[Born at Milan, A.D. 189. Died A.D. 212. Aged 23.]
The second son of Septimius Severus. During his second Consulship
proceeded to Britain (208) and obtained the surname of Britannicus. Upon
the death of his father, he and his brother Caracalla were declared
joint successors to the Imperial crown; but Geta, at the instigation of
Caracalla, was assassinated in the very arms of his mother, to whom he
had fled for refuge. Caracalla caused his brother’s statues to be
destroyed, and his inscriptions to be obliterated. Geta was depraved in
his habits, and unpolished, but not without some good qualities.
[From the marble in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.]