Editing Septimius Severus (section)

===Relations with the Senate and People===
Severus' relations with the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] were never good. He was unpopular with them from the outset, having seized power with the help of the military, and he returned the sentiment. Severus ordered the execution of a large number of Senators on charges of corruption or [[Conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] against him and replaced them with his favourites. Although his actions turned Rome more into a military dictatorship, he was popular with the citizens of Rome, having stamped out the rampant corruption of Commodus' reign. When he returned from his victory over the Parthians, he erected the [[Arch of Septimius Severus]] in Rome.<ref>Asante, Molefi Kete and Shanza Ismail, "Rediscovering the 'Lost' Roman Caesar: Septimius Severus the African and Eurocentric Historiography." ''[[Journal of Black Studies]]'' 40, no. 4 (March 2010): 606–618</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Perkins|first1=J. B. Ward|title=The Arch of Septimius Severus at Lepcis Magna|journal=Archaeology|date=December 1951|volume= 4|issue= 4|pages=226–231}}</ref>

According to Cassius Dio,<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', Book 76, Sections 14 and 15.</ref> however, after 197 Severus fell heavily under the influence of his Praetorian prefect, [[Gaius Fulvius Plautianus]], who came to have almost total control of the imperial administration. At the same time, a bloody power crisis erupted between Plautianus and [[Julia Domna]], Severus' influential and powerful wife, which had a relatively destructive effect on the centre of power. Plautianus' daughter [[Fulvia Plautilla]] was married to Severus' son Caracalla. Plautianus' excessive power came to an end in 204, when he was denounced by the emperor's dying brother. In January 205 Julia Domna and [[Caracalla]] accused Plautianus of plotting to kill him and Severus. The powerful prefect was executed while he was trying to defend his case in front of the two emperors.<ref>Birley (1999), pp. 161–162.</ref> One of the two following ''praefecti'' was the famous jurist [[Papinian]]. Executions of senators did not stop: Cassius Dio records that many of them were put to death, some after being formally tried. After the assassination of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in the rest of his reign, he relied more on the advice of his clever and educated wife, [[Julia Domna]], in the administration of the empire.<ref>Birley (1999), p. 165.</ref>