A Letter of Septimius Severus to the Lykian League on the Misbehavior of Soldiers

A New Inscription from Choma (Hacımusalar Höyük), Northern Lykia

Abstract

In 197 CE the emperor Septimius Severus responded to a complaint from the Lykian League about soldiers who had been torturing Lykians. A copy of the reply was found inscribed on a stone re-used as a threshold in a church at Choma (Hacımusalar) in northern Lykia. Severus’ letter included a summary of the Lykians’ complaints and his remedies. The Lykians ask that soldiers not torture and that the same soldier not be sent again into a given city. Severus grants the Lykians’ requests and sets up procedures designed to prevent further abuse and give those who were mistreated the opportunity to register complaints about their mistreatment. Severus places the authority to authorize torture in the hands of the governor. The context of the complaint and response falls in the immediate aftermath of the civil war and may be connected with efforts by Severus’ troops in Lykia to root out persons who had supported his opponents.