Severan art

The artists, now free from the constraints linked to the Hellenistic tradition, implemented expressive characteristics into physiognomic portraits in marble and bronze.

[citation needed] Typical is the production of sarcophagi with lion hunting scenes, datable between 220 and 270, added to the recent stoic concept of life as a militia.

[citation needed] Other types are instead linked to the Cult of Dionysus adorned with symbolism that alludes to regeneration after death, just crushed grapes or wine.

From these representations, born in a context strongly anchored to paganism, evolved the typologies of crypto-Christian sarcophagi of the end of the third century.

In Rome, in the wake of the fire of 191, Septimius Severus instituted a new phase of construction: the Temple of Peace, the Horrea Piperiana, and the Porticus Octaviae were rebuilt; a wing was added to the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill, with a new monumental facade towards the Via Appia; and the Septizodium, the arch of Septimius Severus and the Baths of Caracalla were raised.