Clodius Albinus - Albinus Declares Himself Emperor

Albinus Declares Himself Emperor

In autumn 196, Albinus proclaimed himself Emperor (Imperator Caesar Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Augustus), crossed from Britain to Gaul, bringing a large part of the British garrison with him. He defeated Severus' legate, Virius Lupus, and was able to lay claim to the military resources of Gaul, but although he made Lugdunum the headquarters of his forces, he was unable to win the allegiance of the Rhine legions.

On February 19, 197, Albinus met Severus' army at the Battle of Lugdunum. After a hard-fought battle, with 150,000 troops on either side recorded by Dio Cassius, Albinus was defeated and killed himself, or was captured and executed on the orders of Severus. Severus had his naked body laid out on the ground before him, so that he could ride his horse over it, in a final act of humiliation. If Albinus' wife and sons were initially pardoned by Severus, he appeared to almost immediately afterwards change his mind, for as the dead Albinus was beheaded, so were they. Albinus' headless body was thrown into the Rhine, together with the corpses of his murdered family. His body was ill treated by Severus, who sent his head to Rome as a warning to his supporters. With it he sent an insolent letter, in which he mocked the senate for their loyalty to Albinus. The town of Lugdunum was plundered and destroyed, and the adherents of Albinus were cruelly persecuted by Severus.

Albinus was a man of great bodily beauty and strength; he was an experienced general, a skillful gladiator, a severe and often cruel commander, and he has been called the Catiline of his time. He had one son, or perhaps two, who were executed with their mother by order of Severus. It is said that he wrote a treatise on agriculture and a collection of stories, called Milesian.