Durham E-Theses The episode of Carausius and Allectus, with particular reference to the numismatic evidence Shiel, Norman How to cite: Shiel, Norman (1975) The episode of Carausius and Allectus, with particular reference to the numismatic evidence, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10146/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 H^PKlThesia Abstract N Shiel B.A The Episode of Garausius and Allectus. with particular reference to the Numismatic Evidence. This thesis is a study of the decade from 287-296 when Britain was a separate empire under the control of the usirrpers Carausius and Allectus. It provides the fullest analysis so far of the literary evidence which gives a basic framework for the history of the period. This evidence is very limited in extent, and suffers in great measure from the defects of bias in the case of the earlier accounts and gross inaccuracy in the case of the later ones. The scant epigraphic evidence, consisting of the one Carausian milestone, has been included in the section on literary evidence. There is a considerable body of numismatic evidence for Carausius and Allectus which has been both used to complement that of the written accounts and also studied in its own right. A corpus of all hoards, gold and silver coins, and BRI coins known at the time of v/riting has been assembled, and a general survey made of site finds and other particularly distinctive groups such.as the 'Rouen' antoniniani. The coins in most important collections have been examined and those from Richborough, as the largest group from one site, used to produce various statistics or test various theories. It has therefore been possible to draw some conclusions as to the location of mints, the sequence and size of issues, the distribution of men and resources, the policies of the two usurpers and the history of the period in general. Many problems and uncertainties still remain for which there can be no convincing solution at present because of the lack of evidence. For some of these, possible solutions have been suggested but excessive speculation, which has bedevilled this subject in the past, has been avoided. THE EPISODE OF CARAYSIVS AND ALLECT7S WITH PARTICULAR REFEBENCE TO THE HDMISMATIC EVIDENCE A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF frfSTBS. OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM. NORMAN SHIEL B.A. OCTOBER 1975 FOR BRIDGET PANDORA AND CRISPUS CONTENTS Page Preface i Introduction ii Chapter I Literary and Epigraphic Evidence 1 List of Sources I Pan. Max. Diet. 4-. Incert. Pan. Constantlo Caes. Diet. ^ Aurelius Victor 1* Eutropius 34. Paulus Orosius 3** Bede 4 < Nennius ^I Geoffrey of Monmouth 4 "5 Richard of Cirencester 45 Robert of Gloucester 4*? John of Fordun Hector Boethius 5'4 Comparative table of Mediaeval Accounts 6 / Other references C.X Eipgraphic evidence .6 5 Chapter II The Hoard Evidence 7 7 Corpus of hoards closing with Carausius 7 7 " " Allectus 7 » " containing only Carausius/Allectus. 10 9 Legitimist hoards. hoards closing after Allectus //6 " found overseas /<23' Problematical hoards \Xt Errata fSO. Statistical tables /53 Size and content of hoards -'^'7 Mint distribution in hoards Containers and find spots M-3f Legitimist hoards /Si Dating of hoards /54 Overseas hoards '^^ Stratification in hoards '5 ^ Chapter m Site Finds /6 8 Scotland and the Northern Frontier V6» S Summary of finds in the area 17 174- The Saxon Shore Dating summary for Brancaster " " " Burgh Castle 176 " " " Walton Castle '"^6 " " Bradwell '7 7 " " " Reculver '77 17 7 '< " " Richborough 179 II II II Dover " " " Lympne 17% " " " Pevensey ns " " " Portchester /78 Wales .-« 5 Summary of site-finds in Wales Continental finds General finds .11^ Chapter IIII Carausius' Silver Coinage m Introductory remarks - Corpus of silver coins: '1* RSR gig irregular laureate bronze etal Table of obverses ^-^3 " " reverses Weights Incorrectly recorded coins Commentary ^ Chapter V Gold Coins, and Medallions Jii9 Carausius' gold coins Group one, and ~ J^t Group two, 270 Struck in Maximian's name X72 Group three, 'Rouen' coin ^73 Coins of Doubtful Authenticity -2.76 Statistics 27 7 Commentary Allectus' gold coins .-245 ML a^d ^/ Zio ML 1 29a MSL JL A Statistics Commentary X.U The Medallions Chapter VI The Coinage in General JO 3 Irregularity Mint System SIX Marks incorporating L Coins without mint-mark SIS Analysis of mint-marks from six major sites 5/5 Marks incorporating C . 3/8 BRI coins Corpus of BRI coins 3Zi 'Rouen' coins 33 Z Summary of 'Rouen' reverses 55 T Sequence-marks J3<» Tarrifing J-f / Types and Legends Pax types Legionary types of Carausius Legionary type of Allectus 35^ 'Carausius et Pratres Sui' J55 The galley reverses of Allectus 35^ Some statistics concerning these. J6/ 'Expectate Veni' 36-t- Influence of Postumus Conclusion J75 Appendix 3J3 Bibliography 3S7 Plates 401 MPS and PLATES Maps Early, middle and late Carausian hoards 'p. /61 Legitimist hoards and hoards containing 'Rouen' coins p. /^^ Hoards of more than one hundred coins p. 3 Hoards containing predominantly Carausian/Allectan coins p. /^-^ Overseas hoards p. Hoards terminating 287-296 p. /66 Gold coins of Carausius and Allectus p. Ji*f<f Plates One & Two - Carausius' Gold ^oi Three & Pour . - Allectus' Gold .4/CJ _ Five - Sixteen - Carausius Silver - Seventeen & Eighteen - 'Rouen' antoniniani 424- Nineteen - BRI antoniniani 4Z6 Twenty - Allectus' legionary antoninianus 4127 Twenty one & two - Carausian silver/bronze 4i* Twenty three - Medallion, milestone,'Rouen' laur. -«30 bronze, aureus Twenty four & five - Structure of and antoniniani Preface I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. J C Mann for all his valuable advice and guidance as my supervisor in the earlier stages of my research, and to IJr.R A G Carson who, despite the many more important demands on his time, has always been ' most generous with help of every kind. I am also indebted to Dr. J P C Kent for having first prompted me to a study of Carausius and Allectus in 1970. There are other particular debts to be acknowledged, to Mr Richard Reece, Mr,Philip Isaac, Dr.Anne Roberfajn, Ifr.George Boon, and Mr.Simon Bendall. I have been overwhelmed by the consistent generosity shown to me by a very great number of individuals and institutions over the past five years, without which much of this research would have been impossible. Finally my thanks are due to Mr. John Clarke who first aroused my interest in Roman Numismatics many years ago; to Dr.Allan Wilson for his constant help, encouragement and example; and to my wife Bridget for having suffered so much. Introduction The period of Carausius and Allectus lasted only a decade but because of its special nature it has captured the imagination of many students of Romano-British history as has no comparable period. • • It is less well documented than much of the Roman occupation and this has helped to promote the interest in it as the absence of very much incontrovertible evidence made it easy for those who presumed to compose their own accounts of the past. The upsurge of interest in the eighteenth century saw the production of two books about Carausius, one by the Frenchman Genebrier; the other by the Englishman, Stukeley. Neither work shows a very great concern for accuracy or displays much critical acumen, particularly by modem standards. The Medallic Histoiy of Carausius by Stukeley may rather be seen a masterpiece of ingenuity. Some attempt at listing the varieties of coin types was at least being made, and as interest grew in the subject and numismatics in general more was written about individ\ial coins or whole collections. Mionnet provided one such listing and Akerman another. The advent of the Numismatic Chronicle provided a particular stimulus to the rapid growth in the volume of important published material on the subject. Cohen's monumental work became standard for these coins along with the rest of the Roman Imperial Series. There has, however, always been a sizeable following of what may be called the Stukeley tradition. That is to say writers, who were more concerned with the undoubtedly attractive romantic aspects of the episode. As the British Empire reached its zenith and its naval supremacy was lU unchallenged, the temptation to draw parallels with the bold sea-farer who had established an earlier 'British Empire', founded and maintained by sea power v/as irresistable. Caxausius' background, bom a Menapian, even prompted an American Dutchman, John Watts De Peyster, to write a book about him as a means of eulogising the Dutch race. To the British he says, 'Your only true sailor-king Carausius - the first to divine the soiirce and course of England's future - was a Menapian, a Hollander'. By the twentieth century much new material had been discovered in excavations or in hoards since Cohen's listing, and in 1906 and 1907 there appeared in the Numismatic Chronicle the first major treatment of Carausius' and Allectus' coinage from a modem standpoint of critical analysis.