
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus
First African emperor of Rome (193 – 211), born in Leptis Magna, now Al-Khums in Libya.
Biography
of Septimius Severus
- Septimius Severus was a syndexios (probably a Pater).
- Active c. 145 – 211.
- He was an Emperor.
TNMP 275
The very military Septimius Severus was undoubtedly aware of Mithras. An inscription mentions a ’chaplain’ in the imperial household responsible for Persian worship: sacerdos invicti Mithrae domus Augustanae [TNMM 453]. It is not clear, however, that the god was firmly and definitively established on the Palatine. The Petrogenic Mithras claimed to have been deciphered on a gold coin bearing the image of Septimius Severus (196) is merely a reduced representation of Phosphoros, the ’morning star’.
References
- Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby. Inscription of Septimius Archelaus in EDCS
- Robert Turcan (1993) Mithra et le Mithriacisme
- Steve Benner for CoinWeek (2023) The Cult of Mithras on Ancient Coins
Mentions
Coin of Septimius Severus and god on horseback
TNMM 518
Coin of Istrus, Moesia Inferior, showing Caracalla on one side and a god on horseback (Mithras ?) on the other.
Inscription of Septimius Archelaus
TNMM 453
This marble plaque was made by a Pater and priest Lucius Septimius Archelaus of Mithras for him, his wife and his freedmen and freedwomen.
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