We know that Septimius did not return to
Rome before dying in
Britain in February 211. According to Dio Cassius, Septimius was preparing a renewed attack against the Caledonians and Maeatae of Scotland when "
his sickness carried him off on the fourth of February....After this
his body, arrayed in
military garb, was placed upon a pyre,...and
his sons
applied the fire. Afterwards
his bones were put in an
urn of purple
stone, carried to
Rome, and deposited in the tomb of the Antonines."
However, early in 211
ADVENTVS AVGVSTI and
FORT RED coins were struck at
Rome not only for
Caracalla and
Geta, but also for Septimius. This must mean that before he died, Septimius' illness
had forced him not only to break off
his Scottish campaign, but to begin preparations for returning to
Rome. The
ADVENTVS AVGVSTI and
FORT RED coins will have been struck after this new plan became known, but while Septimius was
still alive and
had not yet left
Britain.
