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Septimius Severus: Countdown to Death
Septimius Severus was one of the most unusual and colourful emperors in the history of the Roman Empire. Born in Leptis Magna, today's Libya, he was the first truly African ruler of Rome. He brought the empire to the peak of its power and founded the mighty Severan dynasty of soldier-emperors. He died, alone and exhausted, in AD 211. In this meticulously researched biography, Yasmine Zahran tells the emperor's life story as a first person memoir dictated from his bed. The result is an intriguing narrative of the life of a remarkable man.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
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January 5, 2023
A Pretty Unimpressive Work of Fiction
When I read Dr. Zahran’s previous book Philip The Arab, I had a bad feeling that I’d encounter her again. I find it very hard to believe that this woman has a doctorate in archaeology. She shows no evidence of it and has a very shaky grasp of fact.
This book cannot make up its mind over what it wants to be. In her conclusion she describes it as “neither a historical novel nor a work of fiction. It is a biography based on the known facts about his life and reign, reconstructed from ancient sources.” But it certainly isn’t that. This book is a novel written from the point of view of Severus as he reminisces during his last seven nights alive. But at the same time it isn’t just a novel. She’s included endnotes for every statement she makes. In short, she has taken the worst aspect of two different kinds of writing and combined them together. The book lacks the accuracy and analysis of a work of history and the drama of a work of fiction.
The book is laid out in a non-chronological pattern. It is told over the last seven days of Severus’ life and is basically a rumination on various themes. She appears to be trying to recreate Severus’ lost autobiography in emulation of the superior Memoirs of Hadrian. It is very stream of consciousness. If you read this book with no background knowledge you will be hard pressed to say what’s happening since she doesn’t go through the events in order. Instead she ruminates on Severus’ continued mystical musings (apparently he knows the future including the Arab conquest and the time of his own death. Remember: True Story!) and the constant prejudice he has to suffer being an African. That latter is the same theme she dwelt on at length in her previous book, and it’s just as exaggerated here. Severus’ African origins were occasionally mocked, but the aristocratic Dio who always sided with the Senate was one of his supporters (albeit a qualified one). If Dio supported him there must have been many others. So the repeated claims that Severus’ failures were due to prejudice are just unfounded.
This book is a mess. Historically speaking she’s nowhere near as accurate as she thinks she is. She has Severus in his dying words command that future emperors refer to themselves as Antoninus in addition to Augustus. This comes from the Historia Augusta, an odd piece of late Roman fiction which in this case is contradicted by mounds of archaeological evidence. The name Antoninus has never been used as a part of imperial titulature on any coin, engraving, or building. As an archaeologist she should know that. Every introductory text on the era does. The entire book is riddled with errors like these. Viewing it as a work of fiction it isn’t much better. It’s disorganized and uninvolving. If you want to read a nonfiction book about Severus then I’d suggest Birley’s biography Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. For a better fiction book you’ll just have to wait.
When I read Dr. Zahran’s previous book Philip The Arab, I had a bad feeling that I’d encounter her again. I find it very hard to believe that this woman has a doctorate in archaeology. She shows no evidence of it and has a very shaky grasp of fact.
This book cannot make up its mind over what it wants to be. In her conclusion she describes it as “neither a historical novel nor a work of fiction. It is a biography based on the known facts about his life and reign, reconstructed from ancient sources.” But it certainly isn’t that. This book is a novel written from the point of view of Severus as he reminisces during his last seven nights alive. But at the same time it isn’t just a novel. She’s included endnotes for every statement she makes. In short, she has taken the worst aspect of two different kinds of writing and combined them together. The book lacks the accuracy and analysis of a work of history and the drama of a work of fiction.
The book is laid out in a non-chronological pattern. It is told over the last seven days of Severus’ life and is basically a rumination on various themes. She appears to be trying to recreate Severus’ lost autobiography in emulation of the superior Memoirs of Hadrian. It is very stream of consciousness. If you read this book with no background knowledge you will be hard pressed to say what’s happening since she doesn’t go through the events in order. Instead she ruminates on Severus’ continued mystical musings (apparently he knows the future including the Arab conquest and the time of his own death. Remember: True Story!) and the constant prejudice he has to suffer being an African. That latter is the same theme she dwelt on at length in her previous book, and it’s just as exaggerated here. Severus’ African origins were occasionally mocked, but the aristocratic Dio who always sided with the Senate was one of his supporters (albeit a qualified one). If Dio supported him there must have been many others. So the repeated claims that Severus’ failures were due to prejudice are just unfounded.
This book is a mess. Historically speaking she’s nowhere near as accurate as she thinks she is. She has Severus in his dying words command that future emperors refer to themselves as Antoninus in addition to Augustus. This comes from the Historia Augusta, an odd piece of late Roman fiction which in this case is contradicted by mounds of archaeological evidence. The name Antoninus has never been used as a part of imperial titulature on any coin, engraving, or building. As an archaeologist she should know that. Every introductory text on the era does. The entire book is riddled with errors like these. Viewing it as a work of fiction it isn’t much better. It’s disorganized and uninvolving. If you want to read a nonfiction book about Severus then I’d suggest Birley’s biography Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. For a better fiction book you’ll just have to wait.
December 25, 2016
One of the stranger reads I have stumbled across, as it is part biography couched in a psuedo-autobiography wrapped in a memoir as historical fiction. I was hoping for a kinder treatment of Caracalla, and some mention of Maximinus Thrax, but not to be. Ms Zahran's treatment of Julia was excellent.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews