their country, and even the Praetorians were
ashamed of their unworthy choice. Julianus found himself on the throne
of the world without a friend.

[Illustration: Septimius Severus.]

The armies in the provinces, when they heard of these transactions at
the capital, rose in revolt, and refused to acknowledge the authority of
Julian. Clodius Albinus commanded the legions in Britain, Septimius
Severus those in Pannonia, and Pescennius Niger the army of the East.
Severus, more active than his competitors, was saluted by his soldiers
as emperor, and marched rapidly toward Rome. Julian, deserted by the
Praetorians, was condemned to death by the Senate, and was executed as a
common criminal after a reign of only sixty-six days. Severus was
acknowledged as their lawful emperor by the Senate, June 2, A.D. 193,
and his first act was to disarm the Praetorian Guards and banish them
from the capital.

He next marched against Niger, and defeated him in two battles, while he
was also successful in a severe contest with Clodius Albinus at Lyons.
Both of his competitors were put to death, and Severus, now set free
from fear of rivalry, began to show the native cruelty of his
disposition. Forty-one Senators, whom he accused of having favored
Albinus, were executed, with their wives and children; and many of the
provincial nobles of Spain and Gaul shared their fate. Yet Severus was
in many respects a useful ruler; strict in the administration of the
laws, careful to correct abuses, and restraining his subjects with stern
impartiality. Peace returned to the provinces, cities were repeopled,
roads repaired, Rome abounded in provisions, and the people were
satisfied. Severus changed the constitution of the Praetorian Guards, and
filled up their ranks with the bravest soldiers of the legions of the
frontier. These barbarians, he thought, would be able to suppress any
rebellion that might arise; and he increased the number to fifty
thousand men. The Praefect of the Praetorians, who had at first been a
simple soldier, now became the chief minister of the emperor, and was at
the head of the finances and even of the law. The celebrated lawyer
Papinian was appointed Praefect after the fall of Plautianus; and several
great jurisconsults, particularly Paulus and Ulpian, flourished under
the reign of Severus or his family.

Severus, however, was a military despot, and, despising the feeble
Senate, assumed both the legislative and the executive