Searching for Severus: Did a Roman emperor visit Carlisle?

For so much of our knowledge of the Roman period we are indebted to ancient literary sources that have been used and abused over the centuries. They have been copied and recopied, with mistakes creeping in, and even where the text remains accurate, in many cases we must acknowledge that the original author may have had an axe to grind. Moreover, just occasionally we have two accounts of the same event – such as Caesar’s final battle with Pompey – and they differ. Caution is the watchword – and this is certainly the case with the document that we call the Historia Augusta. This is a collection of biographies of Roman emperors, probably compiled in the 4th century. It is recognised tha