ROMAN BRITAIN’S PIRATE KING Carausius, Constantius Chlorus and the Fourth Roman Invasion of Britain
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A meticulously researched and vividly told account of a dramatic, little-known chapter in Romano-British history, this book brings to life the rise of Carausius, Rome’s self-declared “pirate king”. Tasked with suppressing North Sea piracy, he instead built a powerful fleet, then seized control of Britain and parts of northern Gaul, founding a breakaway empire with its own fortifications and London mint.
Drawing on detailed sources, including coinage evidence, Elliott expertly reconstructs the political tensions that drove his usurpation and Rome’s response. The narrative continues through Carausius’s violent downfall and the brief rule of his successor Allectus, who was ultimately crushed in a Roman invasion. Both scholarly and compelling, it turns fragmentary evidence into a coherent, gripping story of ambition, legitimacy, and imperial collapse.
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Description
In the mid-third century AD, Roman Britain’s regional fleet, the Classis Britannica, vanished, leaving the North Sea and Channel exposed to Germanic raiders along Britain’s eastern and southern coasts and the Rhine frontier. In response, the western emperor Maximian entrusted the capable naval commander Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius with restoring order. His success, however, aroused suspicion of embezzlement, and he was marked for execution.
Striking first, Carausius seized power in 286 AD, declaring himself ruler of a breakaway “North Sea empire” spanning Britain and parts of northern Gaul. He initially prospered, repelling early imperial attempts to dislodge him. Yet in the early 290s, Maximian appointed Constantius Chlorus,later father of Constantine the Great—as Caesar to recover the lost provinces. A skilled and methodical commander, Constantius swiftly retook northern Gaul, isolating Carausius in Britain.
What followed was a dramatic and decisive struggle that brought the usurper’s rule to a sudden end, closing a brief but extraordinary chapter in Rome’s imperial history.
Additional information
| Author/Editor | Simon Elliott |
|---|---|
| Product Code | 32530 |
| Delivery | This item is usually dispatched Next Day |
| Format | Hardback 174 pages + colour plate section |
| ISBN | 9781399094368 |
| Condition | New |
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