Restored Smackdown III: My Empire! - Usurpers

Those Praetorian Guardsmen were very tempramental. Murdering left right and center. They could be very disloyal. I tell you what though, a modern iteration of the Praetorian system which is worth looking up is the Papal Swiss Guard. They fight it out to the death - darn near the whole service was once wiped out. The wikipedia article is worth a read. I have a fun story about Irish chavs and a very angry swiss guard, but thats for another day.

Heres my entries. Both coins from the same field, both uncleaned.

Left coin; Carausius, Usurped Britain and part of Gaul from the Roman Empire to form the Britannic Empire. Carausius had his mint copy coins from circulation - he started a mint from scratch in London so they started with just crude copies - single die issues were given of all sorts of things, like CONCORDIA clasped hands and the type. This is a carbon copy of an earlier MONETA AVG and is a rarely seen type.
Right coin; Allectus, Usurped the Britannic Empire from Carausius, at this point just the island of Britain. This coin shows a Galley - Allectus' only defence against the much mightier roman expeditionary forces was the navy, which was moored at the isle of Wight and guarded the channel. It was the best navy then and has been since and this coin was issued to honour the naval forces in a time of great worry for Allectus. Usually this type is given the legend VIRTVS AVG - this is the more scarce LAETITIA version, I believe.

He didn't pay them above their wages (which were handsome)


And using Wikipedia for Ancient History..

As Claudius was the last living male of the Julio Claudian line established by Augustus, the election (supposedly involuntary) was not entirely illegitimate. Although forced on the Senate by the Preatorians the election was not disputed by any of the 'powers that be' nor was Claudius exactly the candidate of Cassius Chaerea who appears to have had "Republican" sympathies in assassinating the unbalanced Caligula.
Personally I would cross Claudius off the list as he did not participate in any way in the removal of his predecessor. Merely unexpectedly benefited from the act. The verb 'usurp' seems to imply a more active role.

Galba is a more complex question. The revolt of Vindex (pronounced Windex) against the tyranny of Nero led to Galba being the choice of many involved in seeking a replacement for the "Beast". So again I am unsure as Galba did not take the lead in the revolt but being an aged career military man he commanded sufficient respect among his peers to be looked to as the deliverer. With Galba's approach to Rome the cowardly Senate finally abandoned Nero who proceeded to remove himself from the picture by suicide. Galba was seen as a savior of the State and even 3 months after his death when Vitellius succeeded the hapless Otho ..... Of the over one hundred men who claimed to have killed the old man, every single one was sentenced to death.
Usurpation is really another word for illegitimate. As no written Constitution existed the selection was essentially the prerogative of the Senators. Whether paid off with bribes or bought with 'cold steel' elections were ratified by them alone. Personally I believe selfish motivations are a necessary part of a usurpation. By this standard I would indict both Otho and Vitellius and spare Galba.
Vespasian is another question.

well, I composed a lengthy rant about softening what can be perceived as harsh posts with certain language and emoticons, the value of wikipedia, who was or wasn't and usurper, what that word literally means when applied to these guys and I how don't know (or exactly care)...yada yada yada....but seeing AN's post i'll just cut and paste the last line I typed...

"i think we can all agree that ENG's coins are a welcome addition to this thread...right?"

Boo Yow indeed..on with the coins.

interesting post by the way FR.

The more (coins) the merrier !
I only meant to argue that usurpation in an "Authoritarian/Totalitarian" regime is really a matter of some perspective. Augustus very much usurped the power of the State and Constantine the Great was very much the usurper as a 'legal' system of succession had been put in place under the Tetrachy (Senate be damned). His elevation created a crisis which led to a series of wars in which he came out on top. The winners are always legitimate. They had God(s) on their side after all.

Don't forget to vote tonight everyone!

1st: jimbo's marcianus

2nd:WB's posthumus

3rd:FR's maximinus