Abstract

The paper analyses the fiscal reforms of Septimius Severus, concentrating on the various problems existing at the moment of his accession to the throne, as well as on the mechanisms applied by the emperor in his attempt to solve these problems. This purpose is achieved by investigating the dynamics of the financial crisis in the end of the II century AD, the institutional reforms resulting in centralization of the power in the figure of the princeps, and the constitutions of the emperor and his private patrimonium as a central factor in the fiscal sphere. In this context the fiscal reforms of Septimius Severus are examined through the lens of their expected impact on these problems and the adjustments they would introduce in the preceding practices.