Niger  enjoyed,  as  it  would  seem,  a  certain  popu-
larity in  Rome,  and  he  could  count,  like  Avidius
Cassius  before  him,  on  the  latent  antagonism  between
East  and  West,  which  was  to  issue  finally  in  the  dis-
ruption of  the  Empire  ;  but  his  troops  were  inferior
to  those  of  Europe,  and  he  was  himself  no  match  for


238  THE   DYNASTY    OF   THE   SEVERI

Severus  either  in  generalship  or  diplomacy. There
was  yet  a  third  army  to  be  reckoned  with — that
which  was  occupying  Britain  under  the  command  of
Decimus  Clodius  Albinus,  a  distinguished  soldier  who
might  well  challenge  Severus' title  ;  and  it  was  all-
important  to  secure  his  neutrality  during  the  coming
struggle. This  end  Severus  achieved  by  a  master-
stroke of  policy. He  offered  to  Albinus  the  title  of
Caesar  with  the  prospect  of  succession  to  the -Empire,
and  this  was  accepted  by  the  governor  of  Britain,
who  can  hardly  be  acquitted  of  Jack  of  foresight,
seeing  that  Severus  was  the  father  of  two  sons  and
would  inevitably  aspire  to  become  the  founder  of  a
new  dynasty. However,  the  ruse  served  its  turn,
and  Severus  was  free  to  throw  the  bulk  of  his
army  against  his  Eastern  rival,  while  his  brother,
P. Septimius  Geta,  protected  the  Danube  frontier  as
governor  of  the  three  Dacias. Niger  had  secured
the  fortress  of  Byzantium,  and  his  troops  gained  a
slight  success  at  the  expense  of  Severus'  advance-
guard  ;  but  the  Emperor  followed  in  person,  and,
having  detached  a  force  under  L. Marius  Maximus
to  contain  the  garrison  of  Byzantium,  crossed  the
Hellespont  and  landed  at  Cyzicus,  where  the  Asiatic
troops  under  Asellius  ^Emilianus  were  signally
defeated. Niger  now  left  Byzantium  and  endeavoured
to  check  the  advance  of  Severus,  but  was  routed
near  Nicaea  and  fled  to  Antioch  with  the  remains  of
his  army. He  had  formed  alliances  with  the  powers
of  the  Further  East,  but  the  Parthian  kingdom  was
now  nearing  its  dissolution,  and  no  aid  came  to
Niger  save  a  small  force  sent  by  a  Mesopotajmian


SEPTIMILS    bLVERUS,


240        THE   DYNASTY  OF   THE   SEVER!

sheikh. In  a  final  battle  the  generals  of  Severus
forced  the  passes  of  the  Taurus,  and  Antioch  lay  at
their  mercy. Niger  fled  eastwards,  but  was  over-
taken and  killed  before  he  could  reach  the  Euphrates,
towards  the  close  of  A.D. 194. 