Dr Simon Elliott, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Classical & Archaeological Studies, featured on the podcast Dan Snow’s History Hit earlier in the week, following the publication of his third book Septimius Severus in Scotland (Greenhill Books, 2018).

‘The reason why he was there was for the last major attempt to conquer Scotland,’ explains Simon in the podcast, ‘to try to achieve what no emperor had done before’.

Approximately 57,000 soldiers were involved in two campaigns in 209AD and 201AD. ‘Even though he took this enormous army – if not the largest army compiled on British soil – he still failed.’ As a response to these failures, Severus allegedly ordered the genocide of the Scots, which had lasting effects on the country. ‘This is one of the great, great untold stories of British history.’

To listen to the episode, please go to the webpage here.

Additionally, we are running a book competition to win Simon’s first book Sea Eagles of Empire (History Press, 2016), which may be found here.