07-23-2007, 10:42 PM
Thank you!
yes I read those after I had posted. I do agree that he was in Syria at that time. And the town of Massia you mentioned really makes me think. So it might really be a mistake.
On the other hand, those quotes from the HA and Dio which both deal with a period shortly before Severus went to Syria made me wonder.
The thing is that in this sentence the HA doesn't only mention that he took over command of the legion in Massilia (Massia) which could be a mistake but if you consider the time the HA mentions this would also be before he left for Syria.
It must be some time in 179/180, so that's before he was in Syria and he was back on his way from Spain. In this case Massilia would make sense as he probably would have passed it on his return to Italy.
The quote from Dio:
LXXII:23.1: “he [Cassius] laid claim to the throne, on the ground that he had already been elected by the soldiers who were then in Pannonia.“
made me wonder because at this time, when Cassius is reported to say something like that, he was in Syria. So if he refers to the soldiers which were THEN in Pannonia, he seems to refer to soldiers of the eastern legions which were in Pannonia at that time. So he might tell the remains of the Syrian legions still in Syria that he was already accepted by their colleagues (vexillations) serving in the west.
Same goes for the other quote:
25.2:"as for those Arabian and Parthian wars, it was not Cassius but you, that brought them to an end."
Here Marcus talks to his soldiers. He wouldn't say something like that to the western legions, which only sent vexillations to the east and don't have anything to do with the uprising of Cassius. It wouldn't make too much sense if he wouldn't be talking to parts of the eastern troops which acclaimed Cassius and about whom Cassius was talking before.
And why would the whole legion sit in the east, after the Parthians just received a pretty hard blow and wouldn't be able to attack at all, while the west is in such trouble? The parthian front was probably the calmest of them all after the victory of Verus. If we look at the situation, Marcus couldn't take any more troops from Britain, Africa or Spain. So the only ones left would be the ones from the east.
And if you ask me, at least after the rebellion of Cassius, I would have ordered part of the rebellious eastern troops to the west, just to have them close by and mixed with the loyal troops.
So all of this together with the HA mentioning that Severus took command of "the legion" in the west before he went to the east makes some kind of sense imho. The legion and its base were still in the east but maybe he was assigned to take command of some vexillations in the west to lead them back. Would make sense imho
Quote:SHA, Sept. 9.4, Herodian 2.10.8 and Dio 79.8.5-6,
yes I read those after I had posted. I do agree that he was in Syria at that time. And the town of Massia you mentioned really makes me think. So it might really be a mistake.
On the other hand, those quotes from the HA and Dio which both deal with a period shortly before Severus went to Syria made me wonder.
The thing is that in this sentence the HA doesn't only mention that he took over command of the legion in Massilia (Massia) which could be a mistake but if you consider the time the HA mentions this would also be before he left for Syria.
It must be some time in 179/180, so that's before he was in Syria and he was back on his way from Spain. In this case Massilia would make sense as he probably would have passed it on his return to Italy.
The quote from Dio:
LXXII:23.1: “he [Cassius] laid claim to the throne, on the ground that he had already been elected by the soldiers who were then in Pannonia.“
made me wonder because at this time, when Cassius is reported to say something like that, he was in Syria. So if he refers to the soldiers which were THEN in Pannonia, he seems to refer to soldiers of the eastern legions which were in Pannonia at that time. So he might tell the remains of the Syrian legions still in Syria that he was already accepted by their colleagues (vexillations) serving in the west.
Same goes for the other quote:
25.2:"as for those Arabian and Parthian wars, it was not Cassius but you, that brought them to an end."
Here Marcus talks to his soldiers. He wouldn't say something like that to the western legions, which only sent vexillations to the east and don't have anything to do with the uprising of Cassius. It wouldn't make too much sense if he wouldn't be talking to parts of the eastern troops which acclaimed Cassius and about whom Cassius was talking before.
And why would the whole legion sit in the east, after the Parthians just received a pretty hard blow and wouldn't be able to attack at all, while the west is in such trouble? The parthian front was probably the calmest of them all after the victory of Verus. If we look at the situation, Marcus couldn't take any more troops from Britain, Africa or Spain. So the only ones left would be the ones from the east.
And if you ask me, at least after the rebellion of Cassius, I would have ordered part of the rebellious eastern troops to the west, just to have them close by and mixed with the loyal troops.
So all of this together with the HA mentioning that Severus took command of "the legion" in the west before he went to the east makes some kind of sense imho. The legion and its base were still in the east but maybe he was assigned to take command of some vexillations in the west to lead them back. Would make sense imho
RESTITVTOR LIBERTATIS ET ROMANAE RELIGIONIS
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
