Changes

Severus raised the status and influence of the army. However, he ignored and even persecuted members of the old senatorial order. Septimius was aware that he had seized power and was not a constitutional monarch. He knew that the Senate disliked him and saw him as a usurper<ref> Life of Septimius Severus, x </ref>. He tried to marginalize the Senate and the Italian aristocracy who had traditionally played an important role in the government of the Empire. This was no longer the case in the reign of the founder of the Severin dynasty. He would often appoint commoners and non-Italians to high offices and governorships. This infuriated the Senatorial class. However, Severus would not tolerate any opposition and he executed or exiled many Senators.  The reign of the first African Emperor was to see a rapid decline in the prestige and the influence of the Senate. Real power lay not with the Senate but with the bureaucracy and the army. Severus dismantled the long-established system that was established by Augustus where the Emperor would share power with the Senate and the Italian aristocracy. Instead, Septimius Severus reign was one that has been characterized as a ‘military monarchy’ <ref> Hekster, Oliver, Rome and its Empire, AD 193–284 (Edinburgh, Archer Press, 2008), p. 201</ref>. That is that power and legitimacy did not come from any political institution but from the army.  In subsequent periods, any general with the support of the legions could claim the Imperial throne leading to endemic instability. The development of a ‘military monarchy’ was one of the main reasons for the so-called ‘Crisis of the Third Century’ <ref> Hekster, p. 232</ref>.