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Clodius Albinus - Caesar: 193-195
A.D. Emperor: 195-197 A.D. Buy Clodius
Albinus ancient Roman coins for sale online, and read the biography of
the rare emperor online, along with a video biography presentation.
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Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus (ca. 150 -
February 19,
197)
 was
a
Roman usurper proclaimed
emperor by the legions in
Britain and
Hispania (the
Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern
Spain and
Portugal
Pertinax.
Albinus was born into an aristocratic family at
Hadrumetum in
Africa. According to his father, he
received the name of Albinus because of the extraordinary whiteness of
his body. Showing great disposition for a military life, he entered the
army at an early age and served with great distinction, especially
during the rebellion of
Avidius Cassius against the emperor
Marcus Aurelius in 175. His merits were
acknowledged by the emperor in two letters in which he calls Albinus an
African, who resembled his countrymen but little, and who was
praiseworthy for his military experience and the gravity of his
character. The emperor likewise declared that without Albinus the
legions (in
Bithynia) would have gone over to
Avidius Cassius, and that he intended
to have him chosen
consul.
The emperor
Commodus gave Albinus a command in
Gallia Belgica and afterwards in
Britain. A false rumor having been
spread that Commodus had died, Albinus denounced the man before his
soldiers in Britain, calling Commodus a tyrant, and maintaining that it
would be useful to the
Roman empire to restore to the
senate its ancient dignity and power.
The senate was very pleased with these sentiments, but not so the
emperor, who sent Junius Severus to relieve Albinus of his command. At
this time Albinus must have been a very distinguished man, which we may
conclude from the fact that some time before Commodus had offered him
the title of Caesar, which he declined. Notwithstanding the appointment
of Junius Severus as his successor, Albinus kept his command until after
the murders of Commodus and his successor
Pertinax in 193.
After Pertinax was
assassinated, the
praetorian prefect
Aemilius Laetus and his men, who had
arranged the murder, "sold" the imperial throne to wealthy senator
Didius Julianus, effectively crowning
him emperor, but a string of mutinies from the troops in the provinces
meant the next emperor was far from decided. Immediately afterwards,
Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor
by the legions in
Syria;
Septimius Severus by the troops in
Illyricum and
Pannonia; and Albinus by the armies in
Britain and Gaul.
In the civil war that followed, Albinus was initially
allied with Septimius Severus, who had captured
Rome, and accepted the title of
Caesar from him; the two shared a
consulship in 194. Albinus remained
effective ruler of much of the western part of the empire with support
from three British legions and one Spanish.When
Didius Julianus was put to death by
order of the senate, who dreaded the power of Septimius Severus, the
latter turned his arms against Pescennius Niger. After the defeat and
death of Niger in 194, and the complete discomfiture of his adherents,
especially after the fall of
Byzantium in 196, Severus resolved to
make himself the absolute master of the Roman empire. Albinus seeing the
danger of his position, prepared for resistance. He narrowly escaped
being assassinated by a messenger of Severus, after which he put himself
at the head of his army, which is said to have consisted of 150,000 men.
Albinus declares himself
emperor
In autumn 196, Albinus proclaimed himself emperor (Imperator
Caesar Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Augustus), crossed from
Britain to
Gaul, bringing a large part of the
British garrison with him. He defeated Severus' legate,
Virius Lupus, and was able to lay claim
to the military resources of Gaul. And although he made
Lugdunum the headquarters of his
forces, he was unable to win the allegiance of the Rhine legions.
On February 19th, 197, Albinus met Severus' army at
the
Battle of Lugdunum.After a hard-fought
battle, with 150,000 troops on either side recorded by
Dio Cassius, Albinus was defeated and
killed himself, or was captured and executed on the orders of Severus.
His body was ill treated by Severus, who sent his head to Rome, and with
it an insolent letter, in which he mocked the senate for their loyalty
to Albinus. The town of
Lugdunum was plundered and destroyed,
and the adherents of Albinus were cruelly prosecuted by Severus.
Albinus was a man of great bodily beauty and
strength; he was an experienced general; a skillful gladiator; a
severe, and often cruel commander; and he has been called the
Catiline of his time. He had one son,
or perhaps two, who were executed with their mother, by order of
Severus. It is said that he wrote a treatise on agriculture, and a
collection of stories, called Milesian. Just some of recently listed authentic ancient
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