Rulers who died violent deaths

King Harold shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings. There is scholarly
debate that this may not have happened. The Bayeux Tapestry may not
have it right.

King Harold penny.



"Shot in the eye and your to blame, you give warfare a bad name"

 

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Henry VI House of Lancaster 1422-60
AV Quarter Noble ND Annulet Issue (1422-30) Tower Mint
This coin was from the Law Collection.
During the Wars of the Roses 1455-85 the House of York (White Rose) fought a bloody civil war with the Lancastrians (Red Rose)
In 1471 Edward IV (Yorkist forces won) and he became King. He had Henry imprisoned and murdered.

 

PHILIP II MAKEDONWN... assassinated just before executing a small expedition... his son picked up the slack.


Makedon Philip II Tet Pella LIFETIME 353-349 Zeus Horse star spearhd Le Rider 102

 

...Max Thrax...beheaded by his own troops

 

Something about 23 stab wounds with only one being fatal makes it sound excruciating:

Augustus with Divus Julius Caesar
(27 BC-14 AD) MACEDON. Thessalonica. Obv: ΘEOΣ.
Wreathed head of Julius Caesar right; uncertain c/m on neck.
Rev: ΘEΣΣAΛONIKEΩN.
Bare head of Augustus right; Δ below. RPC I 1554.
Fine. 12.3 g.21 mm.
Former: Numismatik Naumann
The D has been interpreted as either a denomination mark (four assaria) or, more likely, a date - year four of the Actian era (28/7 BC). The ligate NK monogram has been generally accepted as a reference to Nero (Nerwn Kaisar). This is problematic considering that Thessalonica had abundant coinages issued under Claudius and Nero, such that countermarking these quite older coins would be unlikely. Touratsoglou (p. 105) follows Kraay's suggestion that the NK is an abbreviation for Nike (NiKh), and was applied to the coins during celebrations of the city's 50th anniversary of its grant of liberty by the Romans. All but two of the known specimens of this countermark occur on the coins of this first issue of Thessalonica, and the wear on the countermarks is nearly identical to that of the coins, suggesting that the countermarks could not have been applied very long after the coins entered circulation.

 

I am uneducated. Who is on your coin?

 

The most famous murder in Roman history, to be remembered later this month... Tis CAESAR! Et tu @hotwheelsearl? Haha... (with I think Octavian on the other side)

 

@panzerman great thread, but as others have noted, your criteria pretty much includes everyone! This thread is going to get long!

As @DonnaML suggested, we can break it into sub-categories and we can make a fun-game out of it. I have a perfect candidate for the 'died from unnatural causes while taking a bath' category. Romanos III didn't marry out of love and he didn't die loved either, especially by his wife Zoe, who was the likely culprit. There is a cool solidus of her and her sister in the upcoming Roma auction, for those that can possibly afford it.



There is a lot of nasty things you can say about emperors, but in an era where personal hygiene was not a priority, many of them enjoyed taking baths despite the many evident dangers.

And of course in a thread about violent deaths I could not possibly leave this guy out:



I think if he had the choice, he would certainly have opted for a bathtub death. Here is a copy of the wikipedia entry regarding his death:

 

Nothing like a couple of Byzantine emperors for the Smooth Transition of Power...

From Wikipedia -

Maurice Tiberius: "Maurice was murdered at the harbor of Eutropius on 27 November 602 (some sources say 23 November). The deposed emperor was forced to watch his five younger sons executed before he was beheaded himself.[55] Empress Constantina and her three daughters were temporarily spared and sent to a monastery. The palace eunuch Scholasticus aided their escape to St. Sophia, but the church turned them over to Phocas, who sent them back to the monastery. A few years later, they were all executed at the harbor of Eutropius when Constantina was found guilty of a conspiracy against Phocas." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_(emperor)#Death


Phocas: "Despite being appointed as Comes excubitorum, Priscus was not loyal to Phocas, and in 608 he appealed to Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Carthage, to rebel against Phocas.[9] Heraclius the Elder agreed, and began to prepare to invade, by cutting off the supply of grain to Constantinople and assembling a large army and navy. Heraclius the Elder launched his invasion in 609, with his cousin, Nicetas, marching troops overland to the capital, and his son, Heraclius, leading a naval invasion of Thessalonica, before marching to Constantinople. Heraclius arrived outside Constantinople on 3 October 610, and seized the city on 5 October. Heraclius was declared emperor on the same day, and swiftly had Phocas executed." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phocas#Downfall

Includes a picture:



A couple of coins I picked up at my local dealer a while back:


Maurice Tiberius Æ Follis
Year 16 (597-598 A.D.)
Antioch (Theopolis) Mint
DN MA[V G I CN] P AVT (should be G), crowned, mantled bust facing, holding mappa and eagle-tipped sceptre / Large M, ANNO left, cross above, X/μI right, Γ below, THEUP´ in ex.
SB 533; DO 168b.
(10.86 grams / 27 mm)


Phocas Æ Half Follis
Year 2 (603-604 A.D.)
Cyzicus Mint
dN FOCA PERP AV[G], crowned, mantled bust facing, holding mappa and cross / Large XX, cross above, regnal year II right, KYZB in exergue.
SB 670; MIB 79.
(5.54 grams / 20 mm)

 

How about the first Roman emperor to die in battle?

 

Such a great topic and so many choices. I have to go first to in my opinion (if you believe everything written on him because history is always dictated by the victors) the craziest, most out there and deserving of a movie Elagabalus. Rome's first emperor/empress.

AR Antoninanus, 218AD, 22mm, 6.0g, Rome
Obv: IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG
Radiate, draped and cuir., bust right
Rev: PM TR P COS PP
Roma seated left holding Victory and spear, shield at side.
Ref: RIC 1, BMCRE 3, RSC 126




Next I go to Trajan Decius the first emperor to be slain in battle by a foreign enemy.

AE sestertius, 30mm, 15.6g, 250-51AD, Rome
Obv: IMP C M Q TRAIAN DECIVS AVG
Laurel draped bust right
Rev: DACIA S C
Dacia standing left holding Dacian standard surmounted by wolfs head (draco)
Ref: RIC 112a, Hunter 32. Note had BD treatment.



And last I will go back to the Severn era with the marriage issue of Plautilla. I think the reverse kills two birds with I stone.

AR denarius, 202AD, 19mm, 2.4g, 2nd marriage issue, Rome
Obv: PLAVTILLAE AVGVSTAE
Bust of Plautilla draped turned right, her hair is plaited and coiled behind the head.
Rev: CONCORDIAE AETERNAE
Plautilla stands, draped, turned right, clasping hands with Caracalla, who is standing draped, turned left.
Ref: RIC 361 RSC 10 CSS 575a CRE 435

 

You beat me. Lol

 

They still haven't. Until now:

Jovian
Augustus, A.D. 363-364
AE3
Sirmium mint, A.D. 363-364
Obv: D N IOVIA-NVS P F AVG
Rev: VOT/V/MVLT/X in four lines within wreath
ASIRM in exergue
RIC 119
20mm, 3.7g.

Died from carbon monoxide poisoning while barbecuing indoors, in a tent no less.

 

The Roman emperor Carus ruled from 282 to 283. During one of Roman's many military campaigns against the Persians, Carus was in his tent, perhaps celebrating after a successful day on the battlefield. Then a violent thunder storm struck and the Carus was struck by lighting and found dead ...



Silvered Antoninianus of Carus, Obverse: IMP CARVUS P F AVG “Emperor Carus, dutiful and patriotic augustus.” Reverse: AETERNIT IMPERI IHH “For the eternity of the empire.” Sol advancing left, nude but for chlamys raising hand and holding wipe. Ric 36, similar to Sear 12167

... or the "lighting" may have been praetorian prefect, Arrius Aper. Aper may well have poisoned Carus' son, Numerian, while he was sick and being carried back to Rome on a litter. Like his father, Numerian was found dead in the little.



Antoninianus of Numerian, Obverse: IMP C NVMERIANUS AVG “Emperor caesar Numerian augustus.” Reverse: MARS VICTOR C in right field. “Mars victor” Mars carrying a spear and a trophy. Similar to Sear 12247

Diocletian accused Aper of the murder and had him executed in short order. BUT since Aper's daughter was married to Numerian, why would he have killed the man who had provided him with a conduit to power?

Could it be that Diocletian was cleaning up his own dirty work?

To complete the Diocletian coup, the soon to be emperor went to war against Carus' last surviving emperor-son, Carinus. Diocletian was saved the bother of having to kill Carinus in battle when one of his officers killed Carinus because he had seduced his wife.



Silvered Antoninianus of Carinus, Obverse: IMP CARIVUS P F AVG “Emperor Carinus, dutiful and patriotic augustus.” Reverse: AETERNIT AVGG Aeternitas standing holding a globe with phoenix, lifting her robe. Personification Aeternitas stands for eternity, stability. She holds a globe, scepter or heads of sun or moon. Ric 248, Sear 12341

Diocletian was one of those rare emperors who died of natural causes.



Silver Argenteus of Diocletian, Obverse: DIOCLETIANVS AVG Reverse: VIRTVS MILITVM officina “B” “Victory (virtue) of the army.” Four leaders, Diocletian and Galerius (Eastern empire) Maximian and Constantius (Western empire) sacrificing over a tripod-altar with a military camp in the background, in this case with six tarots. Sear 12617

Diocletian ruled from 294 to 305. He decided to retire in 305 and live in his retirement home, which still stands, and tend to his gardens. Here is how the Diocletian estate may have looked when he lived there.



And here it is today.

 

Gordian III

Remains a mystery/ some claiming he was killed in battle vs the Sassanians at Fallujah/Iraq. Other that his troops murdered him? Violent either way....

 

Seems the Praetorian "Guard" where nothing but a "Murder Inc." outfit/ once the Emperor did not bribe them with Aurei/ they where knocked off/ replaced with a new candidate that would give them extortion money.

 

I have to say that it beautiful

 

British king Edward II was, more than likely, gay. After he was deposed, he was held prisoner for a while. Then one night people heard him screaming. The next day he was found dead. Some say that he was strangled. The salacious story was that he had had a red hot poker pushed up his rectum. At any rate the former king’s body looked okay for burial, like he had died of natural causes.

Here is an Edward II penny. This coin does not look like much, but oddly enough all of the examples I have seen look this way. The coin never seems to come nice.



Edward II's last lover, Hugh Despenser, the younger, had a more gruesome death. The English were masters at torturing the people they executed before they died. They kept doing it right up until the early 1800s. It is probably the reason why our founding fathers included words in the constitution that forbid “cruel and unusual punishments.” The last scene in the film Brave Heart was accurate and perhaps sanitized.

At any rate, after a long period of torture that I will leave for you to research, Despenser was castrated and his parts were tossed into a fire while he watched. Some historians might question whether Despenser and the king were lovers, but it seems like the symbolism of their executions left no doubt about the perceptions of those who were living at the time.

 

This Usurper did not go quietly...



Roman Imperial
Quietus (Usurper, 260-261).
AR Antoninianus (21mm, 4.55g, 5h).
Antioch mint
Obv: Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust r.
Rev: Fortuna seated l. On wheel, holding cornucopia and rudder; star in l. field.
Ref: RIC V 4; RSC 5.
R2 VF

 

Don't forget poor ol' T-bone and his hapless son, Volusian, who were killed by their own troops on their way to engage the rival troops of Aemilian.


Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
Roman AR antoninianus, 3.95 g, 21.3 mm, 12 h.
Rome, 3rd emission, AD 252.
Obv: IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: LIBERTAS AVGG, Libertas standing left, holding pileus and scepter; star in right field.
Refs: RIC 38; RSC 63a; RCV 9634; Hunter 8.


Volusian, AD 251-253.
Roman billon antoninianus, 4.15 g, 21.2 mm, 1 h.
Rome, 2nd issue, September - December, AD 251.
Obv: IMP CAE C VIB VOLVSIANO AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: SALVS AVGG, Salus, standing right, feeding out of patera snake held in arms.
Refs: RIC 184; Cohen/RSC 118; RCV 9769; Hunter 22.