Less famous than Carausius or Allectus, let us not forget that the Governor of Britannia, Decimus Clodius Albinus made a bid for the purple in the civil wars following the assassination of Didius Julianus (who had "bought" the throne from the Praetorians at auction in Rome) less than two months after his accession.

Three pretenders fought it out - Perscennius Niger, Septimius Severus and Albinus. Albinus took legionary vexillations, auxiliary cohorts and alae to the continent to press his claim with military force. This resulted in a weakening of the garrison of Britannia and some of the areas adjacent to the Wall were overrun.

The canny Severus immediately recognised Albinus as co-emperor whilst locating and defeating Niger. Coins of Imperator Albinus were in circulation mainly in the western Empire for three years (but I saw a denarius from 197 CE which came from the mouth of a man interred in a cemetery near Ephesus).

However, once Niger was safely disposed of, a clash between Albinus and Severus for mastery of the Roman World was inevitable. Severus finally defeated Albinus near Lugdunum (Lyons) and became sole emperor.

Severus led an expedition to Britannia in 211 to teach the rebellious northern tribes a lesson but died in Eboracum (York). His sons Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed co-emperors as their father wished. They were less interested in resolving all problems in northern Britannia than taking up the high life in Rome and so left for the journey back to the seat of power. The ruthless Caracalla (a "rebel" Emperor associated with Britannia) murdered his brother to gain sole power. Generally he was one of the bad emperors (cf. Caligula, Domitian, Commodus) but, as a counter-balance, he did leave us the magnificent Baths of Caracalla in Rome and extended Roman citizenship to all freeborn people in the Empire.