Introduction

Domitianus was probably a Roman soldier of the mid-third century AD who was acclaimed Emperor, probably in northern Gaul, in late 270 or early 271 AD and struck coins to advertise his elevation. It is now generally assumed that this man is to be equated with the ‘Domitianus’ who is twice mentioned in the literary sources as a significant figure in the politics of the age, but on neither occasion as an outright contender for the Imperial Crown.
Given that his reign lasted for, at best, only a few weeks after his acclamation and he does not seem to have secured significant military or political support Domitianus is more properly categorized as a Roman Usurper

Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule.The...

 rather than an Emperor. His attempted ‘’coup’’ should also be understood in the context of the troubled later history of the ‘Gallic Empire’ rather than that of the Empire as a whole.

Numismatic evidence

The only evidence for the existence and rule of an Imperial claimant named Domitianus derives from two coins. The first was part of a hoard discovered at Les Cléons, in the commune of Haute-Goulaine

Haute-Goulaine

Haute-Goulaine is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France....

 in the Loire

Loire

Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

 area of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1900. The authenticity/significance of this particular item was much debated and as late as 1992 Domitianus was widely considered "at best a conjectural figure",. The other coin was found fused in a pot with some 5,000 other coins of the period 250-275 — thus providing incontrovertible provenance — in the village of Chalgrove

Chalgrove

Chalgrove is a village and civil parish of some . It is in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Rofford and the former parish of Warpsgrove with which it merged in 1932....

 in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, in 2003. The hoard was acquired by the Ashmolean Museum

Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...

 in 2004.

The design of both coins is typical of those associated with the ‘Gallic Empire’. They are of the "radiate

Radiate (coin)

The radiate or Post-reform radiate , was introduced by Diocletian during his reforms. It looked very similar to an Antoninianus even with a radiated crown like Sol Invictus, except it misses the XXI that numismatists believe was to represent 20 parts bronze to 1 part silver...

" type and depict Domitianus as a bearded figure wearing a spiky or radiate crown representing the rays of the sun, in reference to Sol Invictus

Sol Invictus

Sol Invictus was the official sun god of the later Roman empire. In 274 Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol, a revival of the cult of Elagabalus or completely new...

 (i.e. the sun perceived as a deity lit. - ‘the Unconquered Sun’). The representation is not realistic, but standardized and stereotypical and is very similar to that of the later coins of the "Gallic Emperor" Victorinus

Victorinus

Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor of the secessionist Gallic Empire from 269 to 271, following the brief reign of Marius. He was murdered by a jealous husband whose wife he tried to seduce.-Reign:...

 (269-271 AD) and the earliest of Tetricus I

Tetricus I

Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was Emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274, following the murder of Victorinus. Tetricus, who ruled with his son, Tetricus II, was the last of the Gallic emperors following his surrender to the Roman emperor Aurelian.-Reign:Tetricus was a senator born to a noble...

, the last "Gallic Emperor" (271-274).

Both coins bear the same legend, i.e., IMP C DOMITIANUS P F AUG, an abbreviation for "Imperator Caesar Domitianus Pius Felix Augustus". An unusual feature here is the absence of any reference to Domitianus’s "Nomen" or "Praenomen

Praenomen

The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...

". "Gallic Empire" coins usually bear the full tria nomina of the prince celebrated the better to carry out their propagandist function. On the reverse, the coins show Concordia

Concordia (mythology)

In Roman religion, Concord was the goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. Her Greek version is Harmonia, and the Harmonians and some Discordians equate her with Aneris. Her opposite is Discordia ....

, and have the legend CONCORDIA MILITVM, a propagandistic claim that the army was united behind Domitianus. Again this is a standard slogan for the "Gallic emperors."

The design of the Chalgrove coin and its Les Cléons counterpart is typical of others struck under the "Gallic Empire." This suggests that it was struck by the mint (or mints) which serviced that regime – i.e. at Trier in the province of ‘’Gallia Belgica

Gallia Belgica

Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of Gallia Belgica, the Belgae, consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes...

’’ or Cologne in ‘’Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....

’’ or, at least, from a die produced by artisans who were strongly influenced the design-ethos of those mints. It also suggests that the date of the coin was prior to 274 when the Emperor Aurelian

Aurelian

Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...

 suppressed the Gallic regime.

Literary sources

There are only two literary references for Domitianus's existence, neither of which names him as an emperor:

1. The 6th-century Byzantine historian Zosimus

Zosimus

Zosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...

 (i 49) records that a certain Domitianus was punished for a revolt during the reign of Aurelian

Aurelian

Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...

 (270-275). The text is vague as to the nature of his disloyalty and against whom it was directed. Because Zosimus places his coup in the reign Aurelian and because he equates Domitianus with Septiminus (or Septimius) who was acclaimed Emperor by the Dalmatian garrison at about the same time it has usually been assumed that Domitianus was directly challenging Aurelian and that his revolt took place within the territory of the central Empire – i.e. those provinces not controlled by either the ‘Gallic Emperors’ in the west or Zenobia

Zenobia

Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...

 in the east. (Watson suggests that his command lay somewhere south west of Lake Geneva – i.e. in the frontier region between the ‘Gallic’ and the ‘central’ Empires);

2. The notoriously unreliable Historia Augusta, hereafter "HA", (12.14) mentions a Domitianus as a general involved in the suppression of the revolt of Macrianus Major

Macrianus Major

Fulvius Macrianus , also called Macrianus Major, was a Roman usurper. He was one of Valerian's fiscal officers. More precisely, sources refer to him as being in charge of the whole state accounts or, in the language of a later age, as Count of the Treasury and the person in charge of markets and...

 in 261. HA asserts that in this operation Domitianus was an associate (possibly, a cliens

Patronage in ancient Rome

Patronage was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus and his client . The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client...

, client or protégé) of Gallienus’s Hipparchos (Cavalry-Master-General) Aureolus

Aureolus

For the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon.Manius Acilius Aureolus was a Roman military commander and would-be usurper. He was one of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus...

 who is normally credited with the victory over Macrianus. However, the reference is made in terms that suggest that Domitianus was already a distinguished commander in his own right. There is nowhere in HA any suggestion that this Domitianus or any other man of that name was involved in any anti-regime activities during Aurelian's reign.

HA also suggests that Domitianus was descendant of the Emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

, the son of Vespasian

Vespasian

Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

 and his wife Domitilla the Elder

Domitilla the Elder

Flavia Domitilla Major Flavia Domitilla the Elder or Domitilla the Elder was the wife of the Roman Emperor Vespasian. She was a daughter of Flavius Liberalis, a humble quaestor’s clerk. Before her marriage, she was a formal mistress to an African knight. Vespasian married her around 38...

. The intention here may be to suggest that Domitianus was of senatorial rank. It is possible that his motive in doing this was to deflect some of the glory accruing to the low-born Aureolus from his suppression of the Macrianic rebellion. HA cannot bring himself to say anything that might appear to denigrate the achievement of Aureolus in this connection in comparison to the supine effeminacy of his bête noire, the unworthy Gallienus. However, he was probably happy to be able suggest that his associate, Domitianus, was ‘One of Us’. One might remark that if Domitianus had been a senator he would probably have fallen foul of the decision taken by Gallienus early in his sole reign to strip all aristocratic army officers of their commissions. He would not, therefore, have been allowed to command the forces sent against the Macriani.

Suggested interpretation

The evidence is not sufficient to confirm that the associate or protégé of Aureolus mentioned in the HA, the obscure rebel of Aurelian’s reign mentioned by Zosimus and the Imperial claimant celebrated in the coins were one and the same man. However, academic opinion is inclined to the view that, more likely than not, they were one and the same.

It is quite possible that, as a client of Aureolus, Domitianus would later have become associated with the Gallic regime given what is suspected and known about his patron

Patronage in ancient Rome

Patronage was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus and his client . The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client...

's relations with Postumus

Postumus

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus in 260 and formed the so-called Gallic Empire...

. If HA’s assertions as to his military reputation are correct it is not unlikely that he would have been welcomed into the entourage of the ‘Gallic Emperor’ and his successors. However, the evidence is too vague and circumstantial.

The evidence of his coins suggests that the Domitianus was almost certainly a military figure associated with the rebel ‘Gallic Empire’ who commanded troops close enough to one of the mint-cities of Trier or Cologne to ensure that his Imperial pretensions were proclaimed in the traditional manner. It was very difficult for would-be Emperors in regions where there was no established mint to issue coins.

Given what is known of the chronology of the ‘Gallic Empire’ his bid for Empire is most probably associated with the period of confusion following the officers’ coup against the ‘Gallic Emperor’, Victorinus, early in 271. The men who murdered Victorinus seem to have had no political agenda and it is not surprising that there should have been period of confusion after his death. In this circumstance it would not have been surprising that a faction may have been tempted to put forward a figure such as Domitianus who had an established military reputation – particularly if he was, indeed, the same man as the conqueror of the Macriani mentioned in the HA. On the other hand, the literary evidence does suggest that the forces favouring Tetricus

Tetricus

Tetricus may refer to:* Tetricus I, emperor of the Gallic Empire was the last of the Gallic Emperors as Tetricus I from 270/271 to 273.* his son, Tetricus II, was his co-ruler...

 as the new Emperor were able to assert themselves so swiftly and decisively that Domitianus’s elevation was hardly remarked outside the provinces controlled by the 'Gallic Empire'.

The most likely interpretation of the evidence of the coins is that Domitianus was involved in the officer coup that overthrew Victorinus

Victorinus

Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor of the secessionist Gallic Empire from 269 to 271, following the brief reign of Marius. He was murdered by a jealous husband whose wife he tried to seduce.-Reign:...

 and managed to secure temporary control of one of the 'Gallic' mints. It is thus more likely that he was suppressed by Tetricus

Tetricus

Tetricus may refer to:* Tetricus I, emperor of the Gallic Empire was the last of the Gallic Emperors as Tetricus I from 270/271 to 273.* his son, Tetricus II, was his co-ruler...

 than by the central Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Aurelian

Aurelian

Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...

 as the Zosimus reference - see above – would appear to suggest.

The use of the cognomen alone in the Imperial title is sufficiently unusual to raise questions about the circumstances in which the coins were produced. The circumstances in which the Chalgrove specimen was discovered leaves no doubt that it was, indeed, struck by somebody in the early 270s AD, but we have to consider that it might have been produced by a faction of the Rhine army officer ‘’cadre’’ which hoped to use Domitianus as a figurehead, possibly without his knowledge or approval.

Domitianus's fate is unknown. One possibility is that he was either executed by Tetricus or, more likely, that he was murdered by his own troops when the main Rhine army garrisons declared for Tetricus. A second possibility is that he was defeated by Placidianus

Placidianus

Iulius Placidianus was a Roman general of the 3rd century. He was a professional soldier who advanced his career under Gallienus and survived into the age of Claudius II and Aurelian. The account of him rehearsed here is largely derived from L.L. Howe’s history of the Praetorian...

, a general loyal to Aurelian

Aurelian

Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...

 who had been stationed to guard the lower Rhone

Rhône

Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...

 valley during Victorinus' assault on Autun

Autun

Autun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...

 in 270. This would suggest that his rebellion took place in southern Gaul

Roman Gaul

Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Roman control of the area lasted for less than 500 years....

, near enough to the central empire's provinces to be of concern to Aurelian.

External links

• Coin unearths new Roman emperor, BBC News, 25 February 2004
• British museum analysis of the coin