composing himself for his Majestic final Journey his fragile British victory was unraveling the Insurgency was returning to North Britain at their surrender the Britain's promised peace but in their fragmented Society nobody had the authority to impose it to Severus the second Revolt seemed a broken [Music] pledge there are precedents throughout Roman history that where a people have gone back on their word then the legions feel that they have the right to um exercise the most remarkable brutality the same would apply in the bogs and the fields of Scotland adding to that is the fact that by this point seus appears to have been ill he appears to have been haunted by premonitions of Doom he's anxious about the succession he has a lot on his mind from his sick bed seirus ordered Kaka to wreak genocidal revenge on the North British Speaking to caraca seirus quoted the words of the poet Homer don't spare a single one of [Music] them not even the child unborn in its mother's womb let them all perish unmourned and [Music] forgotten but seirus was too ill to enforce this murderous oppression and gacula was more concerned with preparations for his own Reign than with attacking the Britain he never carried out his father's orders [Music] as the first African to become emperor of Rome seirus set out to build a dynasty and he came to Britain to unify the island but as his life was drawing to a close seirus could see that both these dreams of Glory would die with him despite treading step by step through life towards Fortune seus was at the very end a frustrated man I have been everything I have achieved nothing Britain's African Emperor died at York in February 211 ad his son kakula was murdered not long after and the severian dynasty perished with him Rome never marched into Scotland again the division of Britain remained literally set in stone [Music] [Music] oh

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: Ancient British tribes, Ancient battles in Scotland, Ancient history enthusiasts, Ancient history podcasts, Ancient warfare techniques, Hadrian's Wall, Historical research, Military strategies, Roman Britain, Roman Emperor, Roman Empire expansion, Roman army tactics, Roman artifacts, Roman civilization, Roman culture, Roman emperors, Roman history experts, Roman military operations, Roman soldiers in Scotland, Septimius Severus, Timeline - World History Documentaries

Id: oUK8r4-Nwkc

Length: 48min 22sec (2902 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 09 2023