Video: City once at heart of an empire honours iron-fisted Emperor

HIS success as a Roman Emperor was marked by the ruthlessness with which he ruled.

Emperor Septimius Severus ruled with an iron fist during his reign in York, having no hesitation about killing his rivals and using his feared armies to expand the Roman Empire.

A month-long series of events are planned to mark the 1,800-year anniversary of the death of the man who came to be known as the African Emperor.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Born in what is now Libya, he was over 60 when he arrived in York in AD208 to begin his three-year reign over the whole Roman Empire from the city.

His death on February 4, AD211, was marked by a huge ceremony culminating in his body being taken through the city to be burned on a huge funeral pyre.

To mark the anniversary, artefacts from the city's Yorkshire Museum, as well as loans from the British Museum, will tell the story of Severus's time in York.

Events including a Roman-inspired fashion exhibition, a Severus film premiere and a theatre production with York Theatre Royal will also mark the occasion.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Head curator Andrew Morrison said: "For the people of York it would have been an eye-opening period, with people from every corner of the empire flooding into the city. The fact that this ancient world was ruled from York for three years is an amazing thought - it would be like the Houses of Parliament moving to York today."

Related topics: