The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

The army in politics 189
military service which they had engaged in before. Furthermore, he
filled the city with a mixed mob of soldiers who were ferocious to look
at, terrifying to hear, and coarse in conversation.
In AD 193 Septimius Severus, the governor of Upper Pannonia, marched on
Rome with his army (the first such successful coup for almost 125 years), and
in a bitter civil war defeated Pescennius Niger, governor of Syria. Soon afterwards
conflict was renewed, this time against Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain,
and not until AD 197 was Severus in unchallenged control. Dio’s judgement of
these events is especially important since he was a contemporary who lived
almost to the end of the dynasty. Although Dio is critical of Severus, he admits
that he had some good qualities and does not present him as an exponent of
military absolutism (for Dio’s history of Septimius Severus, see Millar 1964:138–
50). Significantly, he believed that because of the circumstances of his accession
Severus was forced to rely more openly on his army and therefore paid less
attention to the other groups on which to some extent imperial government
depended, in particular the senate and individual senators. These events were
changing the principle established by Augustus that the military leader should
not appear to be at the mercy of his troops.
Severus invaded Italy in AD 193 with the support initially of the legions in
Pannonia. After seizing Rome he disbanded the praetorian guard; it had been
disloyal, betraying and murdering two emperors, and he needed to set an
example; he also needed to reward his own troops—most of the new guard
was recruited from the Danubian legions (see texts nos 64–66). Indeed, before
he could leave Rome, his legionaries demanded 10,000 sesterces, the sum paid
to his troops by Octavian in 43 BC (Dio, 46. 46). In the event they were satisfied
with 1,000 sesterces as a down payment. This was part of the price of the
army’s support in his bid for political supremacy, although Dio’s comments
reflect the exaggerated reaction of senators who disliked Severus for other
reasons, and also his dislike of the ordinary soldiers (the Severan dynasty—
Campbell 1984:401–14; texts nos 313–17).
313 Dio, 76. 15
At any rate, before he (Septimius Severus) died, he is reported to have
made the following comments to his sons, and I give his exact words
with no adornment: ‘Stick together, make the soldiers rich, despise all
the rest’.
314 Herodian (2nd–3rd C.AD), 2. 6
Then for the first time (after the murder of Pertinax in AD 193) the
character of the soldiers was corrupted and they learned to have a