Septim Dynasty

The Septim bloodline refers to the line of emperors of the tamrielic empire in The Elder Scrolls series of computer role-playing games. The fictional history of the Septim empire of the Third Era of Tamriel is a rough allegory of the conceptual and cultural rise of the Roman Empire in the real world. Fans of the high fantasy Role-playing game series praise it as a richly detailed background, which provides an immersive atmosphere of history similar to the mythology of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

Tiber Septim


Tiber Septim, also known as "Talos" (Born 2E 827 - 3E 38), was the founder and first Emperor of the Third Empire of Tamriel in the Elder Scrolls universe. To increase his power, Tiber Septim struck a deal with the Tribunal of Vvardenfell - Morrowind was to be granted a degree of sovereignty in exchange for Numidium. With its help, he united the entire continent under his banner. The Third Age was announced by Tiber himself in 2E 897 after the uniting of the entire continent of Tamriel under his banner.

Tiber Septim is also one of the Nine Divines, a collection of holy gods who fulfill the duties of bearers of "light" and "good" throughout Tamriel and Nirn as a whole.

Upon his death in 3E 38, Tiber Septim was succeeded by his grandson, Pelagius Septim I.


 * General of Cuhlecain: CE 847-9 - CE 854
 * The currency of the Empire, the Septim, is derived from Tiber's name.

Pelagius Septim I
Pelagius Septim I (Born ?? - 3E 41) was the second ruler of the Empire of Tamriel. He ruled Tamriel for three years; however, he wasn't the strong ruler his grandfather was, and he soon became confused in all the different provincial matters.

In 3E 41, Pelagius was the first of the Third Age Emperors to be assassinated, most likely by nobles seeking a more competent emperor. He was killed by the Dark Brotherhood while praying at the Temple of the One, in the Imperial City. He was succeeded by Kintyra Septim I.

Kintyra Septim
Kintyra Septim (Born ?? - 3E 53) was the third monarch and first empress to rule Tamriel.

Kintyra succeeded Pelagius Septim I, who had no living children; Kintyra was the daughter of Tiber Septim's brother Agnorith. After the death of Pelagius, she gave up her post as Queen of Silvenar. Her reign saw much prosperity and many good harvests. Kintyra herself was an avid patron of the arts, music and dance. She and her descendants would make up the rest of the Emperors and Empresses of Tamriel after Tiber's line became extinct. She is accepted by many Imperial Scholars as being the matriarch of the Empire, while Tiber Septim was its founder.

Kintyra died in 3E 53 of natural causes and was succeeded by her son, Uriel I.

Uriel Septim I
Uriel Septim I, (Born 2E ?? - 3E 64) was the fourth Emperor of Tamriel. Uriel I succeeded his mother, Kintyra Septim. He would be the first of seven Uriels to command the throne during the third age.

Throughout his rule, Uriel I promoted lawfulness and furthered the establishment of Imperial organizations. Under his rule and nurture, both the Mages' Guild and Fighters' Guild prospered and grew.

Uriel I died in 3E 64 and was succeeded by his son, Uriel II.

Uriel Septim II
Uriel Septim II (Born ?? - 3E 82) was the fifth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Uriel II succeeded his father, Uriel I, in 3E 64. Uriel II's life was plagued with illness and blight. During his rule, Imperial law was poorly enforced. Since the Empire was without a strong hearted, willing or able Emperor, less justice was done within the Empire's borders. He handled his financial affairs poorly, and he was saddled with debt throughout his 18 year rule.

As Uriel sank deeper and deeper into debt, his spirit also sank. In 3E 82, his mind gave, and he died weighted with guilt. He was succeeded by his son, Pelagius Septim II.

Pelagius Septim II
Pelagius Septim II (Born ?? - 3E 99) was the sixth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Pelagius II ascended to the throne when his father, Uriel II, died in 3E 82. Pelagius II inherited a host of debts due to his father's poor financial and judicial management. To cope with this, he dismissed all of the Elder Council, allowing only those members willing to pay a large sum of money re-entry. He encouraged similar actions of other Kings and rulers throughout the then ununited Tamriel.

These actions saw Tamriel's return to relative prosperity, though many critics pointed out the gold he extracted had been gotten forcibly. Pelagius II had a daughter and three sons: Potema, Cephorus, Magnus and Antiochus. The first three were involved in the War of the Red Diamond of 3E 121, long after Pelagius II's death.

Pelagius died of natural causes after seventeen years of rule in 3E 99. His eldest son, Antiochus, was his successor.

Antiochus Septim
Antiochus Septim (Born ?? - 3E 119) was the seventh monarch to rule the Empire of Tamriel during its Third Age.

Due to being neglected by his parents, Antiochus became known to many Imperials as a drunkard and womanizer by the age of sixteen. He was crowned Emperor of Tamriel in 3E 98 after his father, Pelagius II, died. Antiochus was one of the most flamboyant of the usual austere Septim family, he had many mistresses and several wives, and was renowned for his grandness of dress and strong sense of humor.

During his rule, the province of Summerset Isle was almost lost in 3E 110, when an alliance of Imperial forces and the Kings of Summerset only just managed to defeat King Orgnum of the island kingdom of Pyandonea due to a freak storm. Legend credits the Psijic Order of the island of Artaeum with the magic behind the storm. This was the most notable of wars in a reign rife with such conflicts. Antiochus died in 3E 119 and was succeeded by his daughter, Kintyra Septim II.

Kintyra Septim II
Kintyra Septim II (Born 3E 103 or 104 - 3E 123) was the eighth monarch and second regent Empress of the Empire of Tamriel.

Kintyra II inherited the throne at age 15 when her father, Antiochus Septim, died in 3E 119. Prior to her coronation, her cousin, King Uriel of Solitude, and aunt, Queen Potema of Solitude, accused her of being a bastard child, alluding to the decadence that existed in the Imperial City during her father's reign. Regardless, she was formally crowned in the Imperial City after that brief feud subsided in 3E 120. Uriel proceeded to gather support from authorities all around Tamriel, and eventually he rallied on the Septim Empire with armies from High Rock, Skyrim and Morrowind.

All three armies led coordinated attacks into Cyrodiil with Uriel's mother, Potema, also lending aid. The army of High Rock met with Kintyra's entourage at Iliac Bay, on the border between High Rock and Hammerfell. Kintyra's forces were destroyed, and she was held captive in the year 3E 121, shortly after her aunt and cousin stripped her of her royal title. She later died of natural causes in 3E 123 before she could even live to be 20 years old.

Uriel Septim III
Uriel Septim III, also known as Uriel Mantiarco (Born 3E 97 - 3E 127), was the ninth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Uriel III led a coup against his cousin Kintyra II, whom he accused of being a bastard child. Three armies, of High Rock, Morrowind and Skyrim, invaded the Imperial-held areas of Tamriel. After Empress Kintyra's capture and supposed murder in 3E 121 (in actuality she was kept captive until she died in her cell of natural causes in 3E 123), Uriel III faced a lengthy period of waiting as his armies attempted to conquer the Empire. The conflict was soon to become known as the War of the Red Diamond. On one side was Pelagius II's surviving children, the Empire, and most kings of Tamriel, and on the other Uriel III, his mother, Potema Septim, Skyrim and northern Morrowind.

Though the Imperial City fell within two weeks, many other parts of the Empire had proven difficult to conquer - as such it wasn't until 3E 121 that Uriel formally crowned himself as Emperor. He took the name Uriel Septim III, even though his true name was Uriel Mantiarco from his father. Fighting continued in earnest for years, with the scales ultimately tipping against Uriel III.

Uriel III was captured during the Battle of Ichidag in Hammerfell in 3E 127, and was subsequently charged for his crimes against the Empire. However, en route to his trial, an enraged mob overtook his carriage and burned him alive within it. Uriel III's death marked the end of the conflict, and the beginning of his successor Cephorus Septim I's reign.


 * King of Solitude: 109 - 121 (With mother up to 118)

Potema Septim was the mother of Uriel Septim III. She sided with her son during the War of the Red Diamond and continued to fight even after her son's death in 3E 127. The war would eventually come to a close with her defeat in 3E 137 by Emperor Cephalus Septim I's forces.

Cephorus Septim
Cephorus Septim (Born ?? - 3E 140) was the tenth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

The majority of his thirteen year reign was marked by the War of the Red Diamond against his sister Potema Septim. By all accounts, Cephorus was a highly intelligent, benevolent and kind man, in addition to being a fine warrior.

By the time of the war's conclusion in 3E 137, Cephorus was old; he died in 3E 140 in a horse accident. Cephorus, having never married, lacked a direct heir, so the Empire passed on to his younger brother Magnus Septim.

Magnus Septim
Magnus Septim (Born ?? - 3E 145) was the eleventh ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Magnus ascended to the throne when his brother, Cephorus I, died in 3E 140. When he ascended to Emperor, he was already an elderly man. The many arrests and trials of those who were treacherous during the War of the Red Diamond drained his health.

Magnus Septim died after only five years on the throne in 3E 145. It is rumored that his son, Pelagius Septim III "the Mad", killed him and succeced the throne, though scholars agree that it is highly unlikely due to Pelagius' strange persona.

Pelagius Septim III
Pelagius Septim III (Born 3E 119 - 3E 153) was the twelfth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Legend accuses Pelagius of murdering his father, Magnus Septim, though scholars agree that it is highly unlikely due to Pelagius' strange persona. Following the death of his aunt Potema, Pelagius assumed rule over Fort Solitude. As such, he seldom visited Imperial City. Pelagius' eccentricities were noted from the opening days of his reign: over the course of his ten year reign, he embarrassed many dignitaries, offended his vassal kings, and on one occasion marked the end of a grand ball by attempting to hang himself. In comparison to the real world, he seems to be a replica of Caligula.

His long suffering wife Katariah was eventually awarded regency over the Empire of Tamriel. Pelagius was effectively removed from his throne for treatment by series of healers in asylums. He died aged thirty four during the month of Sun's Dawn in 3E 153 after a brief fever in his cell at the temple of Kynareth, on the island of Betony. The 2nd day of Sun's Dawn, possibly the anniversary of his death, is marked by the "Mad Pelagius" festival, a day in which foolishness of all sorts is encouraged. Pelagius III was succeeded by his wife Katariah.


 * King of Solitude: 137 - 145


 * In the Shivering Isle book "Wabbajack", It is implied that Pelagius mistakenly summoned Shegorath, who drove him mad.


 * In book 8 of "The Wolf Queen", it is told that Potema tricked Pelagius into wearing an amulet that bestowed a poison on the user which would slowly drain the users willpower over the years until he was completely mad. This probably contributed to Pelagius' madness in the later years of his life.

Katariah Septim
Katariah Septim (Born ?? - 3E 199) was the thirteenth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Katariah, a Dunmer, was originally married to her predecessor, the highly eccentric Pelagius Septim III. Pelagius was effectively removed from the throne in 3E 153 due to his ailing mental health. Katariah assumed regency in that year, and her husband died soon thereafter. She then assumed full rule over the Imperial Empire, the first to have no relation whatsoever to Tiber Septim to do this. Many assert that the true Septim line ended with Katariah due to her race; however, her defenders are quick to point out that she had a son by Pelagius, thereby continuing the true Septim bloodline. She is the third woman to hold power over all of Tamriel in the Third Empire, first as Regent and later as Empress. Despite the racism she faced from critics, her forty seven year reign was arguably the most glorious in Tamriel's history.

Katariah was uncomfortable in Imperial City, and during her reign traveled extensively throughout the Empire. Such a cosmopolitan attitude had not been seen since Tiber Septim's day. She repaired the damage her eccentric husband had caused on the diplomatic front, and she strengthened foreign ties and alliances. She was a very popular monarch; the people came to love her far more than the nobility did.

Katariah died in a minor skirmish in Black Marsh in 3E 199. This event is a favorite source for conspiracy-minded historians. The sage Montalius' discovery of a disenfranchised branch of the Septim family's involvement with the skirmish proved a revelation. She was succeeded by her son Cassynder.


 * Empress to Pelagius III: 145 - 147
 * Regent of Tamriel: 147 - 153

Cassynder Septim
Cassynder Septim (Born 3E 147-153 - 3E 202) was the fourteenth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

He inherited the throne on the death of his mother, already middle-aged and, as a half-elf aging badly, much like his Breton breathren. Due to poor health, he left the care of High Rock province to his half-brother Uriel Lariat, though as the only true blood relation of Pelagius III, and thus Tiber Septim, he was pressed into accepting the throne. He died after only two years of rule. His brother Uriel Lariat succeeded him and was crowned Uriel Septim IV.

Uriel Septim IV
Uriel Septim IV, also Uriel Lariat (Born ?? - 3E 247), was the fifteenth monarch to rule Tamriel.

Uriel Lariat was the son of Katariah and her consort Lariat, and thus had no close blood relation to Tiber Septim or the branch Matriarch Empress Kintyra. At the time of his succession in 3E 202, he left High Rock to reign as Uriel Septim IV. To the Elder Council, the nobility, and the people as a whole, he was a bastard child of Katariah. Uriel did not possess his mother's dynamism, his forty five year reign being a hotbed of sedition. Despite the Lariat family's respected position (they were distant cousins of the Septims), few of the Elder Council were receptive to his claim as a blood relative of Tiber Septim.

The Council had already established itself as a significant authority during his mother Katariah's many travels and the short reign of the frail Cassynder. As such, their power was remarkable, and as a perceivedly alien monarch, Uriel IV found it impossible to keep them faithful, or even respectful, of his authority as Emperor. Time and time again, the Council and Emperor were at odds; and time and time again, the Council won the battles. Since the days of Pelagius II, the Elder Council had consisted of the wealthiest men and women in the Empire, and the power they wielded was, at the time, ultimate. This subjugation continued throughout Uriel IV's reign.

Uriel IV died in 3E 247 with the throne going to a cousin more closely related to Tiber Septim, Cephorus Septim II.

Cephorus Septim II
Cephorus Septim II (Born ?? - 3E 268) was the sixteenth monarch of the Empire of Tamriel. He was voted into power by the Elder Council in 3E 248, weeks after the death of his cousin and predecessor, Uriel Septim IV.

Cephorus' reign was marked by two significant events. The first was his rivalry with Andorak Septim, the son of Uriel Septim IV. During the first nine years of Cephorus' rule, forces loyal to Andorak attacked the Emperor's forces. Eventually, Cephorus conceded the High Rock kingdom of Shornhelm to Andorak, and the conflict was concluded.

The second significant event of Cephorus' reign was the invasion and skirmishes of Camoran Usurper. Camoran was supposedly an undead lich who gathered a huge army of combined undead and Daedric forces, and launched an assault across all of Tamriel. Beginning in Valenwood, his armies tore across cities and countryside - seemingly undefeatable. At first, the offense was merely a rebuke to what seemed an indestructible Empire. Cephorus' initial reaction was to send a group of mercenaries to meet Camoran's forces in Hammerfell, however they were bribed, turned into undead, or slaughtered.

Soon, Camoran had taken the region of Dwynnen with a composite army of ghosts, zombies and vampires, as well as parts of Hammerfell. He eventually met a naval force in the region of Iliac Bay near High Rock province. With an almost endless army of mighty Daedra and undead, Camoran still managed to lose the battle. The reports of the event are vague, making some simply speculate it was divine intervention. However it was established that the weather played a large part in Camoran's seemingly impossible defeat.

Cephorus Septim died in 3E 268. He was succeeded by his son Uriel Septim V.

Uriel Septim V
Uriel Septim V (Born ?? - 3E 290) was the seventeenth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel. He inherited the throne from his father, Cephorus Septim II, in 3E 268. His reign was marked by several ambitious conquests, the last of which was to the continent of Akavir. He is regarded as the best warrior Emperor since his ancestor Tiber Septim.

Upon assuming the throne in 268, Uriel V immediately began to turn opinion, political and otherwise, in favor of the potential power the Empire could wield. At home, the Elder Council practically ran the Empire as Uriel V was away with his army. Turning the attention of Tamriel away from internal strife, he began planning his first series of invasions almost from the moment he took power. His first invasion was to the land of Roscrea (271), which took his forces roughly four years to conquer. His next stop was Cathnoquey (276), and after that, Yneslea (279), Esroniet (284), and finally his ill-fated expedition to Akavir (288) where he was killed in the "Disaster at Ionith" in the year 290. His son Uriel was born shortly before he embarked on the journey to Akavir. Uriel Septim V's other children, the twins Morihatha and Eloisa (by a different woman named Thonica), were born about a month after he had set off to Akavir.

Uriel spent years amassing a massive naval force to launch an assault on the continent of Akavir - a place not unlike Earth's Far East. After a period of sailing across the sea to Akavir, his massive expedition disembarked and the attempted conquest began in earnest. However, around two years into the campaign, Uriel V was slain at the Battle of Ionith. Despite his manner of death, Uriel's reputation as a fighter is second only to Tiber Septim's in the people's opinion. His death forced the Imperial army into retreat from Akavir, and the continent has not been revisited by a foreign army since. Upon news of his death reaching Cyrodiil, Uriel Septim VI, at just five years old, was crowned the next Emperor of Tamriel.

Uriel Septim VI
Uriel Septim VI (3E 285 - 3E 317) was the eighteenth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Uriel Septim VI was crowned when his father, Uriel Septim V, was killed in Akavir on the battlefield of Ionith in 3E 290. Due to the extreme youth of Uriel, his mother, Thonica, was given a restricted regency until Uriel was of sufficient age to govern satisfactorily. During this time, the Elder Council held most of the kingdom's true power, thus enabling it to make much legislation - some for its own favor and profit. Over the years, Uriel VI had been assuming positions of great variance, and at the age of 22 in 3E 307, he was formally given rule over the Empire. However, the then-current mechanisms of government granted him little power, his only power of note being that of the veto.

The following six years saw the Emperor use his veto many times. He also revived previously defunct spy networks and guard units to bully and coerce those members of the Elder Council that opposed him. His sister Morihatha would be an ally throughout this period, her marriage to Baron Ulfe Gersen of Winterhold putting her in possession of much wealth and influence. The sage Ugaridge commented regarding this period, "Uriel V conquered Esroniet, but Uriel VI conquered the Elder Council."

Uriel died in 3E 317 when he fell from his horse. He remained in a grave condition for some time, but despite the best efforts of the finest Imperial healers, he could not be saved. He was succeeded by his sister Morihatha.

Morihatha Septim
Morihatha Septim (3E 288 - 3E 339) was the nineteenth ruler of the Empire of Tamriel.

Morihata was the daughter to Uriel Septim V and the sister of Uriel Septim VI. She reigned over Tamriel for nineteen years, having ascended to the throne in 3E 317 upon her brother's death. She continued her brother's work of taking control of the Elder Council, through bribing and bullying the last few members of the Council her brother had not yet reached.

Apparently she never bribed enough Council members since her reign came to an abrupt end; she was assassinated in a plot conceived by the treacherous Argonian Elder Council member, Thoricles Romus. She was succeeded by her nephew Pelagius.

Pelagius Septim IV
Pelagius Septim IV (3E 294 - 3E 368) was the twentieth Emperor of Tamriel. He succeeded his aunt, the Empress Morihatha, who was assassinated in 3E 339. Pelagius' mother, Eloisa, had died four years prior to his ascension, thus making the 45 year old Pelagius the first in line for the Septim throne.

Pelagius IV's rule was one of integration throughout Tamriel, but despite his beneficial traits and patience, the progress he made was slow. The eastern province of Morrowind still remained relatively alienated from the Empire, its customs differing strongly from the Empire's, and its rulers being largely unreceptive of the Empire's diplomacy. Closer to home, however, small kingdoms were gradually integrating further with the Empire and its culture. Pelagius' reign was largely one of peace. After reigning for 29 years, the Empire was more united than it had been for hundreds of years - with scholars agreeing that the Empire had not seen such unity since the reign of Uriel I.

Pelagius died at in 3E 368 of internal problems. Upon Pelagius' deathbed, his son Uriel Septim VII ascended to the throne and pledged to his father to continue his father's legacy of unification of all provinces across Tamriel. He was 74 when he died.

Uriel Septim VII
Uriel Septim VII (3E 346 - 3E 433) was the twenty first ruler of Tamriel. Uriel VII was the son of Pelagius Septim IV. Uriel came to power in 3E 368 and reigned for several decades before his eventual death as an aged monarch in 3E 433. Uriel's reign was marked by great change over the continent of Tamriel, as the Empire moved further towards becoming a fully unified state spread across the continent of Tamriel. He was betrayed by the Imperial Battlemage Jagar Tharn and imprisoned in Oblivion for ten years (a period known as the Imperial Simulacrum) while Tharn took the Emperor's place. After his rescue by a counter-conspiracy, including Queen Barenziah and an unknown hero (the player), the once-straightforward Uriel became more watchful for (and willing to engage in) intrigues.

An example of the latter is his manipulation of the Nerevarine prophecies, having held the one believed to be Nerevar Incarnate in captivity until the time prescribed by an Elder Scroll foretelling the event, and then sending the prisoner to Morrowind as an agent of the Empire. The Nerevarine's actions eventually led to a greater integration of that province into the Empire.

Uriel VII died at the hands of assassins from the daedric cult known as the Mythic Dawn while attempting to escape the Imperial City. He foresaw his demise and the events it was involved in, and secretly sired an illegitimate child, Martin, so that the Septim bloodline would continue (as he foresaw his three legitimate sons' deaths at the hands of the Mythic Dawn as well).

Martin Septim
Martin Septim (3E ??? - 3E 433) was the illegitimate son of Emperor Uriel Septim VII. Never crowned before he died, and having no issue, Martin died as the last Septim. After his death, the Elder Council gained complete control of the Empire. He never went through the rituals of coronation, but was formally recognized as Emperor by both the Blades and the Elder Council. Therefore his status as Emperor is a matter of debate. He is listed here because for the brief period of time between Ocato proclaiming him emperor and his death, Ocato deferred to him, making him at least de-facto emperor.