Italy: Icon of Clodius Albinus (150-197), usurper emperor, from the book Icones imperatorvm romanorvm (Icons of Roman Emperors), Antwerp, c. 1645

Clodius Albinus (150-197) was born in Africa Province (modern day Tunisia) to an aristocratic Roman family. He joined the army at a young age and served with distinction under Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. After the assassination of Emperor Pertinax and the auctioning of the imperial throne to senator Didius Julianus in 193, Albinus was proclaimed emperor by the armies in Britain and Gaul.

In the civil war that followed, which would be known as the Year of the Five Emperors, Albinus initially allied himself with fellow claimant Septimius Severus, who had captured Rome, with the two sharing a consulship in 194 and Severus giving the title of Caesar to Albinus. By the the year 196, Severus had already removed the other emperors, and turned his eye on Albinus, wishing to be undisputed master of the Roman Empire.

Albinus formally proclaimed himself emperor in 196, and went on the offensive. On 19 February 197, the armies of the two emperors clashed at the Battle of Lugdunum. Though it was hard-fought, Albinus was defeated and either killed himself or was executed on Severus' orders. In a final act of humiliation, Severus had Albinus' body laid out on the ground so that he could ride his horse over it.

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