JULIANUS (193).--SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS (193-211).

The Praetorians now offered the crown to the highest bidder, who
proved to be DIDIUS JULIÁNUS, a wealthy Senator. He paid about a
thousand dollars to each soldier of the Guard, twelve thousand in
number. After enjoying the costly honor two months he was deposed and
executed.

In the mean time several soldiers had been declared Emperor by their
respective armies. Among them was SEPTIMIUS SEVÉRUS, an African,
belonging to the army of the Danube.

Sevérus was an able soldier. He disarmed the Praetorians, banished
them from Rome, and filled their place with fifty thousand
legionaries, who acted as his body guard. The person whom he placed in
command of this guard was made to rank next to himself, with
legislative, judicial, and financial powers. The Senate he reduced to
a nonentity.

After securing the capital, Sevérus carried on a campaign against the
Parthians, and was victorious over the rulers of Mesopotamia and
Arabia. In 203 he erected, in commemoration of these victories, a
magnificent arch, which still stands at the head of the Forum. He died
at Eboracum (York), in Britain, while making preparations for a
campaign against the Caledonians.


CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND HELIOGABALUS.