Italy: Carinus (-285), 49th Roman emperor, from the book Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies: elogijs ex diuersis scriptoribus per Thomam Treteru S. Mariae Transtyberim canonicum collectis, 1583

Carinus (-285) was Emperor Carus' eldest son, and was appointed Caesar in the beginning of 283, made co-emperor of the western portion of the Roman Empire while his father and younger brother Numerian headed eastwards to fight the Sassanid Empire.

When his father died in mid-283, Carinus and Numerian became co-emperors of the Empire, with Carinus swiftly returning to Rome to celebrate his ascension. In 284, Numerian was found dead in his closed coach under mysterious circumstances, with Diocletian, commander of Numerian's bodyguards, claiming that Numerian had been assassinated. Diocletian was almost immediately proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, and Carinus was forced to march and face him.

The two armies clashed in 285, with differing accounts on what occurred. One acount claims that Carinus' forces were winning, but the emperor was assassinated by a jealous tribune whose wife Carinus had seduced. A more believable account claims that Diocletian's troops secured a complete victory, and Carinus' army deserted him, leading to either his death by murder or execution. Carinus posthumously gained a reputation as one of the Empire's worst emperors, a slandering possibly supported by newly crowned Diocletian himself.

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