Clodius Albinus (150-19 February 197) was a Roman general and senator who served as Governor of Roman Britain from 191 to 197 (succeeding Pertinax and preceding Virius Lupus) and who attempted to usurp the Roman Empire in 193.
Biography[]
Decimus Clodius Ceionius Albinus was born in Hadrumentum, Roman Africa, Roman Empire (present-day Sousse, Tunisia) in 150 AD to an aristocratic Romano-African family. He joined the Roman Army while young and served under the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius during his campaign against Avidius Cassius' uprising. Marcus Aurelius' son and successor Commodus appointed Clodius Albinus as Governor of Roman Britain in 191, but, upon hearing a false rumor that Commodus had died, Albinus denounced the emperor before his men, accused Commodus of being a tyrant, and shared his pro-Roman Senate sentiments. An infuriated Commodus responded by sending a replacement to relieve Albinus of his governorship, but Commodus was assassinated before he could oust Albinus from power. After Pertinax's assassination and the election of Didius Julianus as emperor, the Roman military mutinied in the provinces, and Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor in Roman Syria, Septimius Severus by the troops in Illyricum and Pannonia, and Albinus by the armies in Britannia and Gaul. Albinus allied with Septimius Severus, sharing the consulship with him in 194 and accepting the title of Caesar. Albinus remained the effective ruler of much of the western empire, supported by three British legions and one Spanish. After Severus defeated Niger in 194 and captured Byzantium in 196, he sought to become the sole ruler of the empire, and Albinus survived an assassination attempt from one of Severus' messengers and came to lead an army of 150,000 troops.
Downfall[]
In the autumn of 196, Septimius Severus had his son Caracalla made co-emperor and convinced the Senate to declare Albinus himself an official enemy of Rome. Albinus mobilized his legions in Britannia, proclaimed himself Emperor, and brought his massive army to Gaul. He established Lugdunum (Lyon) as his base, but he failed to win the loyalty of the Rhine legions. On 19 February 197, Albinus met Severus' army at the Battle of Lugdunum, facing 150,000 of Severus' own troops; the 300,000 Roman troops who fought in the battle made up two-thirds of the entire Roman Army. Albinus was defeated and slain, and his naked body was then trampled by Septimius. His wife and two sons were then executed, despite having been promised clemency.