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{{short description|Name of two possible 3rd century Roman imperial usurpers}}
{{more references|date=April 2014}}
[[Image:Bronze-Uranius Antoninus-Elagabal stone-SGI 4414.jpg|thumb|300px|Uranius Antoninus coin, with Greek inscriptions and dated according to the [[Seleucid Empire]]. On the reverse, the [[Royal family of Emesa|Emesa]] temple to the sun god ''El Gabal'', with the holy stone.]]

'''Uranius''' is the name of two possible [[Roman usurper]]s of the third century AD.

The first Uranius is mentioned only by [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], and was briefly active during the latter part of the reign of [[Alexander Severus]]. He was chosen by dissatisfied soldiers along the Danube and from a lowly background.<ref>[[Zosimus (historian)|Zozimus]], [https://www.livius.org/sources/content/zosimus/zosimus-new-history-1/zosimus-new-history-1.12/ New History, 1.12]</ref> There is little confirmatory evidence of his existence.

A second, and better attested usurper was '''Lucius Julius Aurelius Sulpicius Severus Uranius Antoninus''', who appears to have been active in [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]] in the early 250s AD. Coins minted in Emesa have been found bearing his name, and invoking the local deity [[Sol Invictus]]. Some scholars have connected him to an Emesan priest active in this period, known as Sampsiceramus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldus |first=Hans Roland |title=Uranius Antoninus: Münzprägung und Geschichte |publisher=Rudolph Habelt Verlag |year=1971 |isbn=3774911126 |location=Berlin |language=German}}</ref>

It is not clear whether the coins that were struck in Syria belong to the same man (or men) spoken about in the texts. If the later date is correct Uranius might have helped defend the [[Roman Empire]] against [[Shapur I]], the [[Sassanid]] king of [[Persian Empire|Persia]]. 

What happened to him after his claim on the throne is not known.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
[http://www.roman-emperors.org/uranius.htm "Roman Emperors DIR UraniusUranius/Uranius Antoninus"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020606230928/http://www.roman-emperors.org/uranius.htm|date=2002-06-06}}

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* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shapur-I-rock-reliefs ŠĀPUR I: ROCK RELIEFS – Encyclopaedia Iranica]
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[[Category:3rd-century deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century Roman usurpers]]
[[Category:3rd-century Arab people]]
[[Category:Emesene dynasty]]
[[Category:Julii|Uranius]]
[[Category:Aurelii]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars]]
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