Roman town paid huge amount of silver as ‘bribe’ to new emperor, inscription reveals

The restored stone inscription, a copy of a letter sent by the Roman emperor Septimus Severus

The perils of backing the wrong candidate for emperor in Ancient Rome have been laid bare by a newly deciphered stone inscription that was found in Bulgaria.

The 10ft-high inscription reveals the cold realpolitik of the Roman Empire, with an emperor lying about the pedigree of his ancestors and demanding what was in effect a hefty bribe from one of his territories.

The second century BC stone slab, which was recently restored and translated, was found in the ancient town of Nicopolis ad Istrum, once part of the Roman province of Thrace and now in central Bulgaria.

It shows that the town paid 700,000 silver coins as a way of ingratiating itself with Septimus Severus, who became emperor after a struggle between five rival claimants following the assassination of Emperor Commodus in 192 AD.

Archeologists believe the town was forced to make the payment six years later because it had thrown its support behind one of Septimus Severus’s rivals.

The stone slab has been restored and erected in the ancient Roman town of Nicopolis ad Istrum

“Most probably the citizens of Nicopolis ad Istrum did not take the ‘right’ side, the one of the winner, and had to attest their loyalty to the ruling Severan dynasty,” said Kalin Chakarov, the archeologist who coordinated the project.

“That’s why they had probably decided to write a letter to the Emperor, begging him for mercy, and sending the silver coins as a gift,” he told The Telegraph.

The inscription is actually a stone copy of a letter that the emperor wrote to the people of Nicopolis ad Istrum to thank them for their generous “contribution” to Rome’s coffers.

The leaders of the town felt it was such an important letter that they had it chiseled into rock and erected in the agora or main square of the settlement.

“We have accepted the cash contribution of 700,000 denarii as from men of goodwill. Good luck!” the emperor said in his letter. “You have a zeal which is very striking, as we see from your decree.”

A street in the ancient Roman town of Nicopolis ad Istrum in Bulgaria

In the letter, Septimus Severus falsely claimed to be the son of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

In truth, he was not related to Marcus Aurelius and came from a different imperial lineage, having been born at Leptis Magna in what is today Libya.

But by falsely claiming such a venerable lineage, “Septimus Severus sought to legitimise himself,” said Nicolay Sharankov, a professor in classical philology at Sofia University who translated the inscription.

The two-ton slab, which is made from limestone, is written in ancient Greek, which was the official language of the region.

It was originally discovered in the early 20th century during one of the first excavations of Nicopolis ad Istrum, but it was in many fragmented pieces.

It was recently restored by archeologists from the Museum of History in Veliko Tarnovo, which is responsible for maintaining the archeological site of Nicopolis ad Istrum.

A wealthy Roman colony, the town was founded by the Emperor Trajan at the start of the second century AD to honour his victories over the Dacian tribe. It eventually fell into decline as a result of invasions by the Huns in the fifth century.