Septimius Severus was one of the great Roman warrior emperors yet this fighting general and emperor, born in the heat of North Africa, died in the freezing cold of a Yorkshire winter in AD 211. In this talk, archaeologist and historian Simon Elliott explains how and why, despite a massive army, he failed to conquer Scotland.

The year was AD 207. In Rome the great warrior-Emperor, Septimius Severus, was bored. He’d hacked his way to power in AD 193 in the ‘Year of Five Emperors’, then fought two campaigns in the East (including the sack of the Parthian capital Ctesiphon). He had seen off the usurpation of the British governor Clodius Albinus and campaigned in his native North Africa. But now, he was reduced to fretting about his squabbling sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the Imperial capital.

Audio from Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools 2017 with Amanda Mitchison.

Audio from Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools 2017 with Helen Rappaport

Audio from Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools 2017 with James Holland.

Audio from Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools 2017 with Dr Gareth Davies.

Audio from Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools 2017 with Professor Paul Cartledge.

Audio from Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools 2017 with Chris Culpin.

Recording from Tom Holland’s talk, ‘The Legacy of Rome: When Did the Roman Empire End?’ for CVHF, Wednesday, 26th June 2013.