Carausius and Allectus may be well-known to certain coin collectors, museum curators and coin dealers but they remain largely unknown to most people. At the end of third century AD, these two men successively ruled Britain, and parts of the Continental coast, as rebel emperors for a period of ten years. They minted their own coins, initiated Britain’s first truly integrated defence system and successfully repelled an invasion from the mighty Roman empire. These are extraordinary achievements by any standards.
While elements of the incredible story of these two rebel emperors remain speculative, enough evidence remains to piece together this exciting episode in the history of Britain, shedding light on how the Romans regarded Britannia from the outset and why the secessionist empire posed such a huge threat to the authority of Diocletian and Maximian.
The main physical evidence for their existence is the considerable range and variety
