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Carausius – Roman Emperor: 286-293 A.D.
Billon Antoninianus 19mm (3.95 grams) Struck circa 286-293 A.D.
Reference: RIC 303; S. 3568
IMP CARAVSIVS P F AVG – Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
PAX AVG – Pax standing left, holding olive branch and scepter, L at left, ML in
exergue.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
In
Roman mythology
, Pax (Latin
for peace
) (her
Greek
equivalent was
Eirene
) was recognized as a
goddess
during the rule of
Augustus
. On the
Campus Martius
, she had a temple called the
Ara Pacis
, and another temple on the
Forum Pacis
. She was depicted in art with
olive
branches, a
cornucopia
and a scepter. There was a festival
in her honor on January 3. Daughter of
Jupiter
and
Iustitia
. Pax was often associated with spring.
Eirene, or Irene Greek for “peace”; the
Roman
equivalent was
Pax
, one of the
Horae
, was the personification of peace, and
was depicted in art as a beautiful young woman carrying a
cornucopia
,
sceptre
and a torch or
rhyton
. She is said sometimes to be the
daughter of Zeus
and
Themis
.
She was particularly well regarded by the
citizens of Athens
. After a naval victory over
Sparta
in 375 BC, the Athenians established a
cult for Eirene, erecting
altars
to her. They held an annual state
sacrifice to her after 371 BC to commemorate the
Common Peace
of that year and set up a votive
statue in her honour in the
Agora of Athens
. The statue was executed in
bronze by
Cephisodotus the Elder
, likely the father or
uncle of the famous sculptor
Praxiteles
. It was acclaimed by the Athenians,
who depicted it on vases and coins.
Although the statue is now lost, it was copied in marble by the Romans; one
of the best surviving copies (right) is in the
Munich
Glyptothek
. It depicts the goddess carrying a
child with her left arm –
Ploutos
, the god of plenty and son of
Demeter
, the goddess of agriculture. Eirene’s
missing right hand once held a sceptre. She is shown gazing maternally at
Ploutos, who is looking back at her trustingly. The statue is an allegory for
Plenty (Ploutos) prospering under the protection of Peace (Eirene); it
constituted a public appeal to good sense. The copy in the Glyptothek was
originally in the collection of the
Villa Albani
in Rome but was looted and taken
to France by
Napoleon I
. Following Napoleon’s fall, the
statue was bought by
Ludwig I of Bavaria
.
Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius (died 293) was a military
commander of the
Roman Empire
in the 3rd century. He was a
Menapian
from
Belgic Gaul
, who
usurped
power in 286, declaring himself emperor
in Britain
and northern
Gaul. He did this only 13 years after the
Gallic Empire
of the
Batavian
Postumus
was ended in 273. He held power for
seven years, before being assassinated by his finance minister
Allectus
(see
Carausian Revolt
).
History
Carausius was a man of humble origin, a
Menapian
who distinguished himself during
Maximian
‘s campaign against the
Bagaudae
rebels in northern
Gaul in 286. This success, and his former occupation as a
pilot
, led to his appointment to command the
Classis Britannica
, a fleet based in the
English Channel
, with the responsibility of
eliminating Frankish
and
Saxon
pirates who had been raiding the coasts
of Armorica
and Belgica. However, he was suspected
of keeping captured treasure for himself, and even of allowing the pirates to
carry out raids and enrich themselves before taking action against them, and
Maximian ordered his execution. In late 286 or early 287 Carausius learned of
this sentence and responded by declaring himself Emperor in Britain and northern
Gaul. His forces comprised not only his fleet, augmented by new ships he had
built, and the three
legions
stationed in Britain, but a legion he
had seized in Gaul, a number of foreign
auxiliary
units, a levy of Gaulish merchant
ships, and barbarian mercenaries attracted by the prospect of booty.
Sheppard Frere
wonders how Carausius was able
to win support from the army when his command had been sea-based, and speculates
that he had perhaps been involved in an unrecorded victory in Britain, connected
with Diocletian
‘s assumption of the title
Britannicus Maximus in 285, and signs of destruction in Romano-British towns
at this time. However, the campaign against the Bagaudae was evidently
land-based, and may be responsible for Carausius’s popularity with the army.
Equally, if the accusations of larceny are true, he could perhaps afford to buy
their loyalty.
Maximian prepared an invasion of Britain in 288 or 289 to oust him, but it
failed. A
panegyric
delivered to
Constantius Chlorus
attributes this failure to
bad weather, but notes that Carausius claimed a military victory.
Eutropius
says that hostilities were in vain
thanks to Carausius’s military skill, and peace was agreed. Carausius began to
entertain visions of legitimacy and official recognition. He minted his own
coins and brought their value in to line with Roman issues as well as
acknowledging and honouring Maximian and then
Diocletian
. Coinage is the main source of
information about the rogue emperor; his issues were initially crude but soon
became more elaborate and were issued from mints in
Londinium
,
Rotomagnus
and a third site, possibly
Colonia Claudia Victricensis
.
Carausius appears to have appealed to native British dissatisfaction with
Roman rule: he issued coins with legends such as Restitutor Britanniae
(Restorer of Britain) and Genius Britanniae (Spirit of Britain). However,
he also used coins for far more sophisticated propaganda. He issued the first
proper silver coins that had appeared in the
Roman Empire
for generations, knowing that good
quality bullion coinage would enhance his legitimacy and make him look more
successful than
Diocletian
and
Maximian
. Some of these silver coins bear the
legend Expectate veni, ‘Come long-awaited one’, recognised to allude to a
line in the Aeneid
by the Augustan poet
Virgil
, written more than 300 years previously.
So he was trying to suggest that not only was he, Carausius, a kind of messianic
new ruler, but was also showing his association with Roman culture rather than
any kind of remote provincial culture.
Some of the silver coins bear the legend RSR in the
exergue
(an area on a coin below the legend).
This was considered to be a mystery for a long time. Two Carausian medallions,
now in the
British Museum
have also been found. One has
RSR in the exergue, the other has INPCDA. Since 1998 these letters have been
recognised as representing the sixth and seventh lines of the Fourth
Eclogue
of Virgil, which reads Redeunt
Saturnia Regna, Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto, meaning ‘The
Golden Ages are back, now a new generation is let down from Heaven above’. This
poem was as famous in the Roman world as
Shakespeare
‘s works are today, so any educated
reader would certainly have realized what the initials stood for (it was
commonplace in antiquity to reduce slogans and phrases to abbreviations).
No other Roman emperor in history ever made such an explicit reference to
famous Roman literature. It is quite extraordinary that in a remote province
like Britain a rebel emperor should utilise such a method to appeal to his
public. He was claiming to represent a revival of traditional Roman virtues and
the great traditions of the Empire as established by
Augustus
back in the last few decades of the
first century BC, not in
Rome but in Britain.
A milestone from
Carlisle
with his name on it suggests that the
whole of
Roman Britain
was in Carausius’ grasp.
This situation continued until 293, when
Constantius Chlorus
, now the western Caesar,
marched into Gaul and reclaimed it for the empire. He isolated Carausius by
besieging the port of
Bononia
, and invading
Batavia
in the Rhine delta, securing his rear
against Carausius’s Frankish
allies. He could not yet mount an
invasion of Britain until a suitable fleet could be built. Nevertheless,
Carausius’s grip on power was fatally undermined.
Allectus
, whom he had put in charge of his
treasury, assassinated him and assumed power himself. His reign would last only
three years, after which he was defeated and killed by Constantius’s subordinate
Julius Asclepiodotus
.
In April 2010 a large
hoard of coins
was unearthed, near
Frome
,
Somerset
,
United Kingdom
, which includes the largest
group of coins issued during Carausius’ reign ever found; 760 coins from his
reign were found in a group of 52,500 Roman coins that also included 5 rare
silver denarii. The find was equivalent to four years pay for a Roman legionary
and was probably buried in hopes of a good harvest or good weather. The hoard
dates from later than his reign, however, as it includes coins struck at a later
date.
Legend
In
Geoffrey of Monmouth
‘s legendary
History of the Kings of Britain
(1136)
Carausius is a Briton of humble birth, who by his courage persuades the
Roman Senate
to give him command of a fleet to
defend Britain from barbarian attack. Once given the fleet, however, he sails
around Britain stirring up unrest, and raises an army against
Bassanius
, the historical Caracalla, here a
king of Britain. Carausius defeats Bassanius by persuading his
Pictish
allies to desert him in exchange for
grants of land in Scotland, and sets himself up as king. Hearing of Carausius’s
treachery, the Romans send
Allectus
to Britain with three legions.
Allectus defeats and kills Carausius and sets himself up as king in his place.
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