This marble statue shows the emperor Septimius Severus in military dress. Septimius, who was African, ruled the Roman empire from AD 193 to 211. He was an accomplished general who defeated his internal enemies in a series of civil wars, and went on to victories at the furthest frontiers of the Empire - from Mesopotamia in the east to Britain in the west. He died at Eboracum (York) in AD 211, and his ashes were returned to Leptis Magna (Libya), his ancestral home.

Copyright © The British Museum (about AD 193-200)