Septimius Severus was one of the most unusual and colorful emperors in the history of the Roman Empire. Born in Leptis Magna, today s Libya, he was the first truly African ruler of Rome. He brought the empire to the peak of its power and founded the mighty Severan dynasty of soldier-emperors. He died, alone and exhausted, in AD 211. In this meticulously researched biography, Yasmine Zahran tells the emperor s life story as a first person memoir dictated...