Domitian II
Domitian II
271 Only very recently has the identity of this extremely obscure emperor been confirmed. In the year 1900 a coin bearing the legend IMP C DOMITIANVS PF AVG was discovered in a rural area of France and given the unusual nature of the find quickly written off as a forgery. In February of 2004 the British Museum announced that their own team had restored a coin among 5,000 others that had solidified together and been found recently as a single lump by a metal detectorist. The coin again bore the same legend and this time there was no denying that the emperor did in fact exist and that the earlier coin was genuine. In 2006 the Bulgarian National Historical Museum buys another coin found with metal detector. Straddling the short reign of Victorinus and that of Tetricus it now appears that in the wake of Victorinus's murder a power struggle emerged and Domitian, a general, was hailed emperor by his subordinates. Politically, however, Victoria (the mother of Victorinus) had much more influence and somehow managed to suppress Domitian's bid and place her son on the throne instead. In all, Domitian probably enjoyed his precious Augustus title for only a few days.
AR Antoninianus
Unlisted Antoninianus Obv: IMPCDOMITIANVSPFAVG - Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: CONCORDIAMILITVM - Concordia standing left, holding patera and cornucopia.
