Libius Severus, sometimes enumerated as Severus III, was Western Roman emperor from November 19, 461 to his death on November 14, 465. A native of

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy, corresponding to the modern-day region of Basilicata. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and ...

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...

, ''Chronicle''; '' Chronica Gallica of 511'', 636. Severus was the fourth of the so-called "Shadow Emperors" who followed the deposition of the

Valentinianic dynasty The Valentinian dynasty, commonly known as the Valentinianic dynasty, was a ruling house of five generations of dynasts, including five Roman emperors during late antiquity, lasting nearly a hundred years from the mid fourth to the mid fifth ...

in 455. He ruled for just under four years, attaining the throne after his predecessor,

Majorian Majorian (; 7 August 461) was Western Roman emperor from 457 to 461. A prominent commander in the Late Roman army, Western military, Majorian deposed Avitus in 457 with the aid of his ally Ricimer at the Battle of Placentia (456), Battle of Place ...

, was overthrown by his ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...

'',

Ricimer Ricimer ( , ; – 19 August 472) was a Romanized Germanic general, who ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 456 after defeating Avitus, until his death in 472, with a brief interlude in which he contested power wit ...

. Severus was the first of a series of emperors who were highly dependent on the general, and it is often presumed that Ricimer held most of the '' de facto'' power during Severus' reign Severus' reign was marked by diplomatic tension and an erosion of Rome's control over the non-Italian provinces. Diplomatically, Severus failed to secure the eastern emperor Leo's recognition, and the alliance Majorian had made with

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

king

Gaiseric Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric (; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was king of the Vandals and Alans from 428 to 477. He ruled over a kingdom and played a key role in the decline of the Western Roman Empire during ...

crumbled as the Vandals raided

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

and

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

officials loyal to Majorian refused to submit to Severus' rule, and Northern Italy was invaded by the

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

. Severus remains an extremely obscure figure. The ancient sources are almost completely mute on his life and character. Because of the size of Ricimer's influence, no single imperial action can be definitively attributed to Severus; thus the extent of Ricimer's control over imperial affairs during the reign of Severus remains a point of contention among scholars.

Name

Modern scholars are in agreement that Severus' first two names are ''Libius Severus''. However, in

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

, the interchanging of ''b'' and ''v'' became common, and thus Severus' cognomen is sometimes rendered incorrectly as ''Livius''. In addition to these two names, Severus is sometimes referred to by a third name, ''Serpentius''. The '' Chronicon Paschale'' uses only this name for the emperor, and the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor uses both ''Severus'' and ''Serpentius''. Modern scholars are divided as to the authority of this attribution: some (including the ''PLRE'') say the text is corrupt and its meaning uncertain, while others argue it was a ''signum'' or ''supernomen'' deriving from the word for serpent. Among those who accept the name, its source—whether it is of Eastern or Western origin—is also disputed.

Background

Geopolitical background

By the time of Severus, the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

's governance had been firmly split between two centers of power: one in the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

centered at

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and one in the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

centered at either

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. During the late fourth and early fifth century the East saw a period of relative peace. The West on the other hand underwent a series of invasions, major political upheavals, and losses of important provinces. By the early 460s,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

had been abandoned,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

had been conquered by the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

, and

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

was occupied by the

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

and the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

(who were ''

foederati ''Foederati'' ( ; singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the '' socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign ...

'' of the empire). During this time, in both the Eastern and Western courts,

barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

generals became increasingly influential; at times, these generals' power rivaled even the emperors'. Of these figures, the most prominent in the West were

Stilicho Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...

(under the emperor

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

) and Aëtius (under

Valentinian III Valentinian III (; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the Western Roman Empire, West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful general ...

). After Aëtius' assassination in 454, the western empire entered a downward spiral. Valentinian was deposed, his surviving family was taken captive by

, and the replacement emperor (

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman hi ...

) was killed while Rome was sacked. Out of this political chaos, the ''

and general

were able to quickly seize power. Ricimer was a popular and successful military commander, but because he was of non-Roman origin, he was not an acceptable candidate for emperor in the minds of the Senate and people of Rome. Thus, Majorian became emperor with Ricimer still retaining significant political and military authority. Majorian's reign proved to be an active and healthy one. Recognized by the eastern emperor Leo I, Majorian's reign saw political reform and the strengthening of Roman control over Gaul and Hispania. However, in 461, Ricimer had Majorian killed. Though the ancient sources are almost unanimous on that Majorian was assassinated by Ricimer, it remains unclear why Ricimer carried out this act. One reading suggests that Ricimer wanted absolute power from the outset, and that Majorian proved too independent and capable for Ricimer to effectively control. Whatever his motives, Majorian's death cemented Ricimer as the most powerful man in the Western empire.

Personal background

Almost nothing is known about the person of Severus; perhaps the only definitive piece of personal information that has come down to us, aside from his

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

, is a single line in the Chronica Gallica of 511: "and Severus, from the

n lands, was elevated as emperor and consul." One other source notes that Severus "lived religiously." Modern scholars speculate that he was a high-ranking member of society and very likely a senator. He seems to have spent most of his rule in Rome rather than Ravenna, but whether this was out of personal preference, political expediency, precedent set by Valentinian, or Ricimer's prerogative is unknown.

Reign

After the death of Majorian, a three-month

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

followed, where the title of Western Emperor remained unclaimed. During this interregnum, a political struggle for the succession ensued between

, eastern emperor Leo I, and

, the King of the Vandals. Eventually, however, on 19 November 461, Severus was acclaimed ''

augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

'' by the senate in

Contested legitimacy

Throughout his reign, Severus' legitimacy proved to be a major political issue. Immediately after the death of Majorian, the western court faced three political obstacles: * Gaiseric, after capturing many of the women of Valentinian's family during the sack of Rome in 455, married them to his son

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

and Italian nobleman

Olybrius Anicius Olybrius (died 2 November 472) was Roman emperor from July 472 until his death later that same year; his rule as ''Augustus (title), augustus'' in the western Roman Empire was not recognised as legitimate by the ruling ''augustus'' in t ...

. Olybrius was now one of the senior male members of the Valentinian Dynasty and also Gaiseric's nephew-in-law. After the murder of Majorian, some ancient sources report that Gaiseric began raiding the Italian coast in an attempt to pressure Ricimer to depose Severus and elevate Olybrius. * The eastern emperor Leo refused to recognize Severus, either as an ''augustus'' or as a consul. It seems that the official line in the east was that Severus' rule was invalid—the eastern historians who mention him, namely Marcellinus Comes and

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

, describe him as a usurper of the Western throne. This lack of recognition severely impeded cooperation between the two courts, and requests from the West for ships to relieve the besieged Italian coastlines were rejected. The eastern court did, however, recognize the western-appointed consul of 463, Caecina Decius Basilius, whose appointment some historians characterize as the result of negotiations between the two courts. * Severus' reign was explicitly rejected by the '' magister militum per Gallias'' Aegidius and the semi-autonomous ruler of Illyricum Marcellinus. The revolt of these two commanders, formerly loyal to Majorian, meant the effective loss of two additional western provinces. These problems would persist for the entirety of Severus' reign. Though Ricimer would eventually subdue both Aegidius and Marcellinus, the separation of Dalmacia from the western empire would prove permanent.

Provincial unrest

At the time of the ascension of Severus, Marcellinus, an important military official in Dalmacia, was in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in command of an army of ‘Scythians’—tribesmen (possibly Huns) from beyond the Danube—likely recruited by Marcellinus personally. Marcellinus, closely aligned with the eastern court, seems not to have recognized Severus. The size of the army so close to Italy alarmed Ricimer, who used a combination of political pressure on the eastern court and bribery of the soldiers under Marcellinus' command to force Marcellinus back across the sea: According to two fragments of

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

' History of Byzantium, Ricimer bribed all the soldiers under Marcellinus' command to switch sides, and convinced the eastern court to send a man named Phylarchus to Marcellinus to persuade him not to attack the West. In Gaul, Aegidius, though in revolt against Severus, was unable to cross the Alps as he was tied down defending against the

. Nevertheless, he maintained his independence in the north of Gaul for several years. To oppose Aegidius, Severus (or Ricimer) appointed Agrippinus to the office of ''magister militum per Gallias''. Agrippinus asked for support from the Visigoths, and with their help moved against Aegidius and his Frankish allies, led by King

Childeric I Childeric I (died 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''rex''), both on his Roman-style seal ring, which was buried with him, and in fragm ...

. However, in exchange for their support, in 462 the Visigoths received the city of

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, thus gaining access to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and separating Aegidius from the rest of the empire. After the death of Aegidius, Arvandus was appointed as Praetorian prefect of Gaul in 464. In Northern Italy, there seems to have been an invasion of

under a king named Beorgor. The invasion culminated in the defeat of Beorgor at the Battle of Bergamo on 8 February 464. Little information is preserved about the invasion, but its presence in multiple sources including the '' Fasti Vindobonenses'' indicates that the invasion was a major one.

Conflict with the Vandals

After Severus' ascension,

led the

on a series of raids of the Italian coast. According to a fragment of John of Antioch's ''Historia Chronike'',

justified the raids by arguing that he was the rightful inheritor of Valentinian's and Aëtius' estates, as his son had married Valentinian's daughter Eudocia. Despite not pressing for Olybrius' enthronement explicitly, Gaiseric never relinquished his claim. Vandal raids deeply affected the economy of the Italian landowners.

reports that at some point during Severus' reign, some representatives of the Italian aristocracy went to the Emperor to plead for a reconciliation with Gaiseric. Severus sent the patrician Tatian on an embassy to the king of the Vandals, but Gaiseric rejected the terms outright.

Relationship with Ricimer

The relationship between Ricimer and Severus is a point of contention among scholars. The perhaps more traditional view has been to see Severus as a puppet emperor of

with little will of his own. This view is expressed by

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

, who wrote "during that period he six years between Majorian and Anthemius the government was in the hands of Ricimer alone." Many modern historians agree with this assessment, including J. B. Bury, Thomas Hodgkin, John M. O'Flynn, and C.D. Gordon. However, some modern historians dispute this view, arguing that Severus may have had much more agency than the ancient sources suggest. Important evidence for this controversy comes from inscriptions and

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

. Some coins, dated approximately to Severus' reign, bear a monogram on the reverse sometimes identified with Ricimer. The monogram has been the source of significant scholarly disagreement; if the monogram is Ricimer's it represents a major shift in the constitution of the Late Empire. The monogram exists in two variant forms, and a number of interpretations (other than the traditional reading ''RICIMER'') have been suggested: John Kent reads the inscription as ''ROMAE'', making the monogram a mint mark. Some scholars suggest ''SEVERVS'', reading the ''A'' in the variant form as a

hypercorrection In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is the nonstandard use of language that results from the overapplication of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a ...

of ''E'' to ''AE''. A number of other identifications have been put forward, including

Avitus Eparchius Avitus (died 456/7) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Western Empire from July 455 to October 456. He was a Roman Senate, senator of Roman Gaul, Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military ...

us,

Anthemius Procopius Anthemius (; died 11 July 472) was the Western Roman Empire, Western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Born in the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, Anthemius quickly worked his way up the ranks. He married into the Theodosian dyna ...

, Alpia, and Marcellinus. Other physical evidence includes a rectangular bronze plaque (perhaps an ''exagium'', an official standard weight for coins) reading, "Health to our Lords eo and Severus/ and the patrician / Ricimer."'salvis dd. nn. / et patricio / Ricimere' The proximity of Ricimer's name to the emperors' indicates his ascendant position in the state. It is also in the context of Severus' reign that the title ''rex'', usually translated as ''king'', is first applied to Ricimer: the sixth-century historian Marcellinus Comes writes in his chronicle: " Beorgor, King of the Alans, was killed by King Ricimer". However, Marcellinus' use of the term has been interpreted a number of ways, including as a reflection of his royal Gothic heritage, his increased political power and autonomy, or early evidence for his monarchical ambitions.

Death

Severus died in Rome on 14 November 465 after ruling for just under four years. The details of Severus' death are obscure, and the ancient sources are in disagreement, but the majority of modern scholars contend that Severus died of natural causes. Of the ancient sources which mention the death of Severus, two are of particular importance:

, in the 6th century, wrote that Severus was poisoned by Ricimer in his palace,'ut dicitur Ricimeris fraude, Severus Romae in Palatio veneno peremptus est' Cassiodorus, ''Chronica '', ''s.a.'' 465 while the poet

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urb ...

, in a

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...

to Majorian delivered at Rome, wrote that Severus died "according to the law of nature." The latter statement has been interpreted variously by historians, either as evidence for the existence of a rumor blaming Ricimer for Severus' death or as evidence against the existence of such a rumor. Ricimer may have been present at the reading of the panegyric, further complicating the situation. Historians who accept that Ricimer may have killed Severus have put forward several possible motivations. Severus may have been an obstacle to Ricimer's reconciliation with Leo. Another theory suggests that Severus was much more active than Ricimer desired. According to this theory, Ricimer may have killed Severus in the hopes of reigning solely or with a less powerful puppet emperor. Because of the scarcity of evidence, it is difficult to make any certain judgement on the nature of Severus' death.

Notes

References

External links

Coins of Libius Severus
{{Authority control 5th-century births 465 deaths 5th-century Christians 5th-century Western Roman emperors 5th-century western Roman consuls Year of birth uncertain Lucania