Dio the Dissident: The Portrait of Severus in the Roman History

Abstract

The late second century witnessed a great change in the Roman Empire; a civil war broke out, Septimius Severus took power, and a new dynasty began. At the same time, the imperial doctrine of how the empire should be governed changed. The previous dynasty of the Antonines had emphasised co-operation between emperor and senate; yet after he had won the civil war against his former ally Clodius Albinus, Septimius Severus directed a change in this policy through his actions. Despite his initial promises, Severus made a purge of the senate in ce 197 and executed a number of senators. According to ancient writers, this eradication was a shock to the members of the senatorial class, who from then on faced uncertainty and fear. Cassius Dio, a senator of this period, wrote about these events in his history, which heavily scrutinized Severus. It is likely that one of the main purposes of Dio’s history was to explain to his fellow senators from the eastern part of the empire, how the empire worked and how it should have worked. This article argues that the critique of Dio should be seen as part of senatorial disapproval not only of the purges but, on a larger scale, of the changing imperial policy of Severus.