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Carausius II is the name given by historians to a possible imperial usurper in Roman Britain between the years 354 and 358. The suggestion of Carausius' existence comes exclusively from the study of approximately twenty extant coins, all of which were found in the United Kingdom.[1] No other evidence of Carausius II is known, although Roman Britain at the time was an unstable and dangerous place and pretenders to the throne were likely.
The first coin, found near modern-day Richborough, was published by Arthur J. Evans in 1887.[2] Evans suggested that this coin, bearing the garbled legend DOMINO CARAVƧIO CEƧ, represented that of a junior emperor reigning sometime in the 5th century AD. Specifically, Evans suggested that Carausius II may have controlled Britannia while the incumbent Constantine III was in Hispania, suppressing the revolt of Gerontius and Maximus in 409 AD.
C. H. V. Sutherland was among the first to challenge Evan's suggestions, in 1945.[3] All of the coins (five more similar coins had been discovered since Evan's publication) bore recreations of designs seen on Constantinian coinages, and none resembled official coinage of Constantine III. Furthermore, Sutherland noted that the imperial title of Caesar fell out of common usage following the reign of Julian, far before the suggested dating of 409 AD. Sutherland suggested that the usurpation of Carausius II may have occurred during or after the usurpation of Magnentius, when the incumbent Constantius II had lesser control over Britain.
C. E. Stevens expanded upon Sutherland's work in 1956, suggesting that Carausius' usurpation may have been similar to (or inspired by) that of Vetranio.[4] He cited a single coin[5] whose legend proved that Vetranio had declared himself Caesar in order to ally with Constantius II. John Kent refuted this claim in a paper published the following year, stating that the unique coin that Stevens had cited was not genuine.[6][7]
It is still highly contested to what capacity, if at all, Carausius II existed. Coins bearing his inscription, or those stylistically related, can be dated with some certainty to between 354 and 358 A.D. Beyond this, no contemporary evidence for or against Carausius' existence has surfaced.
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