Ancient Rome - AD 195-197 Clodius Albinus AR Denarius NGC AU★

Roman usurper Clodius Albinus, as Augustus (195-197 CE). AR denarius struck at Lugdunum (Lyon, France) Mint in 196-197 CE. Obverse: IMP CAES D CLO-SEP ALB AVG, laureate head of Albinus right. Reverse: FIDES LEGION COS II, clasped hands, legionary eagle behind. Holder states aquila on reverse. An aquila is a constellation in the northern hemisphere represented by the figure of an eagle. Original golden brown and green patina is found on both sides of this classical piece of numismatic art.

Cast in the Pushkin Museum of a marble bust on exhibit at the Louvre of Clodius Albinus. Photo: Wikipedia.

Emperor Commodus gave Clodius Albinus a command in Gallia Belgica and next in Britain. After a false rumor spread that Commodus had died, Albinus denounced him before his troops in Britain. He called Commodus a tyrant, and declared that it would be helpful to the Empire if the Senate were to be restored to its ancient dignity and power. The Senate enjoyed hearing those sentiments, but not so the emperor who was still very much alive. Nonetheless Albinus held onto his command until after the killing of Commodus and his successor Pertinax in 193. After the assassination of Pertinax, praetorian prefect Aemilius Laetus and his men, who had engineered the political murder, auctioned off the imperial throne to senator Didius Julianus.

After that happened, Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Syria, Septimius Severus by the troops in Illyricum and Pannonia, and Albinus by the armies of Britain and Gaul. In the civil war that followed, Albinus was first allied with Severus, who had captured Rome. But Severus turned first on Niger and then on Albinus. Fall of 196 saw Albinus proclaim himself emperor, and he crossed with his army from Britain to Gaul. On February 19, 197, Albinus met Severus's army at the Battle of Lugdunum. Albinus was defeated and either took his own life or was captured and executed. Severus had the naked body of his enemy placed on the ground in front of him, so he could ride his horse over it, as a final act of humiliation. Severus had Albinus beheaded, along with his wife and children. Their bodies were tossed into the Rhone River.