Year: 205

Origen Beings Writing.
"In its earliest days, Christianity had been criticized as a religion of the poor and uneducated and indeed many of the faithful had come from the lower classes. As Paul had written, in the church there were "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble" (1 Corinthians 1:26).
By the third century, however, the greatest scholar of the age was a Christian. Heathens, heretics, and Christians admired Origen, and his immense learning and scholarship would have an important influence on future Christian scholarship.
Origen was born in Alexandria, about 185, of devout Christian parents. In about 201 his father, Leonidas, was imprisonsed during the persecution of Septimus Severus. Origen wrote to his father in prison and encouraged him not to deny Christ for the sake of his family. Though Origen wanted to turn himself in to the authorities and suffer martyrdom with his father, his mother hid his clothes and kept him from such zealous foolishness.
After Leonidas's martyrdom, his property was confiscated, and his widow was left with seven children. Origen set about supporting them by teaching Greek literature and copying manuscripts. Since many of the older scholars had fled Alexanderia at the time of the persecution, the Christian catechetical school had a great need for teachers. At eighteen Origen became president of the school and embarked on his long career of teaching, studying, and writing.
He lived an ascetic life, spending much of the night in study and prayer and sleeping on the bare floor, whenever he did sleep. Following Jesus' command, he only had one coat and no shoes. He even followed Matthew 19:12 literally and castrated himself as a defense against all fleshly temptations. Origen's strongest desire was to be a faithful man of the church and to bring honor to the name of Christ.
A tremendously prolific writer, Origen was able to keep seven secretaries busy with is dictations. He produced over 2,000 works, including commentaries on almost every book of the Bible and hundreds of homilies. His Hexapla was a feat of textual criticism. In it he tried to find the best Greek rendering of the Old Testament, and in six parallel columns displayed the Hebrew Old Testament, a Greek transliteration, three Greek translations, a Greek transliteration, three Greek translations, and the Septuagint. Against Celsus was a major apologetic work defending Christianity from pagan attacks. On First Principles was the first attempt at a systematic theology; here Origen carefully examined the Christian beliefs concerning God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, creation, the soul, free will, salvation, and the Scriptures.
Origen was largely responsible for establishing the allegorical interpretation of Scripture that was to dominate the Middle Ages. In every text he believed there were three levels of meaning: the literal sense; the moral sense, which was to edify the soul; and the allegorical or spiritual sense, which was the hidden meaning important to the Christian faith. Origen himself neglected the literal or historical-grammatical meaning of the text and emphasized the deeper, allegorical meaning.
Origen tried to relate Christianity to the science and philosophy of his day. He believed Greek philosophy was a preparation for understanding Scripture and used the analogy, later adopted by Augustine, of Christians "spoiling the Egyptians" when they used the wealth of pagan learning in their Christian cause (Exodus 12:35-36).
In accepting the teachings of Greek philosophy, Origen adopted many Platonic ideas alien to orthodox Christianity. Behind most of his errors was the Greek assumption that matter and the material world was implicitly evil. He believed in the preexistence of the soul before birth and taught that man's position in the world was due to his conduct in a preexistent state. He denited the material resurrection and toyed with the idea that eventually God would provide salvation for all men and angels. Since God could not create the material world without coming in contact with base matter, the Father eternally generated the Son, who created the eternal world. When the Son died on the cross, it was only Jesus' humanity that died as a ransom-payment to the devil for the world.
For errors such as these Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria called a council that excommunicated Origen from the church. Though the Roman and Western church accepted the excommunication, the church in Palestine and much of the East did not. They still sought out Origen for his learning, wisdom, and scholarship.
During the Decian persecution, Origen was imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to the stake. Only the death of the emperor prevented that sentence from being carried out. Broken in health from the ordeal, Origen died about 251. He had done more than anyone else to promote the cause of Christian scholarship and make the church respected in the eyes of the world. Later fathers in both the Eastern and Western church would feel his influence. The diversity of his thought and writings easily gained for him the reputation as the father of orthodoxy as well as the father of heresy.

Year: 200

The Scriptures now are translated into seven languages, including Syriac and Coptic (Egyptian).

Years: 100-200

Christianity expands to Morocco, Bulgaria, Portugal, and Austria. Widespread conversion to Christianity in North Africa.

Year: 197

Christianity sweeps the empire. Tertullian writes "There is no nation indeed which is not Christian."
The Apostles Creed and the Didache (an important document describing Christian beliefs, practices, and church government) are written during this century.
By AD 200 the church recognizes 23 New Testament books as canonical, but it is unlikely these are collected yet into one volume.
The Didache: Teachings of the 12 Apostles
The Didache is, in all probability, the oldest surviving extant piece of non-canonical literature. It is not so much a letter as a handbook for new Christian converts, consisting of instructions derived directly from the teachings of Jesus. The book can be divided into three sections. The first six chapters consist of Christian lessons; the next four give descriptions of the Christian ceremonies, including baptism, fasting and communion; and the last six outline the church organization.
The Didache claims to have been authored by the twelve apostles. While this is unlikely, the work could be a direct result of the first Apostolic Council, c.50 C.E. (Acts 15:28). Similarities to the Apostolic Decree are apparent, and the given structure of the church is quite primitive. Also, the description of the Eucharist (bread and wine) carefully avoids mention of the "body and blood of Christ," obviously being regarded as one of the secret mysteries of eary Christianity. Most scholars agree that the work, in its earliest form, may have circulated as early as the 60's C.E., though additions and modifications may have taken place well into the third century. The work was never officially rejected by the Church, but was excluded from the canon for its lack of literary value.
The complete text of the Didache was discovered in the Codex Hierosolymitanus, though a number of fragments exist, most notably in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. It was originally composed in Greek, probably within a small community.
THE DIDACHE
Translated from the Greek text published
by Roswell D. Hitchcock in 1884.
TEACHING OF THE LORD TO THE NATIONS THROUGH THE TWELVE APOSTLES
ONE
Two ways there are, one of life and one of death, but there is a great difference between the two ways.
The way of life is indeed this: First, you will love the God who made you; secondly, "you will love your neighbor as yourself." Now all the things that you do not want to have happen to you, you too do not do these to one another.
Now the teaching of these sayings is this: "Praise those who curse you", and pray for your enemies; now fast for those who are persecuting you. For what favor is it if you love those who love you? Don't the gentiles do the same? But you love those who hate you, and you will have no enemies.
"Hold yourself away from the fleshly" and kosmic "strong desires." "If someone should give you a blow to your right cheek, turn to him also the left one," and you will be complete. "If anyone should force you to go one mile, go with him two." "If anyone takes your cloak, give him your tunic also." If anyone takes what is yours away from you, do not ask for it back. For neither are you able. "Give to everyone who asks from you," and do not ask for it back. For the Father wants to give of his own free gifts to everyone.
Blessed is the one who gives according to the precept, for he is guiltless. Woe to the one who takes. For if indeed someone takes who has a need, he will be guiltless. But the one who has no need will give a judgment as to why he took, and for what reason, and he will come under arrest and will be examined about what he did. And "he will not go out from there until he pays the last quadrans." But it has also been said about this: "Let your charitable gifts sweat in your hands, until indeed you know who to give to."
Now the second precept of the teaching is: " You will not murder. You will not commit adultery." You will not sodomize young boys. You will not have unlawful sex. " You will not steal." Do not practice magic. Do not practice sorcery. Neither murder a child by abortion, nor will you destroy what is born. You will not strongly desire your neighbor's things. You will not make oaths. " You will not bear false testimony." You will not say bad things. You will not remember bad things. You will not be double-minded or double-tongued, for the double-tongue is a snare of death. Your message is not to be false or empty, but being filled with practice. You should be neither greedy nor a swindler, nor hypocrite, nor malicious, nor high-minded. You will not take evil counsel against your neighbor. You will not hate any people, but you will reprove some, and you will pray for some, and some you will love more than your life.
My child, flee from every evil thing, and from everything like it. Do not become angry, for anger is the way to murder. Neither should you be jealous, nor one who creates strife, nor emotional. For murders are born out of all of these.
My child, do not become strongly desirous, for strong desire is the way to sexual sin. Neither should you be a speaker of filth, nor high-eyed. For adulteries are born out of all of these.
My child, do not become someone who looks for omens, since it is the way to idolatry. Neither should you be an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor a cleanser. Nor should you want to look at these things, for idolatry is born out of all of these things.
My child, do not become a liar, since lying is the way to theft. Neither should you be greedy, nor a lover of money, nor worthlessly conceited. For thefts are born out of all of these things. My child, do not become a grumbler, since it leads to evil speaking. Neither should you be assumers, nor evil-minded. For evil-speakings are born out of all of these.
But be meek, since "the meek will inherit the land." Become longsuffering, and merciful, and guiltless, and quiet, and good, and throughout everything tremble at the sayings that you have heard.
You will not exalt yourself, nor will you give over-boldness to your soul. Your soul will not cling with the high people, but you will conduct yourself with the just and lowly ones. Accept the things that transpire to you as good workings, knowing that nothing happens without God.
My child, remember night and day the one who is speaking God's message to you. Now you will honor him as you would honor the Lord. For where the lordship may be spoken, there is the Lord. Now daily you will seek out the faces of the holy ones, so that you would be refreshed by their words. You will not want division, but you will make peace with those who are fighting. You will judge justly. In giving a reproof of a wandering, you will not respect anyone's presence. You will not be two souled regarding whether or not it should be. Do not become like one who stretches out his hands for taking but who draws them in for giving. If you have, you will give by your hands a ransom for your sins. You will not hesitate to give, nor will you grumble while giving. For you will know who it is that is the nice payer of the reward. You will not turn away the one who is needy, but you will share all things together with your brother, and you will not claim them to be your own things. For if you are partners in what is immortal, how much more are you partners in what is mortal?
You will not take your hand away from your son or your daughter, but from youth you will teach the fear of God. You will not give directives in your bitterness to your slave or handmaid, these who are hoping in the same God. Otherwise they may not fear the God who is over both of you. For he is not coming to call people according to appearance, but upon those whom the spirit has made ready. Now you who are slaves should be submissive to your lords in sobriety and fear, as to a type of God.
You will hate every hypocrisy and all of what is not pleasing to the Lord. You will by no means forsake the Lord's precepts, but you will guard what you have received--neither adding to them nor removing from them. You will acknowledge your wanderings in an assembly, and you will not come forward to your prayer with an evil consciousness. This is the way of life.
TWO
Now the way of death is this: First of all, it is evil and full of curses: murders, adulteries, strong desires, unlawful sex acts, thefts, idolatries, magic acts, sorceries, robberies, false testimonies, hypocrisies, two-heartedness, deceit, arrogance, badness, assumptions, greed, shameful speech, jealousy, an overbearing nature, loftiness, pride; persecutors of good; hating truth, loving falsehood; not knowing the reward of what is right, not clinging to good, nor to just judgment, watching not for good but for evil. Far from these people are meekness and endurance. They love worthless things, persuing revenge, not showing mercy to a poor person, not laboring for those who are weary, not knowing the one who made them, murderers of children, corrupters of molded image of God, turning away those who are in need,oppressing the afflicted; comforters of the wealthy, lawless judges of the poor; universal sinners. Children, may you be rescued from all of these.
See to it that no one lead you astray from this way of the teaching, since it does not teach you without God. For if indeed you are able to bear the whole of the Lord's yoke, you will be complete. But if you are not able, do what you are able.
THREE
Now about food: bear what you are able to bear. But watch out for the idol-sacrifices, for this is a religious service of dead gods.
Now about baptism, baptize this way: after first uttering all of these things, baptize "into the name of the Father and of the son and of the holy Spirit" in running water. But if you do not have running water, baptize in other water. Now if you are not able to do so in cold water, do it in warm water. Now if you don't have either, pour water three times on the head, "into the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the holy Spirit." Now before the ritual cleansing, the baptizer and the one being baptized should fast, and any others who are able. Now you will give word for the one who is being baptized to fast for one or two days beforehand.
But do not let your fasts be with the hypocrites. For they fast on the second day of the week and on the fifth. But you fast on the fourth day and the day of preparation. Neither should you pray like the hypocrites, but as the Lord gave word in his good message, pray like this: "Our Father, the one who is in Heaven, your name has been made holy. Let your kingdom come. Let what you want also be done on earth, as in Heaven. Give us the bread we need today and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. And don't carry us into trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For yours is the power and the glory for the age." Pray this way three times daily.
Now about the thanksgiving, give thanks this way:
First, about the cup: "We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of your boy David which you made known to us through your boy Jesus. Glory be to you for the age.
Now about the broken loaf: "We thank you, our Father, for the life and the knowledge that you made known to us through your boy Jesus. Glory be to you for the age. Just as this broken loaf was scattered on top of the hills and as it was gathered together and became one, in the same way let your assembly be gathered together from the remotest parts of the land into your kingdom. "For yours is the glory and the power through Anointed Jesus for the age." Now no one should either eat or drink from your thanksgiving meal, but those who have been baptized into the Lord's name. For about this also the Lord said, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs."
Now after you have been filled, give thanks this way: "We thank you, holy Father, for your holy name, which you made to live in our hearts, and for the knowledge and trust and immortality which you made known to us through Jesus your boy. Glory be to you for the age.
"Almighty master, it was you who created all for the sake of your name. You gave both food and drink to people for enjoyment, so that they might give thanks to you. But to us you have freely given spiritual food and drink and eternal life through your boy. Before all things, we are thankful to you that you are powerful. Glory be to you for the age.
"O Lord, remember your assembly, remember to rescue it from every evil and to make it complete in your love, and to gather it from the four winds into your kingdom which youprepared for it--it, which has been made holy. For yours is the power and the glory for the age.
"Let generosity come, and let this universe pass away. Hosanna to David's son! If someone is holy, let him come. If someone is not, he should change his mind. Marana-tha. A-mein." Now permit the prophets to give thanks as much as they want.
FOUR
Therefore, the one who comes and teaches you all of these things which have been previously spoken, accept him. But if he, the teacher, should turn to teach another teaching, so as to release this one, do not listen to him. But if he teaches to promote what is right and knowledge of the Lord, accept him as you would the Lord.
Now about the envoys and prophets, do just as according to the tenet of the good message. Now each envoy who comes to you, accept as you would the Lord. But he will not remain for one day. Now if there is need, also the next day. But if he remains for three, he is a false prophet.
Now when the envoy departs, he should take nothing except bread until he lodges. But if he should ask for money, he is a false prophet.
And every prophet who speaks with the spirit, you will not test or judge, for every sin will be forgiven. But not everyone who speaks with the spirit is a prophet: but if he has the conduct of the Lord. Therefore, from their conduct, the false prophet and the prophet will be made known. And no prophet with the spirit who orders a meal eats from it, unless indeed he is a false prophet. Now every prophet who teaches the truth, if he does not do as he teaches, is a false prophet. But every prophet who has been proved, who is true, who does things for the kosmic secrets of the assembly but who does not teach to do as he does, will not be judged among you. For the ancient prophets did it this way also. But whoever says with the spirit, "Give me money (or something else)," you will not listen to him. But if he says to give on behalf of others who are in need, no one should judge him.
Now everyone who comes in the Lord's name should be accepted. But afterward, you will examine him to know him. For you will have understanding, right and left. If the one who comes is a traveller, help him as much as you are able. But he will not remain with you except for two or three days, if there is a necessity. But if he wants to dwell with you, since he is a craftsman, he should work to eat. But if he has no craft, provide according to your understanding, so that no lazy person would be lifing among you as an "Anointed". But if he does not want to do this, he is one who profits financially from the Anointed One. Be careful about such people.
Now every true prophet who wants to settle near you is worthy of his wage. In the same way, a true teacher is also worthy, just as the workman, of his wage. Therefore, every foremost part of the products of the press and threshing floor, both of oxen and of sheep, you will take and give to the prophets. For they are your high priests.
But if you do not have a prophet, give these to the poor. If you make baked bread, take the foremost part and give according to the precept. In the same way, when you open a jar of wine or of oil, take the foremost part and give to the prophets. Now of money and clothing and every possession, take the foremost part as you think it right and give according to the precept.
FIVE
Now according to the Lord's day, gather together and break bread and give thanks, after acknowledging your wanderings to one another, so your sacrifice would be a clean one. But each one who has something against his friend, do not let him come together with you until they are reconciled, so that your sacrifice would not be made common. For this is what was declared by the Lord: " In every place and time, carry to me a clean sacrifice. Because I am a great king," says Yahweh, " and my name is a wondrous thing among the nations."
SIX
Now hand pick for yourselves overseers and servants worthy of the Lord: men who are meek, not lovers of money, true and proved. For they are giving religious service to you also, as the prophets and teachers are giving religious service.
SEVEN
Now reprove one another, not in anger but in peace, as you have it in the good message. And no one should speak to each one who misses the mark against another one, nor should he hear from you, until he changes his mind. But your vows and your charitable works and all your practices, do these, as you have it in the good message of our Lord.
Be vigilant on behalf of your life. Do not let your lamps be extinguished, and do not relax your loins. But become prepared. For you do not know the hour in which our Lord is coming. Now you will gather together often, seeking the things that are appropriate for your souls. For all the time of your trust will not profit you, if you do not become complete in the last season.
For in the last days, the false prophets and the corruptors will be multiplied, and the sheep will be turned into wolves, and love will be turned into hate. For when the lawlessness increases, they will hate one another, and they will persecute and deliver up, and then the deceiver of creation will appear as God's son, and he will do signs and wonders. And the land will be given up into his hands. And he will do lawless things which have never been done from the age.
Then human creation will come into the fire of examination, and many will stumble and be destroyed. But those who endure in their trust will be saved from this accursed thing. And then the signs of truth will appear. First, the sign of an opening in Heaven, then the sign of a trumpet's sound, and thirdly, a resurrection of dead people. But not of all people; on the contrary, as it was declared, "The Lord will come, and all the holy ones with him." Then creation will see the Lord "coming on the clouds of the sky."

Year: 196

Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.
"'It is certain because it is impossible.'
'What has the Athens to do with Jerusalem?'
Such tart epigrams are typical of the works of Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus - or Tertullian. A native of Carthage, he has been reated in a cultured pagan household and trained in the literary classics, speech making, and the law. About 196, when he turned his powerful intellect to Christian topics, he changed the face of thinking and literature in the Western church.
Up to this point, most Christian writers had used Greek - a flexible, subtle language, perfect for philosophizing and hair splitting. And often the Greek-speaking Christians carried this bent for philosophy into their faith.
Though the African Tertullian knew Greek, he preferred writing in Latin. and his works reflect the Latin-speaking Romans' practical morals-oriented streak. This influential lawyer drew many other writers to his favorite language.
While Greek Christians squabbled over the divinity of Christ and His relation to the Father, Tertullian sought to unify the faith and clarify the orthodox position. So he laid down a helpful formula that we still use today: God is one substance, consisting of three persons.
As he anticipated what became the doctrine of the Trinity, Tertullian drew his terminology not from the philosophers, but from Roman law courts. The Latin substantia did not mean "material," but "property rights." God's substantia is His "turf" so to speak. Persona did not mean "person" as use the word; it referred to a party in a legal action. Used that way, it is conceivable that three personae could share one substantia. Three persons (Father, Son, and Spirit) share one substance (the divine sovereignty).
Though Tertullian asked, "What has Athens [philosophy] to do with Jerusalem [the church]?" the Stoic philosophy, which was popular during his age, influenced him. Some say that the idea of original sin passed from Stoicism, to Tertullian, to the Western church. Tertullian seems to have thought that the soul was in some way material: As a body is formed by conception, so is a soul. Adam's sin is passed on like a genetic trait.
The Western church took hold of this idea, but it did not pass into the East (which took a more optimistic view of human nature).
About 206 Tertullian left the church to join the Montanist sect, a group of "puritans," who reacted against what they perceived as lax morals among Christians. They expected the Second Coming to occur soon and emphasized the immediate leadership of the Holy Spirit not the ordained clergy.
Though Tertullain had begun by emphasizing the idea of apostolic succession - the passing on of the apostles' power and authority to bishops that they had the power to pardon sins. This would lead to moral laxity, he believed, and the bishops presumed too much in claiming it. After all, he reasoned, weren't all believers priests? Was this a church of saints who administered by a professional "class," the clergy?
Tertuallian was swimming against the tide. For more than twelve hundred year the clergy would have a special place. Not until Martin Luther challenged the church would an emphasis on 'the priesthood of all believers" be recaptured.'"

Year: 196

Easter controversy concerning the day to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Western Christians prefer Sunday; eastern Christians prefer linking Easter with the Jewish Passover regardless of the day of the week.
The first was mainly concerned with the lawfulness of celebrating Easter on a weekday. We read in Eusebius (Church History V.23): "A question of no small importance arose at that time [i.e. the time of Pope Victor, about A.D. 190]. The dioceses of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should always be observed as the feast of the life-giving pasch [epi tes tou soteriou Pascha heortes], contending that the fast ought to end on that day, whatever day of the week it might happen to be. However it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this point, as they observed the practice, which from Apostolic tradition has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the Resurrection of our Saviour. Synods and assemblies of bishops were held on this account, and all with one consent through mutual correspondence drew up an ecclesiastical decree that the mystery of the Resurrection of the Lord should be celebrated on no other day but the Sunday and that we should observe the close of the paschal fast on that day only." These words of the Father of Church History, followed by some extracts which he makes from the controversial letters of the time, tell us almost all that we know concerning the paschal controversy in its first stage. A letter of St. Irenæus is among the extracts just referred to, and this shows that the diversity of practice regarding Easter had existed at least from the time of Pope Sixtus (c. 120). Further, Irenaeus states that St. Polycarp, who like the other Asiatics, kept Easter on the fourteenth day of the moon, whatever day of the week that might be, following therein the tradition which he claimed to have derived from St. John the Apostle, came to Rome c. 150 about this very question, but could not be persuaded by Pope Anicetus to relinquish his Quartodeciman observance. Nevertheless he was not debarred from communion with the Roman Church, and St. Irenæus, while condemning the Quartodeciman practice, nevertheless reproaches Pope Victor (c. 189-99) with having excommunicated the Asiatics too precipitately and with not having followed the moderation of his predecessors. The question thus debated was therefore primarily whether Easter was to be kept on a Sunday, or whether Christians should observe the Holy Day of the Jews, the fourteenth of Nisan, which might occur on any day of the week. Those who kept Easter with the Jews were called Quartodecimans or terountes (observants); but even in the time of Pope Victor this usage hardly extended beyond the churches of Asia Minor. After the pope's strong measures the Quartodecimans seem to have gradually dwindled away. Origen in the "Philosophumena" (VIII, xviii) seems to regard them as a mere handful of wrong-headed nonconformists.

Year: 193

YEAR 193: Roman persecution under Septimius Serverus.
Lucius Septimius Severus was born on 1 April AD 145 at Lepcis Magna in Tripolitania.
His family was of African descent. His paternal great-grandfather, who had moved from Lepcis Magna to Italy and become an equestrian, was most likely of Punic origin and his mother, Fulvia Pia, was from a family which had moved from Africa to Italy.
Little is known of Severus' father, Publius Septimius Geta, other than that he had two cousins who became consuls.
Severus was a small man, but powerfully built. Though in old age he was to became very weak and ridden with gout. He was not very well educated, he spoke little in public. And so too, he is renowned for his cruelty and ruthlessness. The Historian Cassius Dio says about him, 'Severus was careful of everything that he desired to accomplish, but careless of what was said about him.
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday Severus arrived in Rome and was appointed senator by Marcus Aurelius in about AD 175. Thereafter he became governor of Gallia Lugdunensis and Sicily and, towards the end of Commodus' reign, he was made consul in AD 190.
Then as the plot thickened to kill Commodus, an African friend of Severus', the praetorian prefect Laetus, placed people he could rely on in key positions of the empire. And so his friend Severus was put in place as governor of Upper Pannonia.
The plot succeeded and brought Pertinax to power. But soon after Pertinax was murdered and Didius Julianus bought the throne from the praetorian guard. Laetus was executed for his involvement with the murder of Commodus.
The three main people who had been placed in powerful positions by Laetus all found it was time to act. The three were Severus, Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus.
Severus had himself acclaimed emperor by his troops at Carnuntum in AD 193. Pescennius Niger was hailed emperor by his troops in the east. Clodius Albinus meanwhile didn't have himself hailed emperor, but he was undoubtedly waiting in the wings, preparing for the right moment.
But Clodius Albinus, commander of the legions in Britain and with much support in the senate, was approached by Severus, who granted him the position of Caesar (junior emperor). This junior position clearly implied that Clodius Albinus was marked out as Severus' successor, or so at least Albinus was led to believe. It was a shrewd political trick to buy off Clodius, as it now left Severus to advance rapidly on Rome. Advancing with no less than 16 legions under his command, opposition simply crumbled before him.
Severus ignored all of Julianus' threats and pleas, and shortly before his army's arrival at Rome, Julianus was indeed sentenced to death by the senate and was thereafter killed in his deserted palace.
Once he arrived in Rome, Severus had those involved in the murder of Pertinax executed. Meanwhile the praetorian guard which had proved such a threat to any emperor was disbanded, and its members were banished from Rome. Instead he put in its place a force double in size, made up of men drawn from his army, especially the Danubian legions.
Severus also trebled the number of the city cohorts (the police of Rome) and doubled the fire brigade (vigiles) in order to increase the city's security.
To raise morale in the army, the institution which had clearly established him on the throne, he increased their pay from three hundred to five hundred denarii a year.
Having firmly established himself at Rome and knowing his western borders toward Albinus secured with his grant of the caesarship, Severus was free to move eastwards and deal with Pescennius Niger. In AD 194 Severus Severus crushed Niger's forces at Issus on the very plain on which Alexander the Great had defeat Darius some 500 years earlier.
With his opponent dead, Severus could now further stamp his authority on the east. The supporters of Niger were harshly punished, many of them fleeing to the Parthians, who had helped Niger in his fight. In order that no future governors of Syria should take up the idea of proclaiming themselves emperor, the powerful province was split in two; Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.
To follow up on his success and punish the Parthians, Severus lead a punitive campaign against the Osrhoeni of Mesopotamia and other Parthian vassals across the border.
His rule of the east secured, Severus now turned his attention to Clodius Albinus. First he declared his elder son Caracalla to be Caesar and therefore his heir late in AD 195. This was clearly a slap in the face to Albinus, who understood himself successor to the throne.
In effect it was a veiled challenge and Albinus took it up. In AD 196 he too had himself hailed emperor by his troops and then set across the channel into Gaul with 40'000 men, collecting more forces as he moved on towards Rome.
Severus, having only briefly returned to Rome in AD 196-7, in January AD 197 set out for his power base on the Danube. From there in Pannonia he began a march west, through Noricum, Raetia, Upper Germany and Gaul, gathering troops as he went.
The huge armies tentatively met at first at Tinurtium. Severus achieved victory, but it proved of little meaning. The full battle was still to follow at Lugdunum (Lyons) on 19 February AD 197. It was a very close battle. At one point an advance by one section of Albinus' troops was so close to Severus, he was thrown from his horse and decided to throw away his cloak marking him out as emperor in an attempt to conceal his identity. But this advance was eventually pushed back, saving the emperor.
The battle still hung in the balance for a long time, but alas Severus' side won.
Clodius Albinus fled into the town of Lugdunum (Lyons) seeking to escape. But discovering that escape was impossible, he killed himself (or he was stabbed).
What followed was very revealing about the man who was now the uncontested emperor of the Roman empire. Severus had Albinus stripped corpse laid out on the ground, so that he he could ride over it and trample it with his horse. Thereafter Albinus' head was severed and sent to Rome. His body, along with those of his wife and sons, was flung into the Rhine.
Albinus' province Britain was thereafter, like Niger's Syrian province, divided into two parts; Britannia Superior and Inferior.
If Albinus had enjoyed support in the senate, then Severus now clamped down on those supporters. He ruthlessly put to death 29 senators and numerous equestrians in Rome.
This cruelty and vindictiveness earned Severus the nickname 'the Punic Sulla', referring to his African origin and the notoriously vengeful dictator of the Roman republic.
Now, Severus attentions once more turned back to Parthia. Had his earlier expedition into Parthia been a brief affair, most likely as he felt he had to return to the west to take care of Albinus, then now he was undisputed ruler and had no such restrictions.
Parthia, so he decided, now should suffer his wrath for intervening in favour of Pescennius Niger.
No doubt, there were also other considerations. Severus was in essence a military man. And he and his generals naturally sought military glories.
The war was brief, for Parthia was weak at the time. By the end of AD 197 the capital Ctesiphon was captured. Once again Severus ruthlessness shows in the fact that all the men were killed, and the women and children (roughly 100'000) were sold into slavery.
Thereafter Mesopotamia was once more annexed as a province of the Roman empire.
But Severus should not have it all his way. The strategic fortress city of Hatra was besieged twice without success, making it clear that not all of Mesopotamia was in Roman hands.
The business of government was largely conducted on Severus' behalf by his praetorian prefects, who quickly became loathed by the public. Most notorious of all was the close friend of the emperor, prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, who didn't take long to gain a reputation for abuses of power and utter cruelty. There was even a rumour that for his daughter Publia Fulvia Plautilla, who was wed to the emperor's son Caracalla, he had grown men castrated to be her eunuch-servants.
Caracalla, who had been made co-emperor in early AD 198, resented being married to Plautianus' daughter, is said to perhaps have arranged his assassination. Things are unclear. Accounts differ. Either Caracalla ordered three officers to carry a false warning to Severus that he and Caracalla were in danger of Plautianus, or they actually was a real plot. Whichever version is true, Severus acted swiftly and had his powerful prefect executed.
Thereafter the corpse was flung onto the street, where the public took out its anger on the hated figure.
Throughout his reign Severus was one of the outstanding imperial builders. He restored a very large number of ancient buildings - and inscribed on them his own name, as though he had erected them. His home town Lepcis Magna benefited in particular. But most of all the famous Triumphal Arch of Severus at the Forum of Rome bears witness to his reign.
His health fading and weak from gout, Severus woudl set out one last time on military campaign. This time it was Britain which demanded the emperor's attention. The Antonine Wall had never really acted as a perfectly successful barrier to the troublesome barbarians to the north of it. By this time it had in fact been virtually abandoned, leaving the British provinces vulnerable to attack from the north. In AD 208 Severus left for Britain with his two quarrelsome sons. Large military campaigns now drove deep into Scotland but didn't really manage to create any lasting solution to the problem.
It is worth mentioning though that there is a tale by which Caracalla was said to have tried to stab Severus in the back at one point, when Severus and his son were riding ahead of the army. But Severus was supposedly warned by shouts from the soldiers behind. However, this tale seems to have little credibility as it otherwise would have seemed impossible for Caracalla to have remained heir thereafter. With the campaigns to conquer the Caledonian territories not being of any lasting success, Hadrian's Wall instead was reconstructed, this time in stone, to defend the frontier.
Alas Severus fell ill at Eburacum (York), where he died at the age of sixty-six (4 February AD 211).
'Keep on good terms with each other,' is said to have been his last advice to his sons, 'be generous to the soldiers, and take no heed of anyone else !"
His sons Caracalla and Geta brought an end to any military campaigns into the Scotland which were still underway and then set out home, carrying the ashes of their father to Rome, where they were laid to rest in the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Soon after he was deified by the senate.