Lucius Septimius (the rest of his name is unknown) was a governor of

Britannia Prima Britannia Prima or Britannia I (Latin for "First Roman Britain, Britain") was one of the Roman province, provinces of the Diocese of Britain, Diocese of "the Roman Britain, Britains" created during the Diocletian Reforms at the end of the 3rd cen ...

, a province of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...

during the later fourth century AD. He is known only from a dedication to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

on a column base he made at

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

. The dedication is most likely to date between AD 360 and 380, perhaps during the reign of the emperor Julian who was a pagan himself although no more precise dating can be attributed. It shows that non-Christian beliefs were still held by people of importance despite the growth of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in the empire at the time. The inscription reads:

To Jupiter, Best and Greatest, His Perfection Lucius Septimius . . ., governor of Britannia Prima, restored his monument being a citizen of Rheims. This statue and column erected under the ancient religion Septimius restores, ruler of Britannia Prima.Prudence Jones, Nigel Pennick, 1995, ''A history of pagan Europe'', page 97. Routledge

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Septimius, Lucius Roman governors of Britain Ancient Romans in Britain 4th-century Romans Septimii