Gaius Claudius Severus was a

Roman senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

who lived in the second half of the 1st century AD and the first half of the 2nd century AD.

Life

Part of a family of Pontian Greek descent, Severus was born and raised in

Pompeiopolis Pompeiopolis ( el, Πομπηιούπολις, city of Pompeius) was a Roman city in ancient Paphlagonia, identified in the early 19th century with the ruins of Zımbıllı Tepe, located near Taşköprü, Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea Region ...

, a city in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Galatia. Severus was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

in the reign of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

(98-117). Trajan had successfully annexed

Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Emp ...

in 105 to 106, and appointed Severus as its first

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, who organized the region into a Roman province. Severus remained in the office from 106 until 116. During his tenure a road,

Via Nova Traiana The Via Traiana Nova or Via Nova Traiana ( for, , Latin, Trajan's New Road), previously known as the Via Regia or King's Highway, was an ancient Roman road built by Emperor Trajan in the province of Arabia Petraea, from Aqaba on the Red Sea to ...

, was paved from

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...

via Petra to

Bozrah Busaira ( ar, بُصَيْرا, buṣayrā; also Busayra, Busairah or Buseirah) is a town in Tafilah Governorate, Jordan, located between the towns of Tafilah ( Tophel) and Shoubak and closer to the latter. Bozrah ( he, בָּצְרָה ; also ...

. There are two surviving letters that mention the construction of the road, sent by Apollonarius, an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

soldier and assistant secretary to Severus, dated to early 107. One is addressed to his father, the other to his mother. A milestone found near Thoana, 54 miles north of Petra, attests that it was completed in 110/111. He was suffect consul ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...

'' in the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of October-December 112 with Titus Settidius Firmus as his colleague.

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. Hi ...

, G. Paci, and E. P. Serenelli, "Per una nuova edizione dei Fasti Potentini," ''Picus'' 23 (2003), pp. 51-108 Severus married an unnamed Roman woman and had a son named

Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus (113 – after 176) was a senator and philosopher who lived in the Roman Empire. Life Severus was the son of the consul and first Roman Governor of Arabia Petraea, Gaius Claudius Severus, by an unnamed mother. ...

, ordinary consul in 146.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Severus, Gaius 1st-century births 2nd-century deaths 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century Roman governors of Arabia Petraea Roman governors of Arabia Petraea Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Severus, Gaius