Flavius Valerius Severus

Infobox Roman emperor
title=Emperor of the Roman Empire
name=Severus
full name= Flavius Valerius Severus


caption =Flavius Valerius Severus
as caesar (305-306)
reign =1 May 305 - summer 306 (as Caesar in the west under Constantius Chlorus);
summer 306 - March or April 307 (as Augustus in the west, in competition with Constantine, Maxentius, and Maximian)
predecessor =Constantius I (Constantius Chlorus]
successor =Maxentius, Licinius
spouse =
spouse 2 =
issue =(Flavius?) Severianus
dynasty =
father =
mother =
date of birth =
place of birth =Illyria
date of death =16 September 307
place of death =Tres Tabernae
place of burial =|

Flavius Valerius Severus (or rarely Severus II) (died 16 September, 307) was a Western Roman Emperor from 306 to 307.

Severus was of humble birth, born in the Illyrian provinces around the middle of the third century AD. He rose to become a senior officer in the Roman army, and as an old friend of Galerius, that emperor ordered that Severus be appointed "Caesar" of the Western Roman Empire, a post that he succeeded to on 1 May 305. He thus served as deputy-emperor to Constantius I (Constantius Chlorus), "Augustus" of the western half of empire.

On the death of Constantius I in the summer of 306, Severus was promoted to "Augustus" by Galerius himself, in opposition to the acclamation of Constantine I (Constantius' son) by his own soldiers. When Maxentius, the son of the retired emperor Maximian, revolted at Rome, Galerius sent Severus to suppress the rebellion. Severus moved from his capital, Mediolanum, towards Rome, at the head of an army previously commanded by Maximian. Fearing Severus' arrival, Maxentius offered Maximian the co-rule of the empire. Maximian accepted, and when Severus arrived under the walls of Rome and besieged it, his men deserted him and passed to Maximian, their old commander. Severus fled to Ravenna, in an impregnable position. Maximian offered to spare Severus' life and treat him humanely if the latter surrendered peaceably, which he did so in March or April 307. Despite Maximian's assurance, Severus was nonetheless displayed as a captive and later imprisoned at Tres Tabernae. When Galerius himself invaded Italy to suppress Maxentius and Maximian, the former ordered Severus' death. He was executed (or forced to commit suicide) on 16 September 307.

References

* [http://www.roman-emperors.org/severus.htm DiMaio, Michael, "Severus II (306-307 A.D.)", "De Imperatoribus Romanis"]

External links

s-ttl | title=Roman Emperor
years=306-307
alongside=Galerius