SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Emesa. Uranius Antoninus, usurper, 253-254. Tetradrachm (Billon, 25 mm, 12.58 g, 6 h). AYTOK•K•COYΛΠ•ANTⲰNINOC•CЄ Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Uranius Antoninus to right, seen from behind. Rev. ΔHMAPX ЄΞOYCIAC YΠA TO B Eagle standing facing with wings displayed, head left, holding wreath in beak. Baldus pl. II, 23. Prieur 1057. Very rare. Porous, otherwise, nearly very fine.



H.-R. Baldus convincingly argued that Uranius Antoninus must be identical to Sampsigeramos, a high priest of the Emesan god Elagabalus, known from John Malalas, a 6th-century Byzantine historian. Malalas reports that Sampsigeramos repelled a Sasanian offensive under Shahpur I and killed the enemy general, suggesting that the priest organized an ad-hoc force of local troops in response to an imminent crisis. The usurpation of Sampsigeramos-Uranius Antoninus is securely dated to 253/4 through his local bronze coinage, which carries the year 565 of the Seleucid Era, a year marked by a massive Sasanian offensive and perhaps even the plundering of Antiochia on the Orontes by Rome's greatest enemy.

It is doubtful that Uranius Antoninus claimed empire-wide recognition, as his bronze and silver coinage carries the titles Imperator and Augustus (in Greek), while his aurei do not, displaying only his plain name. Thus, it is possible that Sampsigeramos-Uranius was not a true usurper, but rather a particularly vigorous local nobleman stepping in to defend his homeland during a period of imperial absence. If this is true, he would be a precursor to Odaenathus of Palmyra, who undertook the duty of fighting the Sasanian threat somewhat later, in the 260s, while Gallienus was occupied in the West. In any case, when Valerian I arrived in Syria in early 254 to reorganize Rome's Syrian Army, Uranius disappears from all historical sources, leaving unanswered the question of whether he was executed by the emperor or permitted to return to his civil life.