| Silbannacus | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Antoninianus of Silbannacus discovered in the 1930s. The inscription reads imp mar silbannacvs avg. | |||||||||
| Roman emperor or usurper | |||||||||
| Reign | Uncertain, likely briefly at some point between 248 and 253 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Uncertain, possibly Philip the Arab or Aemilian | ||||||||
| Successor | Uncertain, possibly Philip the Arab or Valerian | ||||||||
| Born | Unknown, around 210 AD Possibly, Gaul or Roman Britain | ||||||||
| Died | Unknown, around 260 AD Likely Rome | ||||||||
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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. His unusual name suggests that he might have been of Gallic descent.
As the only known evidence for his existence is the two coins, the exact time and extent of Silbannacus's rule is not known. Based on the design of the coin and its silver content, Silbannacus was most likely concurrent with the reigns of Philip the Arab (r. 244–249), Decius (r. 249–251), Trebonianus Gallus (r. 251–253), Aemilian (r. 253), or Valerian (r. 253–260). The two most prevalent ideas are the older hypothesis, that Silbannacus was a usurper in Gaul during the reign of Philip the Arab, at some point between 248 and 250, and the newer hypothesis, based on the design of the second coin, that Silbannacus was a briefly reigning legitimate emperor, holding Rome between the death of Aemilian and the arrival of Valerian.