Clodius Albinus - Caesar: 193-195 A.D. Emperor: 195-197
A.D.
Silver Denarius 18mm (2.9 grams)
Rome mint: 194-195 A.D.
Reference: RIC 2, BMC 88, S 6140, C 9
DCLODSEPTALBINCAES - Bare head right.
COSII - Aesculapius standing left, holding staff with snake coiled around.
* Numismatic Note: Clodius Albinus' coinage falls into to
distinct categories: the early issues struck at Rome while he was Caesar under
Septimius Severus, and the much scarcer coinage he struck at the captial of
Lugdunum after he proclaimed Augustus against Severus.
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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)
upon the murder of
Pertinax.
Life
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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[3]
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.
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