Italy: Icon of Numerian (-284), 50th Roman emperor, from the book Icones imperatorvm romanorvm (Icons of Roman Emperors), Antwerp, c. 1645

Numerian (-284) was the son of Emperor Carus and older brother to Carinus, who he would be joint emperor with in later life. Carus immediately elevated both Carinus and Numerian to Caesars after his ascension to the throne, taking Numerian east with him to wage war against the Sassanid Empire while Carinus was left in charge of the West.

Carus soon died after becoming emperor, making Numerian and Carinus the new emperors. While Carinus rushed back to Rome, Numerian lingered in the East, returning at a leisurely and ordered pace, unworried by the Persians due to their own internal issues. However, disaster struck on the way back.

While travelling through Asia Minor, Numerian began suffering from an inflammation of the eyes and had to travel by closed coach. Somewhere near Bithynia, Numerian's soldiers began smelling an odd odour coming from the coach, like that of a decaying corpse. They opened the coach's curtains to find Numerian dead within.

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