11 Facts About Silbannacus

Silbannacus was an obscure Roman emperor or usurper during the Crisis of the Third Century.

Silbannacus is not mentioned in any contemporary documents and his existence was forgotten until the 20th century, when two coins bearing his name were discovered, the first in the 1930s and the second in the 1980s.

Per the German historian Felix Hartmann, writing in 1982, and the English historian Maxwell Craven, writing in 2019, the unusual name Silbannacus appears to be of Celtic origin, due to the suffix "-acus", suggesting that Silbannacus might have been of Gallic, or perhaps even British, descent.

The British Museum did not doubt the coin as being genuine, as it resembled other coins of the third century in design and composition, but there were questions as to whether Silbannacus was a real figure.

In contrast to the many fully-bearded contemporary emperors, Silbannacus apparently did not have a full beard, but whiskers descending alongside the jawbone, and a beardless chin.

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Hartmann speculates that Silbannacus might have commanded Germanic auxiliaries in the Roman army.

In 2019, Craven offered a speculative reconstruction similar to that of Hartmann, writing that Silbannacus might have begun as governor of either Germania Superior or Germania Inferior, elevated by his troops to emperor after dealing with some forgotten crisis on the Rhine frontier.

Style of the second coin of Silbannacus appears to copy the design used on the coins of the emperor Aemilian, which suggests that Silbannacus ruled later than the time of Philip, possibly around the time of Aemilian's short reign.

The similarity might suggest that the coins were made in the same mint, which would mean that Silbannacus held brief control of the mint in the imperial capital.

Per the British historian Kevin Butcher, one possibility is that Silbannacus was an officer of Aemilian, who in the aftermath of Aemilian's death secured Rome and tried to rally against Valerian.

That the coins of Silbannacus have both been found in Gaul does not discredit the idea that he ruled in Rome: currency moved around in the empire and there exists a traceable line of movement of coins from the capital to the Rhine frontier.