Identity and memory as legitimation principle. The case of the construction of Septimius Severus imperial power

Abstract

I will focus on the Roman Empire during the final years of the 2nd century A.D., which are considered by Classical Historiography as critical. This epithet is based on the detection of estructural and circumstancial changes linked to state power’s concept. Emperor Pertinax’s murder in 193 can be understood as the trigger of the civil war extended up to the year 197. During those years the tutelary of state power was jeopardized, when four Emperors were crowned at the same time. By the time this struggle ended, Lucius Septimius Severus was recognized as the victorious general and the first of his name in the new dynastic line.

Considering these facts, it is the purpose of my work to analize the rising figure of Septimius Severus, from civil war’s clashing context through which the Emperial legitimacy had to be set.