- Virius Lupus
Virius Lupus was a Roman soldier and politician of the late second and early 3rd century.
He served as a
legatus of one of the German provinces and supportedSeptimus Severus during the civil war that followed the murder ofPertinax . In 196 his troops were defeated byDecimus Clodius Albinus as the fight for the throne intensified.He would have served as consul some time previously and became governor of
Roman Britain once Severus was made emperor in 197.Severus sent him to Britain immediately to recover the province from the rebellions that had swept it following Clodius Albinus' removal of most of the garrison to press his claim for the throne the previous year.
In the north he was obliged to buy peace from the
Maeatae . Fearful that they would ally with theCaledonian Confederacy and unable to secure troop reinforcements from Severus, Lupus had no choice but to pay the rebels in return for their withdrawal and the return of a few prisoners. Lupus slowly restored the forts in thePennines to Roman control althoughHadrian's Wall was not rebuilt until c. 205.His governorship was assisted by the arrival of
Sextus Varius Marcellus as provincialprocurator and in who can be seen the germ of the later division of Britain into two provinces.He served as governor until 201 or 202.
References
*cite book
last =Collingwood
first =Robin George
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Roman Britain and the English Settlements
publisher =Biblo & Tannen Publishers
date =1936
location =
pages =Page 157
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0819611603
*cite book
last =Degraft-Johnson
first =J. C.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =African Glory
publisher =Black Classic Press
date =1986
location =
pages =Page 33
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0933121032
*cite book
last =Blois
first =Lukas “de”
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The Policy of the Emperor Galienus
publisher =Brill Academic Publishers
date =1976
location =
pages = Page 77
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 9004045082sequence
prev=Decimus Clodius Albinus
next=Marcus Antius Crescens Calpurnianus
list=Roman governors of Britain
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