The year 193 is known as “The Year of the Five Emperors”.
Why? Well, on New Years Eve 192 Emperor Commodus was murdered, leading to a full on fight for control of the Roman empire which ended in the founding of a new dynasty.

As you can probably guess, during The Year of the Five Emperors, there were five emperors. In (kind of) chronological order, they were: Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, and Septimius Severus.

The first emperor to rule during the year of the five emperors was Pertinax. The son of a freed slave, Pertinax attempted to introduce a number of reforms, however, after he tried to institute reforms within the Praetorian Guard, they stormed the palace, and killed him.

After murdering Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard auctioned off the position of emperor, selling it to Didius Julianus (emperor 2), who held the position for 66 days before he was overthrown and killed (he must have felt some real buyers remorse in the moments before his death).

The auction was unprecedented, and everyone was HELLA MAD about it. So...

During the (deeply unpopular) tenure of Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger became the third Emperor of the year, claiming the position that April. He was popular among the people of Rome, and controlled a number of legions, but was, unfortunately, far away from Rome at the time.

Meanwhile, over in Britain, Spain, and Portugal, a number of legions were supporting emperor number four, Clodius Albinus.

Which brings us to the fifth and final emperor of the year: Septimius Severus.
Like emperors three and four he was in control of a number of legions, but unlike them, he was near Rome, so he began to march his army towards Rome.

As more Italian cities began to proclaim Septimus Severus emperor, the senate sensed the way the wind was blowing, and, before he reached Rome, they passed a motion, proclaiming him emperor, and sentenced Didius Julianus to death.

Now emperor, Septimus Severus saw the danger of the Praetorian Guard - who had already killed one emperor that year, and sold the title to another. He filled their ranks with his supporters, and executed those who had killed Pertinax.

In 194, after a number of large battles, Pescennius Niger was captured and beheaded, and in 197, after the biggest battle ever fought between Roman forces, Albinus was defeated, and his head sent to Rome.

Septiumus was finally the last emperor standing, and truly free to rule.

That was a hell of a lot of background, because the Romans were extremely into political drama (see, all of their history), but let’s talk about Septimus Severus…

Septiumus Severus started the Severan dynasty and, under his rule, the Roman empire reached its largest extent for a number of decades. He expanded territories, particularly in northern Africa, and strengthened Hadrians Wall.

Septimus Severus was, undoubtedly, an exceptionally interesting and accomplished Roman Emperor, but these days he is most remembered for one thing: his race.

He was born in what is now Lybia, to Phunic, Libyan, and Italian ancestors. Here is a contemporary portrait:

Septimus Severus’ Wife, Julia Domna, was born into what is now Syria, into a branch of the Royal Family of Emessa, a kingdom centred around what is now Homs.

If he were alive today, Septimus Severus and his sons would likely be seen as mixed race, however, it’s hard to be precise, or know exactly what any Roman figures looked like, as much of their art was highly stylised.

Either way, the Romans didn’t see race like we do. There were people from the empire, and people who weren’t. There was some prejudice against people from the frontiers, and less central areas of the Empire, but they were still Roman.

We see race though the lens of the recent colonial era, with an emphasis on racially biased slavery, but in the Roman Empire slaves and senators could be a range of races - in fact, during the Severan dynasty only around half of the senate was Italian.

This isn’t to say there was no racism within the Roman Empire, there almost certainly was - I specialise in the Victorian era, so feel unqualified to go any further into something so nuanced - but the Roman Empire was definitely not an all-white utopia like some people make out.

Anyway, despite Septimus’ successes, the Severan dynasty proved to be unstable. Septimus Severus couldn’t choose between his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, and upon his death in 211, in what is now York, they were supposed to share power.

That, unsurprisingly, did not go well.

Caracalla and Geta transported their Father’s ashes back to Rome, and argued the whole way. This was not an auspicious start to their joint rule. They decided to split the empire in half, but their mother persuaded them not to.

Ten months after their father died, their mother, Julia Domna, was still trying to reconcile the brothers. She called a meeting in her rooms on the 26th of December 211. At that meeting Caracalla had Geta stabbed to death, and he died in their mothers arms.

Caracalla ruled alone for six more years, before, on the 8th of April 217, he was stabbed to death on the road by a disgruntled guard while he was having a wee.

Despite the deaths of both of Septimus Severus’ sons, the Severan Dynasty persisted through the family of his wife, Julia Domna, until 235, when Severus Alexander was assassinated, precipitating the crisis of the third century.

Tldr; The Romans were dramatic af and really like stabbings and assassinations, there were multiple mixed race Roman Emperors, race hasn’t always been perceived the way we perceive it, and your family is absolutely not as messy as the family of Emperor Septimus Severus.

This is my first foray into Roman history (and probably my last) but if you like weird history, particularly the Victorian Era, check out my threads: https://twitter.com/JayHulmePoet/status/1077958443410042880 and if you can, you can tip me: https://ko-fi.com/jayhulme  or even become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/jayhulme