THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY
T R A V E L N O T E S
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AND THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN EARLY ROME
DEDICATED TO DR. IVAN VAN SERTIMA "At the time that the twelve African Christian martyrs died in A.D. 180 there were living two great African personages: Septimius Severus, who later became Emperor of Rome; and Tertullian, one of the greatest of Church leaders."
--J.C. DeGraft-Johnson, African Glory
Of my recent travels in Europe I suppose that it is appropriate that we start with Rome, for it was to Rome that I flew to on the first leg of my European journeys that began in January 2003. And so it was, that after connecting flights from New York to London to Amsterdam to Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci Airport, and a late night check in at the Royal Gambrinus Hotel in the city center, I was ready to begin my tour of eternal Rome--one of the world's most celebrated cities.
Actually I had not even planned to visit Rome at the time. I thought that I had secured a speaking engagement in Stockholm through some African brothers in Sweden, but when that fell through and with time in Europe on my hands, Rome became an attractive prospective destination. And much to my delight, I found that someone special would be looking out for me when I got there and that was none other than Samia Nkrumah--Kwame Nkrumah's youngest daughter! During the course of several days I really came to like sister Samia and not only because of her father. She was described to me even before the trip not just as "the only daughter of Kwame Nkrumah. She is a bright, young, and very energetic political journalist, who I am sure can give you some insight during your tour!"
Indeed, Samia turned out to be a beautiful and charming and really good sister, and I enjoyed her company immensely. She even arranged for me to give a slide presentation at a local bookstore and you know I liked that! So I not only visited Rome but lectured there also! And the lecture, translated by Samia's husband, was followed by dinner, coffee, cocktails and conversation that lasted well into the night, Thanks so much sister Samia. for she was a sort of African oasis in a kind of Roman desert, as I saw only a scattering of other Africans during my visit, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians, a handful of Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians, a few Senegalese, one brother from Ireland and an occasional African-American tourist.
ROMAN ANTIQUITIES
As stated earlier, the attraction that Rome had for me was her vast store of antiquities and there was really far too much to be taken in during the course of a week's time. But I did get to see a bunch of wonderful sites and monuments that ranged from the Roman Coliseum to Trajan's Column, to the Baths of Caracalla, to the City Walls, to the Imperial Forums, to the Circus Maximus, to the Pantheon, to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, to the obelisks of Thutmose III and Ramses II and quite a few other places too. These were all impressive structures and I was happy to see and photograph them but I must say that as a whole they paled in comparison to the mighty monuments of ancient Egypt. I also visited and glanced at, although it was heavily scaffolded, the great Axumite obelisk taken to Rome from Ethiopia by the Italians during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia from 1935 to 1941 and waiting for its long overdue return to Mother Africa.
And of course I went to all of the major museums in Rome. These museums included the Vatican Museums, the Capitolini Museum, the Etruscan Museum and at least two national museums--the Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme and the Museo Nazionale Romano.
The Vatican Museums have a vast collection that includes a number of excellent Greek and Roman pieces and some exquisite pieces from ancient Egypt, including a larger than life statue of Queen Tuya (wife of Seti I and mother of Ramses II) of Dynasty Nineteen. The statue was originally in Ramses II's mortuary temple (The Ramesseum) only to be taken from Egypt to Rome by Emperor Caligula.
The Capitolini Museum, with its stunning collection of marbles and described as the "oldest public collection of ancient artworks in the world", also has a set of ancient Egyptian artifacts and a superb image of Diana/Artemis of Ephesus in the form of a multi-breasted Black fertility goddess. And I must say, giving credit where it is due, that the Romans worked wonders with marble and probably the best representations of such works are housed in the Capitolini Museum.
The Etruscan Museum was splendid also and I was able to wander its halls towards the end of my trip to Rome. The Etruscans were the precursors of the Romans in Italy and their culture reflects a considerably closer relationship with ancient Africa than their successors. As in ancient Egyptian art, the Etruscan men are consistently dark while the Etruscan women are portrayed much lighter. Etruscan women seem to have enjoyed a freedom far greater than that of later Roman women, and women and men in general are frequently portrayed as happy and loving couples in Etruscan art. I was hard pressed to find anything of the sort among the Romans themselves.
There were in the museum, I believe, two or three Etruscan vases with obviously Africoid faces depicted on them, and one of the more interesting of the Etruscan exhibits, dated to 275 B.C.E., depicts what appears to be an African elephant.
DISTINGUISHED AFRICANS IN EARLY ROME
I suppose that you could accurately say that African people can be found everywhere on the planet in either ancient or modern times or both. And certainly I had been finding information about the African presence in early Rome for quite a while now.
Ancient African people, sometimes called Moors, are known to have had a significant presence and influence in early Rome. African soldiers, specifically identified as Moors, were actively recruited for Roman military service and were stationed in Britain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Many of these Africans rose to high rank. Lusius Quietus, for example, was one of Rome's greatest generals and was named by Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 C.E.) as his successor. Quietus is described as a "man of Moorish race and considered the ablest soldier in the Roman army."
In addition to this background, I also knew that by the end of the second century of the Christian Era more than one third of all of the members of the Roman Senate were born in Africa and Africans were dominant in Rome's intellectual life. And going all of the way back to my first reading of of Joel Augustus Rogers' World's Great Men of Color I found out about the African-Roman writer Publius Terentius Afer (190-159 B.C.E.). It was this African, Terence, who penned the immortal words, "I am a man and nothing human is alien to me."
THEOLOGIANS, MARTYRS AND SAINTS
In addition to all of the above, I also knew, regarding the African presence in early Rome, about saints and theologians and martyrs like Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustine. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullian, for example, was the first of the church writers to make Latin the language of Christianity. Tertullian was born into a rich family in Carthage in 170 C.E. He wrote Greek and Latin fluently and was "well trained in the school of rhetoric where Apuleius (another African), had been a pupil a generation before." Tertullian's wife was a Christian and he himself a convert. A man of fiery temperament and evangelical spirit, Tertullian is said to have lived to an advanced age. In 197 C.E., during the reign of Septimius Severus, Tertullian's Apologia was published.
St. Cyprian is called the "greatest of the bishops of Carthage, the first African martyr-bishop and the man who, more than anyone, organized the African Church." His reputation was such that the Churches of Gaul and Spain appealed to him as an arbiter. Like Tertullian before him, Cyprian was born of a prosperous family in Carthage in 200 C.E. He eventually held a chair in rhetoric at Carthage and in middle age, after reading the works of Tertullian, he converted to Christianity. Following his conversion Cyprian distributed most of his fortune to the poor. As an orator he was such that only three years after becoming a Christian he was elected bishop of Carthage. Sixty of Cyprian's letters have survived as testament to his great intellectual gifts. On September 14, 258 C.E., St. Cyprian, after paying his executioner twenty-five gold pieces and surrounded by a large crowd of Christians, was beheaded.
Susan Raven, in her wonderful book Rome in Africa, refers to St. Augustine, born in 354 C.E. in Thagaste, North Africa, as "the greatest African." Augustine was the son of St. Monica and largely because of her desires he converted to Christianity in 386 C.E. In 395 C.E. he became Bishop of Hippo, North Africa. His teaching on free will, original sin and the operation of God's grace has been in illuminated in numerous publications, particularly in his City of God, published in 397 C.E. St. Augustine died in August 430 C.E. during the Vandal siege of Hippo.
AFRICAN POPES
There were at least three African Popes at Rome. St. Victor I became the first known African bishop of Rome in 189 C.E. and reigned until 199 C.E. Victor I, the first pope to write in Latin and the first pope known to have had dealings with the imperial household, is described as "the most forceful of the 2nd-century popes." According to the late scholar Dr. Edward Vivian Scobie:
"Although nothing is known of the circumstances of his death he is venerated as a martyr, and his feast is kept on July the 28th. Today, in the history of the Roman Church he is remembered, not only for his ruling that Easter should be celebrated on Sunday, but he has also been named in the canon of the Ambrosian Mass, and he is said by Saint Jerome to have been the first in Rome to celebrate the Holy Mysteries in Latin."
St. Miltiades, a Black priest from Africa, was elected the thirty-second pope after St. Peter in 311 C.E. Under Miltiades, after the issuance of an edict of tolerance signed by the Emperors Galerius, Licinius and Constantine, the great persecution of the Christians came to an end and they were allowed to practice their religion in peace. St. Miltiades is regarded as a Christian martyr and died in early January 314 C.E.
The third of the African popes and the forty-ninth pope overall was St. Gelasius I. He was born in Rome of African parents and governed from 492 to 496 C.E. He is described as "famous all over the world for his learning and holiness" and "more a servant than a sovereign." He died on November 19, 496 C.E. and like St. Victor I and St. Miltiades, St. Gelasius I was canonized. As a Saint, his Feast-day is held on the 21st of November. Again, according to Dr. Scobie, "St. Gelasius I has been described as Great even among the Saints."
BLACK POWER IN ANCIENT ROME: THE SEVERAN DYNASTY
The crowning highlight of my trip to Rome was the National Roman Museum, where all of the information that I had been reviewing for all of these years was validated. For here, on the last day of my trip I found evidence of an African dynasty at the very height of imperial Rome.
I had been in Rome for almost a week by then, and while it had been for the most part a pleasant experience I had not made the major and meaningful find that I had hoped that I would. I had seen no really Africoid images of Hannibal Barca or any Black Madonna statues or anything like that. And then it happened. Walking methodically through the museum galleries I gazed into Room XIII and there it was! Even at a glance I thought that one bust, in particular, looked strikingly Africoid. I looked closer and read the caption on the bust. It read Alexander Severus. I was familiar with that name--Severus. And then I turned around and saw a marvelous bust of Septimius Severus. And then I saw busts and statues of Septimius' two sons--Geta and Caracalla and they all looked Africoid too, some more so than others. I had stumbled (or was I divinely led?) into a room that I had no prior knowledge of filled with these images of African looking Roman emperors!
This dynasty, known to historians as the Severan Dynasty, began with the accession to the throne of Septimius Severus in 193 C.E. In actuality, Septimius shared the throne for two years with Pesennius Niger. Indeed, could Pesennius Niger, another of Rome's outstanding military commanders, himself have been an African? His name certainly indicates that possibility.
Records state that Septimius was born in Leptis Magna on the North African coast (modern day Libya) on April 11 in either 145 or 146 C.E. And Septimius was not just born in Africa. Numerous pictures, busts and statues of him show him to be phenotypically Black. Here, I have to say that the information that I was able to gather in Rome in March 2003 was further augmented by the acquisition of a color post card of a wood panel of Septimius Severus and his family, done around 200 C.E., that I obtained seven months later in the Antiquities Museum in Berlin. Again, there is no doubt that he was a Black man and the painting itself shows him as what I would describe as somewhere between copper colored and deep burnished brown.
Young Septimius, coming from a family of Romanized Africans, received an education rooted in Roman literature and quickly learned to speak Latin. After his formal education was completed he adopted an official career and became a civil magistrate. Later, he became a military commander, and this took him to Rome where he proved himself an able and popular and conscious military leader.
Around 199 C.E., six years after becoming emperor, Septimius even journeyed to Egypt. Can you imagine Emperor Septimius sailing on the Nile? Consider what he might have thought as he gazed at the pyramids and walked through the Karnak and Luxor temples.
Around 203 C.E. Septimius had a mighty arch constructed in the Imperial Forum. This monument is considered one of Italy's most important triumphal arches.
He is even said to have built a marble tomb for Hannibal Barca--early Rome's African nemesis. Indeed, because of his own African origins, Septimius has been referred to as "Hannibal's revenge."
After a distinguished career characterized by administration reorganization, exploits on the battlefield and the intensification of Christian persecution, Septimius died conducting yet another military campaign, this one in York in Britain, on February 4, 211 C.E. He was sixty-five years old and had been in poor health, suffering severely from gout, for years. His reign was seventeen years, eight months and three days and he was the last Roman emperor to die of natural causes for almost a hundred years.
Septimius Severus was succeeded in 211 C.E. by his sons Lucius Septimius Geta (211-212 C.E.) and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus aka Caracalla (211-217 C.E.). These brothers are said to have constantly plotted against one another and Caracalla finally had Geta murdered in 212 C.E. It was under Caracalla in 212 C.E. that Roman citizenship was granted to all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire. Caracalla was also responsible for refurbishing roads and the construction of a triumphal arch in Algeria, as well as his already mentioned enormous public baths. Caracalla was himself murdered by the military in 217 C.E.
Geta and Caracalla were followed by the Mauritania born Marcus Opellius Macrinus (217-218 C.E.), the Praetorian Prefect and the first non-senator to become emperor. Heliogabalus (218-222 C.E.), said to be either the son or nephew of Caracalla and a man of dubious character, followed Macrinus, and then came Severus Alexander (222-235 C.E.), who restored the Roman Coliseum to its ancient status and with whose thirteen year reign the era of Severan domination of Rome came to an end.
This line is known as the Severan Dynasty and the National Roman Museum busts and statues and sculptures of the representatives of this dynasty strongly testify to their African identity. They are powerful images, and like many of the statues and busts and sculptures of ancient Egypt I found the noses missing on all of them save one of Septimius' son Caracalla. And the face adorning the bust of Severus Alexander, the last member of the dynasty, is even more Africoid looking than that of Septimius Severus, the dynasty's founder.
I guess that you say that I was elated and pretty much blown away by my discovery of the Severan Dynasty, and I was able to leave Rome on a very high note. Actually the whole trip had been a high note, and as other horizons beckoned me I thought of my visit to Rome as a very successful endeavor. I felt good about having gone to Rome. I had seen a part of the world that until recently I never had serious aspirations about seeing and had spent an exciting week exploring what was for me a brand new city. I had lectured there and been well received in yet another country. I had been hosted and in part accompanied by the youngest daughter of one of our greatest leaders ever. And I had found that a small cadre of African men had ruled over the Roman Empire during the height of its imperial glory. Yes, indeed, this was a most successful trip.
May 11, 2004
Copyright © 1998 Runoko Rashidi. All rights reserved.
Posted/Revised: Saturday, July 17, 2004 10:51 AM
Webpage design: Kenneth Ritchards