Gaius Claudius Severus
Encyclopedia
Gaius Claudius Severus was a Roman senator
who lived in the second half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century in the Roman Empire
.
Severus originated from a family of Pontian Greek descent
. Severus was born and raised in Pompeiopolis
, a city in the Roman province
of Galatia
.
Severus was a politician in the reign of the Roman Emperor
Trajan
98-117. Trajan had successfully annexed Arabia Petraea
in 105-106 and the region became a Roman province
. When Arabia Petraea became a Roman province, Severus became the first Roman Governor of Arabia Petraea.
Severus remained in office as governor from 106 until 116. During his tenure, a road was constructed from Aqaba
via Petra
and Bozrah
. A road was constructed between Petra and Bozrah, because those two chief cities were to become a link in a wider system of commercial and strategic communications. The road was named after Trajan and Severus.
Construction of the road was dated from 111 at the earliest. According to two surviving letters sent to an Egyptian soldier and the an assistant secretary to Severus called Apollonarius, one to his father and another to his mother, one of the letters bear the date March 26, 107, mentions that the construction work for the road was already in progress then. These letters discuss the construction period and how the road was constructed. Severus in 112 served as a suffect consul. Severus married an unnamed Roman woman and had a son called Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus
.
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
who lived in the second half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Severus originated from a family of Pontian Greek descent
Pontic Greeks
The Pontians are an ethnic group traditionally living in the Pontus region, the shores of Turkey's Black Sea...
. Severus was born and raised in Pompeiopolis
Pompeiopolis
Pompeiopolis was a Roman city-state in ancient Paphlagonia, situated today in the Taşköprü district, Kastamonu, Turkey. The exact location is 45 km north of Kastamonu, to the north of Taşköprü, in the valley of the Gökırmak...
, a city in the Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Galatia
Galatia
Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace , who settled here and became its ruling caste in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of...
.
Severus was a politician in the reign of the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
98-117. Trajan had successfully annexed Arabia Petraea
Arabia Petraea
Arabia Petraea, also called Provincia Arabia or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the 2nd century; it consisted of the former Nabataean kingdom in modern Jordan, southern modern Syria, the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Its capital was Petra...
in 105-106 and the region became a Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
. When Arabia Petraea became a Roman province, Severus became the first Roman Governor of Arabia Petraea.
Severus remained in office as governor from 106 until 116. During his tenure, a road was constructed from Aqaba
Aqaba
Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...
via Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
and Bozrah
Bozrah
Botsra, Botzrah, Bozrah is an ancient biblical city in southern modern-day Jordan, now Bouseira 20 Km to the south of Tafilah,between Tafilah and Shoubak.-History:...
. A road was constructed between Petra and Bozrah, because those two chief cities were to become a link in a wider system of commercial and strategic communications. The road was named after Trajan and Severus.
Construction of the road was dated from 111 at the earliest. According to two surviving letters sent to an Egyptian soldier and the an assistant secretary to Severus called Apollonarius, one to his father and another to his mother, one of the letters bear the date March 26, 107, mentions that the construction work for the road was already in progress then. These letters discuss the construction period and how the road was constructed. Severus in 112 served as a suffect consul. Severus married an unnamed Roman woman and had a son called Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus
Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus
Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus was a Roman Senator and philosopher that lived in the Roman Empire.Severus was the son of the consul and the first Roman Governor of Arabia Petraea, Gaius Claudius Severus by an unnamed mother. Severus was of Pontian Greek descent...
.
Sources
- From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192, by Albino Garzetti, 1974
- The Cambridge ancient history: The High Empire, A.D. 70-192, by Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone Edition: 2 - Item notes: v. 11 - 2000
- Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus article from German Wikipedia