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02-25-2004, 04:25 PM

Found in today's Times of London: A coin bearing the name of a hitherto unknwon Domitianus, dating from the mid IIIrd century AD and found in Oxford has been authenticated. 
This is the first time the name of that Domitianus appears, besides the well known Caesar Domitianus of the 1st Century AD. 
The man wears a beard and a hairdo a la Marcus Aurelius and the typical IIIrd century AD radiant crown. 
The theory is that he's one of the successors of Postumus, the secessionist Gallic Emperor who controlled Gaul, Spain and Britain from 260 onwards. 
Postumus was succeded after the unfortunate deaths of several other would-be successors by Victorinus, who was prone to raping his courtier's wives. In 271 he tried to rape one wife too many and the husband dispatched him. 
That Domitianus may have been that husband, or another one of the offended husbands and he probably "reigned" for only a few months, or even weeks before being dispatched by Tetricus, the last of the Gallic Emperors. 
In 274, the Caesar Aurelian reunited the secessionist provinces to the Empire, with the probable help of Tetricus. 
There are what The Times calls "fleeting references" to a high ranking officer of the period named Domitianus but it's still unclear whether that Domitianus and the one on the coin are the same person. 
Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 2/25/04 5:34 pm

NightHunter24 · 02-25-2004, 04:49 PM

Wow...interesting bit of news.

**Robert Vermaat** · 02-25-2004, 11:54 PM

This is the coin: 
<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39899000/jpg/_39899631_coin203.jpg" style="border:0;"/><img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39899000/jpg/_39899645_coin_back203.jpg" style="border:0;"/> 
According to [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3518621.stm" target="top]the BBC[/url], "The bronze coin, that bears the face of Emperor Domitianus was found by Brian Malin as he combed a field in Oxfordshire with a metal detector. It was in a pot of 5,000 others, stuck together and also bearing the heads of emperors. 
Only one other such coin exists, showing the face of the man who ruled Britain for just four days, but was dismissed as a hoax. 
Mr Malin's coin is on exhibition at the British Museum in London. Mr Malin, a father of one who has been searching for treasure with his metal detector for more than 15 years, found the coin in a field in April last year, 10 miles south-east of Oxford. 
Experts say his discovery proves the earlier coin, found in France 100 years ago, was genuine and that Domitianus did exist." 
 
The BBC also says that "Historians believe Domitianus was the penultimate Roman ruler in Britain, an upstart from the legion who was ousted for treason for daring to declare himself emperor and having the coins made. Dating from 250AD to about 275AD, they spanned five emperors and a time of great upheaval for the Roman Empire. Domitianus was probably ousted for treason for having the coins made. Richard Abdy, Roman coin curator at the British Museum, said: "The Roman empire was beginning to fray. Domitianus, it looks, ruled in 271AD, he was the penultimate emperor and there was only one coin with his image. There have been references to Domitianus in two ancient texts but they described him as an officer who had been punished for treason." 
 
Penultimate ruler? 
Of course, this is the BBC knowing zip about the Roman Empire, and happily misquoting poor Richard Abdy, who I trust to know the difference between the Roman Empire and the short-lived Gallic Empire. 
 
Valete, 
Valerius/Robert Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=vortigernstudies>Vortigern Studies</A> at: 2/26/04 12:55 am

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