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====Severus and the Senate====
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> <i> Life of Septimius Severus</i>, x </ref> He marginalized both the Senate and the Italian aristocracy that had traditionally played an important role in the government of the Empire. Severus ended this tradition. He would often appoint commoners and non-Italians to high offices and governorships. This infuriated the Senatorial class. However, Severus did not tolerate any opposition and he either executed or exiled several 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 no loner lay 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, <i>Rome and its Empire, AD 193–284</i> (Edinburgh, Archer Press, 2008), p. 201</ref> Severus legitimacy did not come from any political institution but from the army.
