Imperatore 🇮🇨☾

Often used to deny Septimius Severus any North African origin, we should be cautious with terms like “Punic” or “Roman/Italian” when defining his origins. The idea that he had Italian ancestry on his mother’s side is now considered outdated, and there is no evidence of a significant Italian community in his city. Ancient authors described him as “Libyan,” and he showed a strong attachment to Africa, surrounding himself with Africans in Rome and notably integrating them into the Praetorian Guard for the first time. The label “Punic” would only refer to his mother tongue; he probably did not speak an older form of Berber (Libyco-Berber) but rather a late Punic dialect influenced by Latin and Libyco-Berber, as reflected in epigraphy. Moreover, the inhabitants of his region, Tripolitania, were described as Libyphoenicians meaning Punicized natives. See below this post for more 👇

The Roman emperor Septimius Severus was literally black

𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫.

Stop making every North African and Egyptian saint black. Thanks.

[THREAD] L'origine des Almoravides