Item#: 5490

Containment Class: safe

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: vlam

Risk Class: caution

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5490 is to be sealed in a plexiglass container Site-76. Tests involving SCP-5490 are to be limited to one subject at a time and will only be coordinated by personnel with security clearance of Level 2 or above. SCP-5490 will only be read by a subject fitting within the parameters of its anomalous properties. Testing procedures will not be conducted without the approval of Dr. Prodri.

Description: SCP-5490 is a book wrapped in leather binding with 89 pages, all of which are blank. Despite SCP-5490's suspected age, it shows no sign of aging or wear. When an individual interacts with the first page of SCP-5490, one of two different phrases will be presented to the subject:

▷ Phrases

▽ Phrases

Phrase One:

"Only those who share the sacred blood of the emperor may read these pages. Thou shall suffer as the emperor did."

Phrase Two:

"Welcome, scion. Thou shall now read the history that was hidden from the light. The history of your ancestor."

Upon viewing the first phrase, the individual will begin to suffer from severe clinical depression, rating between 24 to 27 on the PHQ-9 test1 regardless of their emotional state prior to the event. The individual will also begin to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, complaining of the 'horrors of Judea.' Upon reading the second phrase, the individual will be able to view the full contents of SCP-5490.

All text within SCP-5490 is written in Latin, however the individual will still be able to read SCP-5490 regardless of their native language and/or their ability to understand Latin. Only individuals who can fully understand Latin text are able to read SCP-5490 verbally. The only method of translation is via audio recordings. However, upon playback the subject's voice will sound distorted. Video recording of any reading will result in the pages being observed as blank.

SCP-5490 details the Roman emperor Aelius Hadrianus Severlinus, who reigned as an emperor of the Roman Empire from 130 AD to 138 AD. Emperor Severlinus's history is not recorded in any other text or historical document besides SCP-5490, with his supposed command falling within the later years of emperor Hadrian's reign. The recorded anomalous activity during the Bar Kokhba Revolt, as well as other anomalous events during these years, are also within Foundation databases. Hadrian, however, is still recorded as the emperor during these events.

SCP-5490 was discovered after an Italian archaeological team from the Sapienza University of Rome explored a previously unrecorded chamber underneath Rome. SCP-5490 was found on a pedestal in a pristine condition. One of the team members opened SCP-5490, while other team members observed. SCP-5490's anomalous effect then activated, causing most of the team to suffer from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder within a few hours. One of the original team members did not experience any of SCP-5490's effects and swiftly reported his discovery to government officials. Suspecting anomalous activity may be involved, the Italian government contacted the Foundation whereupon it was swiftly secured and transferred to Site-76.

Addendum.1 - Form of SCP-5490: According to the dates provided by SCP-5490, it is impossible for it to be contained within a modernly constructed book. It should be within a codex, however, all text within SCP-5490 describes itself as a book. Despite this, all dating methods show it to be made and constructed approximately 1880 years ago. One theory stipulated is that SCP-5490 changes it's appearance in accordance with the most widely available method of reading at the time. Given that it hasn't transferred itself into digital form means there are one of two possibilities:

Either it can not transfer itself into a digital form or,

It does not recognize Ebooks as the most widely available format

If the second is true, Mobile Task Force Mu-4 "Debuggers" has been alerted to that possibility and has developed Protocol "Odoacer" in the event that SCP-5490 transfers itself into digital form. Should this event happen and Protocol "Odoacer" fail, SCP-5490's containment class shall be changed to Keter and it's disruption and risk class to Ekhi and Warning respectively. It is unknown how this process will be accomplished, let alone at all, but the risk factor is high enough to warrant preparations.

Addendum.2 - Page excerpts: The following are excerpts from various pages of SCP-5490. Only major variations between the actions of Severlinus and Hadrian are transcribed and presented. SCP-5490 itself can be divided into three different sections:

First Section: Pages 1-9

Description: Early life and eventual coronation of Severlinus

Second section: Pages 10-55

Description: First years of Severlinus's reign towards the end of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

Third section: Pages 56-88

Description: Final years of Severlinus's reign and death.

▷ Excerpts

▽ Excerpts

Excerpt from page one

It is here that I record the reign and death of Imperator Caeser Hadrianus Severlinus Augustus, whose reign began 883 Ab urbe condita2 and lasted a glorious eight years. It will be here, and only here, that his excellence is deified. His reign brought great prosperity to the empire and its people but also brought him to madness. His actions were guided by fate, as commanded by Jupiter himself. Come, scion, and learn of your forebearers feats and victories, as well as his fall from grace.

Excerpt from page nine

During Imperator Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus's voyage up the River Nile, much of his flotilla sank and drowned. An inquiry into this event has led many to come to the conclusion that a sudden flood killed the late emperor, his beloved Antinous, and many who accompanied them. Locals who witnessed the event believe it was the influence of Suchus as means of protecting the River Nile.3 Upon word of the tragedy reaching Rome, Severlinus was struck with immense grief. The late emperor had been his father, his teacher, and mentor. Words can not describe the number of tears that were shed that day. Regardless, it was now time for your forebearer to take the crown. After the Senate was told of Hadrian's death, which was received of mixed opinion, your forebearer was officially crowned as the new emperor of the empire.

Excerpt from page seventeen

Severlinus then traveled to Athens a few months later, where he had hoped to uphold his father's ambitions. He had hoped to finally realize his father's Panhellenion as a means of culturally uniting the Greek city-states and Rome. As a gift to the Athenians, as well as completing another one of his father's dreams, he finished the construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Underneath the temple, he had buried Trajan's artifact as a means of passively subjugating the Athenians.4 By giving the Athenians more luxuries, Severlinus had gained their trust and admiration. These feelings were reciprocated, as Severlinus would walk among the Athenians in the streets with little to no guard. Upon his departure for the east, he was sent off warmly by the people.

Excerpt from page twenty-seven

During his visit to Palmyra, Severlinus first heard of the artifact from a woman claiming to be a traveling Vates. It was here that his curiosity and hubris led him further down the stairs of fate. Intrigued, he pleaded the woman for answers. She told him of the powers it could give, and the horrors it could bring. In great detail, she explained its mastery over the flesh of others, sickening those around Severlinus. But not him. He had heard of the ancient myths and legends of a people who could manipulate flesh and bone. If such a power existed, no matter how savage it could be, Severlinus sought to tame it. Upon learning the location of the artifact, he and his troop moved south towards Judea.

Excerpt from page thirty-one

While in Judea, Severlinus sought to rebuild Jerusalem after years of destruction and war. He not only intended this to be a gift to the Jews but also hoped that the rabbis would lead him to the artifact he so desperately craved. Upon his arrival, he learned more about Jewish culture from a local Samaritan priest. Learning that the Jews openly circumcise their young, Severlinus was disgusted. A Hellenist like his father believed such an act was mutilation. He then enacted a decree within the city, announcing that circumcision was banned throughout the empire. This was met with much dissatisfaction, and the anti-Roman sentiment that lingered within the Jews had grown even more significant. This angered Severlinus, who then enacted many other anti-Jewish decrees. This would pave the way to war, sending your forefather even closer to his fate.

Excerpt from page thirty-five

Even as I write this, it is still unknown how the Jews found the artifact first. While our legionaries searched throughout Judea, one of the Jews found it. This Jew, Simon bar Kokhba, would utilize the artifact's immense power to gather followers to his cause. He utilized the artifact to 'bless' his soldiers and followers.5 As bar Kokhba marched on Jerusalem, he demanded that every single Roman within Judea leave immediately. Severlinus, no longer fond of the Jews, took this a declaration of war and had Tineius Rufus send two legions to crush the rebellion. They were met with utter annihilation with few survivors. The command bar Kokhba had on the artifact was masterful, leading his armies against Rome with skill. This only further spurred Severlinus's hate for the Jews, resolving to destroy bar Kokhba. He came to believe that his destiny was here in Judea, not in Greece. Oh scion, how right he was.

Excerpt from page forty

Severlinus had summoned several more legions and called Sextus Julius Severus from Britain to face bar Kokhba. In spite of the largest gathering of legions since the wars in Dacia, bar Kokhba still raised above Severlinus's pressure. Your forebearer became desperate, destroying the Jewish armies against him became the sole thing he thought about for the next year. He and Severus met bar Kokhba's forces outside of Jericho, where he witnessed for the first time the artifact's effects.

Seeing the mutation of bodies and frenzied fighting from the Jewish armies made Severlinus sick. Despite our best efforts, the legions were once again defeated at the hands of bar Kokhba's armies. Severlinus no longer wanted to capture the artifact, rather he wished to destroy it by whatever means. After regrouping in Samaria, Severus informed Severlinus of his own artifact from Britain. A sword that could be used to combat bar Kokhba's. Desperate, your forebearer had it brought to him.

Excerpt from page forty-four

Severus's sword proved to be the dagger. Bar Kokhba and his forces were on their knees, retreating to their final fortress in Betar. It would be here that the artifact's effect would finally take shape on bar Kokhba's men. They were now nothing more than prisoners in their own flesh, which only further disgusted Severlinus. His resolve to destroy bar Kokhba and his artifact only deepened. Despite their situation, the Jews still fought with frenzy and vigor.

Our legions could not break the walls of Betar, despite our best efforts. It would be here that your forefather resigned himself to fate. He stepped onto the front line in the last summer of the siege and charged at the walls. The legionaries saw this as a rallying cry, that if the emperor was as bold so should they. Only those closest to Severlinus knew the truth. He had become just as desperate, crazed, and manic as the Jews in front of them. He then broke the walls, and the massacre began.

Excerpt from page fifty-six

Finally, Severlinus returned to Rome. Word of his feats in Judea had already reached the greater population, who praised him as a hero. He had quashed the rebellion, renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina, and decreed that Judea be erased from every map. Those closest to him knew the truth, however. His mind and body were broken. He had lost dear comrades and friends, including Severus, in the war. He was successful at destroying bar Kokhba and the artifact, but at what cost scion? He lost nearly everything he held dear to him. He didn't greet the senate with the customary salutation, he knew he wasn't worthy of doing so. The war effectively ended your forebearer's aspirations to realize his father's dreams. It had made him a recluse, yet he still held tightly onto Severus's sword.

Excerpt from page sixty-one

When his mother, empress Sabina, died Severlinus only further slipped into depression. He had been stopped numerous times from committing suicide. He had no heir, his travels left him childless. His current state of mind did not allow him to think of even adopting an heir. Many around him became frightened by the prospect of him dying with no heir designated to fulfill the office of emperor. That was until he met Lucius Aelius. Severlinus immediately became infatuated with him and sought him out on numerous occasions. The two would be seen together many times before eventually Severlinus named him his son and by extension his heir. Despite his newfound invigoration, your forebearer would still have bouts of madness all while keeping hold of Severus's sword.

Excerpt from page seventy-three

It happened suddenly. Lucius Aelius's death greatly impacted Severlinus, sending him into a deeper depression. He would always have two people around at all times, for if he ended his life the office of the emperor would be left vacant with no successor. As he sat alone, Severus's sword in hand, one of his consuls approached him. The consul, Arrius Antoninus, began to comfort him. At first ineffective, the consul eventually made a connection with your forebearer. The two talked for a long while, throughout the night. The next morning Severlinus announced to the senate that he had adopted the consul, with the condition that he adopt the son of the recently deceased Lucius Aelius. There was a sigh of relief among the senators, for the office was once again secure. Despite having made a connection with Severlinus, the consul could not pry Severus's sword from him.

Excerpt from page eighty-seven

It had finally happened. The sword that Severlinus had grown attached to brought him to madness. The object he had long used as a comforter, a precaution for the day should bar Kokhba's artifact rear its face again, had turned on him. He interrupted the consul's dinner with his attendants, Severus's sword in hand. He swung it wildly and with frenzy. The consul's wife shrieked as Severlinus approached them. The consul grabbed his blade and begged your forebearer to stand down.

He was beyond reason and swung at the consul. Then, the consul cut his neck. Can you blame him, scion? As Severlinus fell, the consul caught him in his arms. Letting go of Severus's sword for the first time, Severlinus asked the consul if he had made his father proud. With tears in his eyes, the consul comforted him by saying he had. With life leaving him, Severlinus made the consul promise to deify his father. And with that, your forebearer died experiencing peace for the first time in years.

Excerpt from page eighty-nine

Upon his ascension Antoninus Pius saw to it that Hadrian was deified, fulfilling Severlinus's final wish. Fearful that word of Severlinus's actions would further destabilize the empire, he was to be hidden from history. Severus's sword was confiscated and buried in Aegyptus. Due to his remarkable likeness to his father, the people were made to believe that Severlinus was indeed Hadrian. Any record and document saying otherwise were destroyed. That is why I have recorded all of this. Your forebearer would have been lost, if not for me.

I, son of Aelius Hadrianus Severlinus, will see to it that he been seen by future generations. I was there for it all, experienced what he experienced, and rightful occupant to the office of the emperor. I fear that if Antoninus Pius finds this book, he will destroy it. I will see to it that the Vates harness the emotions my father felt moments before his death, and curse those that attempt to read the book. Only my future sons and daughters may view these texts without repercussions. If you are reading this somewhere in the future, even if the empire has fallen, I plead that you hide this book until the time is right. Ensure that my father deserves his place in the sun. Please, let him see the light of day once more.

Footnotes

1. A depression module used to monitor the severity of depression, rated between 1 and 27

2. From the founding of the city.

3. This correlates with recorded activity of SCP-████.

4. Foundation records corroborate that Trajan did indeed discover such an artifact, however, its whereabouts are unknown.

5. It is known that Simon bar Kokhba utilized a similarly described anomaly during his revolt.