Carausius and Allectus - The British Usurpers (2005) [ROMAN IMPERIAL BIOGRAPHIES]

Under Carausius and his successor Allectus, Britain for a decade (AD 286-96) achieved an independence which threatened the stability of the Roman Empire. With coastal areas of Gaul also forming part of the separatist dominion, the crisis led to the creation of a second tier of imperial rulers. Constantius Chlorus was promoted to suppress the revolt and his success paved the way for his son Constantine - who was to use the province recovered by his father as the base for his own bid for imperial recognition. His success - and his adoption of Christianity as the state religion - was to shape the world in which we still live. This little known but extraordinary episode in the history of Roman Britain has been brilliantly pieced together by John Casey, through a painstaking - and at times detective-like - sifting of the literary, archaeological and numismatic evidence. The latter is as rich as it is complex and is presented with an irresistible mixture of enthusiasm and clarity. What emerges is that the independence of Britain was based upon navel power. These rulers controlled the sea lanes of the English Channel and North Sea in a way that no naval force had done since the time of Augustus. In the aftermath of defeat, the abolition of a unified naval command reduced the Roman response to seaborne raiders to a reactive stategy, rather than an aggressively campaigning one. In the long term this dramatic episode was to play a significant, if fluctuating, part in popular political mythology. In the centuries when insular debate was paramount, the revolt held its place in literary and historical discussion, with legendary accretions freely grafted on; interest waned during the eighteenth century - only to be rekindled in the present century, when a revival of Carausian studies coincided with a return to insularity and a redefinition of political horizons. Carausius And Allectus: The British Usurpers (2005)......Page 1 ISBN: 0203974352 (Master e-book)......Page 4 --> Contents......Page 5 Plates......Page 6 INTRODUCTION......Page 8 1 - THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE THIRD CENTURY......Page 13 2 - BRITAIN IN THE THIRD CENTURY......Page 21 3 - THE DATE AND DURATION OF THE REVOLT......Page 36 4 - THE LITERARY NARRATIVE......Page 43 5 - THE IDEOLOGY OF CARAUSIAN AND ALLECTAN COIN TYPES......Page 52 Denominations and nomenclature......Page 66 The Continental mint......Page 67 The RSR mint......Page 71 The Unmarked mint......Page 74 The C mint (Pl.5)......Page 80 The monetary system......Page 82 The coinage of Allectus......Page 83 7 - NARRATIVE AND ARCHAEOLOGY I: THE REVOLT......Page 86 8 - NARRATIVE AND ARCHAEOLOGY II: THE SECOND CONTINENTAL EPISODE......Page 103 9 - THE SHORE FORTS......Page 112 10 - ALLECTUS......Page 123 11 - AFTERMATH......Page 136 12 - SHIPS AND NAVAL WARFARE......Page 152 13 - CARAUSIUS II......Page 164 14 - CARAUSIUS AND ALLECTUS IN THE POST-ROMAN WORLD......Page 169 APPENDIX: The Literary Sources......Page 192 Bibliography and Abbreviations......Page 200 Index......Page 208 Carausius And Allectus: The British Usurpers (2005) 1 ISBN's 4 ISBN: 0713471700 (Print Edition) 4 ISBN: 0203974352 (Master e-book) 4 --> Contents 5 List of Illustrations 6 Figures 6 Plates 6 INTRODUCTION 8 Chapters 13 1 - THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE THIRD CENTURY 13 2 - BRITAIN IN THE THIRD CENTURY 21 3 - THE DATE AND DURATION OF THE REVOLT 36 4 - THE LITERARY NARRATIVE 43 5 - THE IDEOLOGY OF CARAUSIAN AND ALLECTAN COIN TYPES 52 6 - THE EVIDENCE OF THE COINAGE 66 Denominations and nomenclature 66 Mints 67 The Continental mint 67 The RSR mint 71 The Unmarked mint 74 London (Pl.4) 80 The C mint (Pl.5) 80 The monetary system 82 The coinage of Allectus 83 7 - NARRATIVE AND ARCHAEOLOGY I: THE REVOLT 86 8 - NARRATIVE AND ARCHAEOLOGY II: THE SECOND CONTINENTAL EPISODE 103 9 - THE SHORE FORTS 112 10 - ALLECTUS 123 11 - AFTERMATH 136 12 - SHIPS AND NAVAL WARFARE 152 13 - CARAUSIUS II 164 14 - CARAUSIUS AND ALLECTUS IN THE POST-ROMAN WORLD 169 Appendix 192 APPENDIX: The Literary Sources 192 Bibliography and Abbreviations 200 Index 208 ISBN:,0713471700,(Print,Edition),ISBN:,0203974352,(Master,e-book) Batsford P.j. Casey ; With Translations Of The Texts By R.s.o. Tomlin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.