The family of Septimus Severus were probably one of the wackiest in history.Here is an abbreviated history that I located,this is some GOOD reading: "The hatred of the two boys for each other was held in check while Daddy lived. But he died while the three of them were out campaigning in Britain, and the boys immediately cut the campaign short and hurried back to Rome to try to undermine each other politically. Both brothers had their followers, and both sets of followers egged their favorite brother on, leading to progressively worse acts against each other. The one thing they agreed upon was that they couldn't live together, so first they divided the Imperial palace, bricking off all connecting passageways. Then they made plans to divide the empire. But their mom torpedoed this plan, asking, "How are you going to divide your mother?" Frustrated at the demise of the plan to divide the empire, each began trying to arrange for the demise of the other. In December of 211, Caracalla finally succeeded, reportedly carrying out the deed with his own hands. Not satisfied with merely killing his brother, Caracalla then ordered the execution of 20,000 people suspected of liking Geta, including Caracalla's exiled wife. About the only person who liked his brother that he did not kill was his mother. He also ordered that all coins, statues, and other works of art featuring Geta be destroyed. Murdering his brother and tens of thousands of others took its toll on Caracalla, and he decided he needed a vacation. First, he had some fun stomping Germanic barbarians, earning himself the title of "Germanicus Maximus", then he went on a tour of sites of Alexander the Great's conquests. In Alexandria, he visited Alexander's tomb, then slaughtered a few thousand unarmed civilians, probably because someone said something nice about his brother. After that, Caracalla decided he'd had enough fun, so he got back to work. He headed east, where the Parthians were in disarray due to a civil war between Vologases V and Artabanos V; Caracalla pretended to ally himself with Artabanos, going so far as to promise to marry his sister, but then turned around and attacked him when he was unprepared. Well satisfied with the result of his amusing little trick, Caracalla wintered in Mesopotamia, presumably asking around as to whether Vologases had any close female relatives of marriageable age. But Caracalla's planned conquest of Parthia was not to be. In Mesopotamia, Caracalla fell victim to a conspiracy that probably included his Praetorian Prefect, Macrinus, and definitely included at least one of the Imperial bodyguards. The guard stuck a knife into Caracalla while he was relieving his bowels, then tried to escape on horseback; but another of Caracalla's guards nailed him with a javelin. Certainly, the charge of fratricide against Caracalla is hard to just pass off. But it's clear is that both boys were trying to murder each other. It just happened that Caracalla was the one who succeeded." P.S. The above mentiones Artabanos V was the great great grandson of my first Kook Of The Week,....it figures.
Septimius Severus Some consider him responsible for the Fall of Rome. Gibbon ("Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire") blamed Severus for the changes that led to turmoil and ultimate decay in Rome "by giving greater pay and benefits to soldiers and annexing the troublesome lands of northern Mesopotamia into the Roman empire, Septimius Severus brought increasing financial and military burdens to Rome's government". On this coin, Severus announces his conquest of Parthia (Mesopotamia, Iraq) SEVERVS AVG PART MAX Laureate head right P M TR P VIII COS II P P Victory flying left holding open wreath in both hands over round shield set on low base. Roman Imperial Coins 150, Roman Silver Coins 454 I guess one might call this coin his "Mission Accomplished" statement.
Mikjo0, that is some story. I do not know what is worse. How the mother felt or taking a dump and getting stabbed. I am sure I knew what Caracalla said.
