Carinus
as Caesar  AD 282 - 283
as Augustus  AD 283 - 285

Marcus Aurelius Carinus:
Son of Carus;
Brother of Numerian;
Husband of Magna Urbica;
Father of Nigrinian.

AD 282 - 283 - Caesar with Numerian under Carus
AD 283 - Augustus with Carus and Numerian
AD 283 - 284 - with Numerian
AD 284 - 285 - Sole reign in opposition of Diocletian

Carinus succeeded his father on throne in 283, reigning as emperor in the West while his brother Numerian took the crown in the East. After the mysterious death of Numerian in 284 the eastern army refused to recognize Carinus and elevated Diocletian instead. At the same time one of Carinus' commanders, Marcus Julianus, governor of Venetia, rose in revolt, and took Carinus a year to suppress the revolt and then move on Diocletian. The clashed on the Danube and just when it seemed that Carinus would prevail, one of officers, apparently acting out of revenge for an affair Carinus was having with his wife, assassinated him. Gibbon, the famous eighteenth-century historian of Roman decline, characterized Carinus in the following way "...he displayed to the Romans the extravagancies of Elagabalus, aggravated by the cruelty of Domitian."

Mints: Alexandria, Antioch, Cyzicus, Lugdunum, Rome, Siscia, Ticinum, Tripolis.

List all Carinus coins in the Catalog.

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