Black Roman emperors

The term "Black Roman emperors" is complex due to differences between modern and ancient concepts of race. There were several Roman emperors born in Africa, but whether they would be considered "black" by today's standards is debated and cannot be determined with certainty due to the lack of clear contemporary descriptions and the different social definitions of ethnicity and race in Antiquity^[1].

Key African-born Roman Emperors:

• Septimius Severus (reigned 193–211): Born in Leptis Magna, in present-day Libya. Sometimes called the “African Emperor,” Severus had a mixed background: his mother was of Italian (Roman) descent and his father was described as Punic or of Berber heritage^[2][3][4]. Severus’s family was part of the local elite in Roman North Africa, benefiting from centuries of Roman colonization and integration. Portraits from the period show him with features that have prompted debate but do not conclusively identify him as "black" in the modern sense^[1].
• Caracalla (reigned 198–217): Son of Septimius Severus, also born in Africa, although like his father his ancestry was mixed (his mother, Julia Domna, came from Syria)^[1][5].
• Clodius Albinus: Born in Hadrumetum (modern-day Sousse, Tunisia), he was a rival claimant to the throne during the reign of Septimius Severus^[4].
• Macrinus (reigned 217–218): Born in Caesarea (now Cherchell, Algeria), of Berber descent, he became emperor after the assassination of Caracalla^[4].
• Aemilianus (reigned briefly in 253): Born on the island of Djerba, off modern-day Tunisia, and described as a "Moor" by descent, which in Roman times typically referred to the indigenous people of North Africa, rather than sub-Saharan Africans^[4].

Modern interpretations of race do not map onto the ancient world. Roman society recognized distinctions such as provincial origin, wealth, language, and status, but not the rigid, color-based categories of race developed in the modern era. People like Septimius Severus and Macrinus would have been seen as Romans of African origin, but not as black Africans in the sense understood today^[1].

Visual representations: Surviving portraits and sculptures show African-born emperors with a range of features and complexions, but these are subject to artistic conventions and cannot be used to definitively assign modern racial categories^[1].

Ancient painted portrait of the family of Septimius Severus with an effaced child's face, displayed at the Altes Museum in Berlin.

In summary, the Roman Empire did have emperors of African birth and local (Berber or Punic) descent—notably Septimius Severus, Macrinus, and Aemilianus—but applying the modern term "black" to them is not supported by ancient sources and remains ambiguous^[1][4]. Their contemporaries would have seen them first and foremost as Romans, albeit from African provinces, not as members of a separate racial category.

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• https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/41ir7m/were_there_actually_any_black_roman_emperors/      
• https://vmfa.museum/learn-archive/microsites/septimius-severus/who-was-septimius-severus/ 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimius_Severus 
• https://peek-01.livejournal.com/62062.html     
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla