AE Antoninianus, A.D. 283-284, Rome, 25mm, 2.73g, 0°, RIC V 423.
Obv: IMP NVMERIANVS AVG. Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: VNDIQVE VICTORES. Emperor standing left with globe and scepter; Kaς in ex.
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Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus, son of Carus was a Roman Emperor from 282 to 284 with his older brother Carinus. Carus' death, reportedly by lightning strike, came during a war with the Sassanid empire and left Numerian and Carinus as the new Augusti.

Carinus quickly made his way to Rome from Gaul, and arrived in January 284. Numerian lingered in the East and eventually signed a peace treaty with the Sassanids. The Roman retreat from Persia was orderly and unopposed. By March 284 Numerian had only reached Emesa in Syria where he was apparently still alive and in good health, as he issued the only extant rescript in his name there. (Coins are issued in his name in Cyzicus at some time before the end of 284) After Emesa, Numerian's staff, including the prefect Aper, reported that Numerian suffered from an inflammation of the eyes, and had to travel in a closed coach. When the army reached Bithynia, some of Numerian's soldiers smelled an odor reminiscent of a decaying corpse emanating from the coach. They opened its curtains and inside found Numerian dead, apparantly from sepsis.

Aper officially broke the news in Nicomedia in November. Numerian's generals and tribunes called a council for the succession, and chose Diocletian, commander of the cavalry arm of the imperial bodyguard. On November 20, 284, the army of the east gathered on a hill outside Nicomedia and unanimously saluted their new Augustus. Diocletian raised his sword to the light of the sun, and swore an oath denying responsibility for Numerian's death. He asserted that Aper had killed Numerian and concealed it. In full view of the army, Diocles drew his blade and killed Aper.

According to Historia Augusta, Numerian was a man of considerable literary attainments, remarkably amiable and known as a great orator and poet. However, no other sources, apart from the unreliable Historia, report anything about his personality.