Silbannacus: The Forgotten Emperor
By OJCL Parliamentarian Krish Gupta (Seven Hills)
As classics students, we all have our interests in different aspects of the
field. Some of us like to spend our nights reading myths, others may enjoy training
themselves in ancient art styles, and many lose their free time to learning about and
storing every Roman emperor in the fissures of their memories. In fact, the
students in the last group may pride themselves on knowing about every Roman
emperor who has ever been. Unfortunately for you, I'm here to burst your bubble.
This is the story
of Silbannacus,
The Forgotten
Emperor. It's the
year 253.
Silbannacus is
just coming of
age, but his
father, the
previous
emperor, is
already dead. The
duty falls on him
to become the
new leader of the
great Roman
empire. Well, that story isn’t real. The
OJCLers dressing as Roman Emperors
truth is, we know basically nothing about
Silbannacus. In fact, we literally knew
nothing about him until 1937 when the British Museum acquired a coin found in
Lorraine with the inscription: IMP MAR SILBANNACVS AVG (Imperator Mar.
Silbannacus Augustus). When analyzed by specialists at the museum, the coin was
found to be authentic. This meant that he clearly controlled the mint at some point,
and the coins were circulated. And yet, no historical source mentions a name
resembling that of Silbannacus even though people clearly had heard of him since
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