Was Septimius Severus An African Emperor? The ACTUAL Truth

The Origins of Septimius Severus

While some classicists tend to propose a completely Italic origin for the Septimii family, there is a
much larger number of historians who present a Punic origin on the father's side, supported by
epigraphic and literary data.
Specifically, an inscription from Leptis, the ancient Punic city of Lepqī, is presented, celebrating a
member of the Septimii, L. Septimius Severus, introduced as the grandfather of the emperor ("Avo
domini nostri") who would have served as Sufete (Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, 412), an
indigenous magistracy of Punic origin.

THE THEATER OF LEPTIS

Another important element in defining the native origin of the Septimii comes from the poet Statius,
who wrote a lyric ode dedicated to a young man named Septimius Severus who had been sent as a
child by his family to Veii to study.

Statius writes: "Is it possible then that rugged Leptis in the distant Syrtes gave birth to you? Who will ever believe that dear Septimius did not take his first steps on each of Romulus's hills? Who will dare deny that, once weaned, he nourished himself by drinking from the fountain of Juturna? Your virtue should not surprise: even before knowing the shallow-bottomed Africa, you immediately enter the ports of the Ausonians and, adopted, still tiny you sail on the waves of Etruria."
And again:
"your eloquence is not venal and your sword rests in its sheath, unless your friends beg you to wield
it." But the most important passage is 45-46: "non sermo Poenus, non habitus, Tibi externa non
mous; Italus, Italus!": "The language you speak is not Punic, nor is your figure Punic, your mentality
has nothing foreign: Italian, Italian you are!"

After initially emphasizing the African origin, Statius insists several times on how no one would have ever doubted the young man's Romanness, who in language and customs is to be considered Italic, highlighting something that would have otherwise been obvious in the case of a true colonial.

As historian Anthony Birley points out, a member of a colonial family returned to Italy would have
been deeply offended if it had been emphasized how Italian he appeared in language and customs,
as these aspects should have been part of his original cultural heritage, and the poet's compliments
would be useless if the Septimii had been of Italic origin. The poetry communicates a great deal
between the lines. In the Roman mentality, the memory of the Punic wars and the Hannibalic threat
was still very much alive.

There is no doubt that the appearance in Italy of the first Libyan and Punic
citizens must have aroused many comments and mistrust, which the poet Statius wants to dispel: the speech and mentality of his friend Severus are Italic, because he grew up in Italy.

Returning to inscription 412 from Leptis, it is remembered how the emperor's grandfather had first
held the position of Sufete and then that of Duumvir, as a consequence of Vespasian's concessions.
During Vespasian's reign, in fact, Leptis had been granted the ius latii, that is, Latin rights, and a city
that was previously a "peregrine" community, i.e., foreign, is recognized as a municipium, its
magistrates are automatically granted Roman citizenship, and their title changes from the indigenous one (in this case the Punic "Sufeti") to the Latin one (Duumviri).

Around 120 AD, Lucius Septimius Severus (the grandfather) married an unknown girl from whom he
had two sons; one of these was Publius Septimius Geta. Geta married Fulvia Pia, the daughter of a
wealthy family of Roman colonials, the Fulvii. From this couple, Lucius Septimius Severus was born
around 146 AD, who was to become the first African emperor of Rome.

The Phenotype of Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus was therefore partly Punic, at least a quarter, perhaps half, but this is not enough
to give us certainty about his phenotype: the Punic world was extremely varied from an ethnic point
of view, and as the 2009 study on the onomastics present on the cippi of the Tophet of Carthage by
French archaeologists Stephane Bourdin and Sandrine Crouzet revealed, already in the 3rd century
BC there were Punic citizens who were children or grandchildren of Greek, Etruscan, Italic, and even
Celtic immigrants.

TOPHET OF CARTHAGE Furthermore, both osteological studies on Carthaginian burials and literary
sources show that in the Punic social fabric there was also a component consisting of individuals of a phenotype that today we would define as sub-Saharan

#ancientrome #mythbusting #debunkingmyths

[metatronyt]

I swear before I started filming I told myself 100 times "Septimius, Septimius! Not Septimus" And here we are. I said Septimus :D

[jamesturner]

This is bringing back all the memories of seeing those black politicians in Britain during TV interviews saying how Septimius should be taught more in school curriculums so that little black boys and girls have an icon to aspire to in the otherwise white history of England. Note that the politicians never say that Septimius was black, but by repeatedly calling him “African” they are playing a linguistic association game to try and fleece you. It always felt strange at the time and now downright slimy looking back. 🤔

[TetsuShima]

"Be harmonious to each other, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men."
Septimius Severus' last words to his children Geta and Caracalla

[ronsorage]

Its funny that when people hear Africa, they only think black Africans. Forgetting places like Egypt are also there and also the large majority of the North was well traveled and settled by others.

[admirekashiri]

I can’t believe this is still debated! Look at how he is depicted 😂. Before watching I’m guessing he had Punic, Roman and potentially Berber ancestry (North African, Mediterranean European and Levantine ancestry). He was not black (Niger Congo, Chadic, Nilotic, Horner, Bantu, Khoi Khoi, Hadza, San, Pygmy, Omotic etc).

[andersschmich]

He was of mixed Italian, North African and Middle Eastern descent most likely. Which highlights the diversity of the Empire, but he certainly wasn’t a Bantu.

[lordrichardson]

Completely insane that people actually believe it was even possible for a sub sarharan .. black African to have been an emperor of Rome.... we are seeing a concerted effort to re write history in an attempt to make people believe that Western society was always "diverse"

[TetsuShima]

Ngl, Septimius deserves much more recognition. Unlike other roman tyrants, he sucessfully ruled the Empire until his natural death. Shame his only appearence in modern media was a cameo in "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964)

[Arkantos]

Another thing about skin tones seen in art is that many pigments will darken over time so a previously tanned guy on a painting can look a lot browner after as little as a century. Then you also have potential touch ups done by later artists who may or may not have gotten their colours right. If you look closely at the painting of Septimus you can see that the skin tone isn't consistent and it seems like the pale parts are way too pale which I think shows the difference in aging of the two pigments rather than an artistic choice.

[houseaccount]

The man is only African due to Modern terms. When Rome existed and even up till the 1900's you were what your group was, if you were English and born in China, you were English, just born in China. This is why 90% of countries in the world do not recognize ethnically different people as being a citizen. Go to Japan, you are not Japanese's just because you are born there, if you are of British parents.

Also Punic people were Mediterranean Levant people. Which if he was half Punic, he would still not be Black African.

[Von_Luck]

The video I've been waiting on, ty Metatron

[FaceDwnDagon]

If you look it up, even today, Tunisian and Libyan people often have very "medium" or olive skin-tones. If we must imagine him as some kind of color, I'd say that's probably the most reasonable guess.

[TheGM-XX]

Kinda like famous African-American Elon Musk.

[guesswho]

Imagine historians in 2000 years arguing that Obama or trump were what we consider "native Americans".

[gts]

He's probably a mix between Berber (Amazigh) and Punic + other Mediterranean. I wish you talked more about the possiblity of him being an indigenous Libyan.

[rogeriopenna]

I havent seen the video, but anyone can google for pictures of Zinedine Zidane, which although born in France, has family from Algeria (or Morocco?) and thus is African in origin. And also for photos of ASIAN Bashar al-Assad...

Africa and Asia are quite huge and peple around the mediterranean have more in common with each other than with people on the extreme east of Asia or south of the Sahara.

[PolaBeaver]

The fresco also shows him having blue eyes and his features are not SSA. So, he was either Semitic or Italian or a mix of the both.

[tomhalla]

Based on nothing more than where Septimus was from, I would default envision him looking like Muammar Gadhafi.

[LatimusChadimus]

There are people in South America that have naturally white skin but in America they have to label themselves as Hispanic on paperwork, just like a lot of Asians have naturally white skin and they have to label themselves has Asian on documents, I'm mostly German with a little bit of Italian and for some reason I have to label myself as Caucasian even though none of my lineage comes from Georgia Armenia or Azerbaijan.

[glynnw]

Good to see your logical, well thought out delving into Roman history. Always interesting, looking back on history. Too many times, people try to make history fit their own agenda/s. Thank you for being unbiased.