Wall of Severus

Engraving of the Wall of Severus (1854)

The Wall of Severus was possibly a defensive fortification built by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (reigned AD 193–211) in Britannia during the emperor's campaign there. Three texts mention the wall:

1. Eutropius writes: "He had his last war in Britain, and to fortify the conquered provinces with all security, he built a wall for 132 miles from sea to sea. He died at York, a reasonably old man, in the sixteenth year and third month of his reign." (Eutropius, Historiae Romanae Breviarium viii 19.1, written in AD 369).
2. Historia Augusta, within the Life of Severus, mentions: "He built a wall across the island of Britain from sea to sea, and thus made the province secure — the crowning glory of his reign; in recognition thereof he was given the name Britannicus." (Historia Augusta, Life of Severus, 18:2, written around AD 395).
3. Bede writes: "In the year of our lord 189 (AD), Severus became emperior (of Rome)... being of a harsh disposition and engaged in many wars, he governed the state vigorously, but with much trouble, having been victorious in all the grievous civil wars that occurred in his time, he was drawn into Britain by a revolt of almost all the confederated tribes, and after many great an severe battles,he thought fit to divide that part of the island that he recovered from the other unconquered nations, not with a wall as some have imagined but with a rampart, for a wall is made of stones. A rampart for which camps are fortified to repel enemies is made of sods cut out of the ground and raised high above the ground like a wall, having in front of it a trench from whence the sods were taken, with strong stakes of wood afitted above it. Thus severus drew a great trench and rampart fortified with several towers from sea to sea, and there at York afterwards he fell sick and died."^[1]

Tradition interprets these and other early sources as referring either to the Antonine Wall or to Hadrian's Wall. However, if Severus did build a wall, it has been speculated that it may be the origin of Offa's Dyke, which has been dated back to at least the mid-5th century,^[2] thus predating the reign of Offa of Mercia in the 8th century.

Notes

1. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of england, Bede (673 to 735 AD), Book I, chapter 4
2. "The 'Wall of Severus'". Retrieved 18 September 2016.

Sources

• Wall of Severus
• The literary sources for the ‘Wall of Severus’