The Statue of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna.

Lucius Septimius Severus was one of Rome's great emperors. He ruled the Roman empire from 14 April 193 AD until his death in February 211 AD in York (in Britain). He was of Libyan 'Amazigh' origin and was born in Leptis Magna on the 11th of April 145 AD, and as such he became the first foreign emperor in Roman history. His Amazigh Libyan father Publius Septimius Geta was a wealthy man who held no political status; while his mother Fulvia Pia was of the Italian Fulvius gens, who was of a Plebeian origin. After advancing through the customary succession of offices he first seized power after the death of emperor Pertinax in 193, deposed the emperor Didius Julianus, and then went on to defeat the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus in 194 and 197 respectively.