Bronze medallion of Commodus commemorating the successful campaigns in Britain, dated TRP X (AD 185) Illustrated by kind permission of Ars Classica Copyright © Ars Classica 2009 The respite proved only temporary, as civil war followed the death of Commodus in A.D. 193. The garrison was withdrawn to fight the cause of the governor of Britain, Clodius Albinus, and perished with him at the Battle of Lugdunum (Lyons, France) in A.D. 197. Taking advantage of the Roman garrisons temporary weakness, the northern tribes again devastated the province. Hadrians Wall was so badly damaged during the attacks that in places it required completely rebuilding. Although order was restored with some difficulty, the new emperor Septimius Severus arrived from Rome in A.D. 208 with a vast army intending to resolve the problems with the northern tribes once and for all. In three years of campaigning, which took the Roman army to the north of Scotland, they obeyed the command Let nobody escape destruction, no one, not even the babe in the mothers womb. The decimation of the highlands caused by this was so profound it was over 100 years before the inhabitants of Scotland were able to mount an effective attack again. This population vacuum was, in the interim, filled by Gaelic tribes from Ireland, the Hibernae, replacing or augmenting the surviving Scots. In A.D. 211, Severus died at York. His two sons, Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius, called Antoninus III in some old books) and Geta hastily returned to Rome to secure their inheritance. The Severans issued coins in gold, silver and bronze commemorating their campaign in Britain, all bearing the legend VICTORIAE BRITANNICAE in full or abbreviated, as well as adding the honorary title BRIT(annicus) to their name on the obverse.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 23:02:20 +0000
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