The past century provides us with three of the greatestvillains of all time based on the number of human beings killed. Mao, Stalin,and Hitler used modern technology to murder millions and protect their positionsof power. Hitler was probably the oddest case as he used racial purification to justify murder using acorruption of the theory of Eugenics. Itis estimated that Mao is responsible for 40-70 million deaths, Stalin 50million, and Hitler 12 million.
The Roman Empire had its share of villains also. We have seenpsychotics like Caligula, Nero, Domitian, and Commodus, sprinkled throughout its history, but with Septimius Severus and his son we reach a newdefinition of evil and villainy. Here are the father and son.
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As Gibbon puts it:
The unforgiving temperof Severus, stimulated by avarice, indulged a spirit of revenge where there wasno room for apprehension..
And so his cruelty became a mask for misrule as he allowed thearmy to take on a new form which would threaten the future of the empire.
Severus possessed aconsiderable share of vigor and ability; but the daring soul of the firstCaesar, or the deep policy of Augustus, were scarcely equal to the task ofcurbing the insolence of the victorious legions. By gratitude, by misguidedpolicy, by seeming necessity, Severus was reduced to relax the nerves ofdiscipline.
Elated by success, thearmy became enervated by luxury, and felt themselves raised above theirsubjects by their dangerous privileges, so that they became incapable ofmilitary fatigue, oppressive to the country, and impatient of a justsubordination.
As Severus ruled Rome as his possession and the army becamea threat, he was also faced with the conflict between his two sons Caracallaand Geta, who despised each other.
Severus foretold thatthe weaker of his two sons would fall a sacrifice to the stronger; who would inhis turn, be ruined by his own vices.
Severus died in York, England after a foolish expeditionnorth of the Antonine Wall, outliving Caracalla’s attempts to create a mutinydesigned to murder him. With Severus’ death, and by his recommendation, thearmy named Caracalla and Geta co-emperors in 211 A.D. For a while the brotherstried to make their relationship work, dividing the imperial palace into twoparts and putting up walls to separate them. Later, they sought to divide theempire in two: one brother in the east and the other in the west. Before thisplan was implemented, however, Caracalla had Geta murdered in front of their mother.
Caracalla rushed to the praetorian camp and lay prostrate on the ground begging the guard to understand he killed his brother in self-defense. One of his first acts as sole emperor was to kill 20,000 persons who were guilty of association with Geta. The reason given for this atrocity was that he might encounter them on the street and be reminded of his brother! Even some who uttered Geta’s name in public were struck down.
A year after Geta's death Caracalla left Rome neverto return. He traveled throughout the eastern provinces overseeing the murderof thousands. In Alexandria, for example,he ordered a general massacre killing several thousand for no reason. And so the empireunder Caracalla degraded further as Gibbon tells us:
The liberality of thefather has been restrained by prudence, and his indulgence to the troops wastempered by firmness and authority. The careless profusion of the son was thepolicy of one reign, and the inevitable ruin both of the army and the empire. The vigor of the soldiers,instead of being confirmed by the severe discipline of camps, melted away inthe luxury of cities.
But Caracalla would come to his end soon enough. Hearing aprophesy that the Praetorian Prefect Macrinius would become emperor, members ofCaracalla’s contingent sent warning letters to the emperor. Caracalla, inthe midst of watching a chariot race when he received them, gave the dispatches toMacrinius unopened and asked him to see if they contained anything important.Upon reading the dispatches, Macrinius realized his life was in danger and hadthe emperor assassinated.
The next 67 years would see 23 emperor rise and fall. The empire had become a military dictatorship with the choice of emperor dictated by the capriciousness of the army.
The next 67 years would see 23 emperor rise and fall. The empire had become a military dictatorship with the choice of emperor dictated by the capriciousness of the army.
