Carausius seized power in 286 by defecting before he could be executed on Maximian's orders — accused of pocketing pirate plunder rather than returning it to the imperial treasury. His breakaway Britannic Empire was never recognized by Rome, yet he had the audacity to mint coins that mimicked the official antoninianus fabric while adding his own legitimizing rhetoric. The silver content in his billon issues was marginally higher than contemporary official coinage, a deliberate policy to signal fiscal competence to a skeptical British garrison.
He was murdered by his finance minister Allectus in 293.
Carausius seized power in 286 by defecting before he could be executed on Maximian's orders — accused of pocketing pirate plunder rather than returning it to the imperial treasury. His breakaway Britannic Empire was never recognized by Rome, yet he had the audacity to mint coins that mimicked the official antoninianus fabric while adding his own legitimizing rhetoric. The silver content in his billon issues was marginally higher than contemporary official coinage, a deliberate policy to signal fiscal competence to a skeptical British garrison.
He was murdered by his finance minister Allectus in 293.