born March 7, 189, Mediolanum 【now Milan, Italy】

died Dec. 26, 211, Rome

Roman emperor from 209 to 211, jointly with his father, Septimius Severus (reigned 193–211), and his brother, Caracalla (reigned 198–217). The younger son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, he was given the title caesar on Jan. 28, 198, when his elder brother Caracalla became joint emperor (as augustus) with their father. In 210 Geta was himself made an augustus, and he became coemperor upon his father's death at Eboracum (present-day York, Eng.) in February 211. The furious rivalry that developed between the brothers remained concealed from public view as long as their father lived, but, after Severus' death, the brothers formed separate military factions. Civil war threatened until December 211, when Caracalla had Geta murdered in their mother's arms in her apartment in the imperial palace.