Silvanus' image have been found to date, since virtually every usurper minted coins as an attempt to legitimize his authority. Death of Silvanus Constantius II, who was staying in Milan, ordered Silvanus to present himself at court, then sent Ursicinus to take over Silvanus' post. Ursicinus was himself at odds with Constantius' clique, and Silvanus no doubt trusted the veteran general. The letter that Ursicinus gave to Silvanus did not indicate that Constantius already knew of Silvanus' bid for power, so Silvanus considered himself safe. However it seems that Ursicinus betrayed and then arranged for the murder of Silvanus by co-opting some of the rebel soldiery. These men killed the usurper's guards and cornered Silvanus, who was on his way to church, then hacked him to death with their weapons. Ammianus's report of Silvanus' death It has been suggested by at least one scholar that Ammianus invented the entire coup attempt to gloss over the role played by his patron, Ursicinus, in the murder of a fellow general. This theory suggests that Constantius had grown suspicious of the popular Frankish general and so offered his post to Ursicinus, who then murdered his peer in the course of a botched change of command. It has been noted that Silvanus did not mint any coinage (which would have been a clear indication of a usurpation attempt), unlike other equally short-lived usurpers of the era, such as Poemenius. However, the thesis of a concocted coup attempt is generally rejected by scholars. The lack of numismatic evidence is not determinative, because Trier, the nearest minting centre to Colonia Agrippina, closed its gates to Silvanus. Ammianus concludes his treatment of the Silvanus episode: References Notes Citations Sources The story of Silvanus short reign is told by Ammianus Marcellinus in his History, at 15.5, with further details scattered through the rest of his work Biography of Silvanus DiMaio, Michael, "Silvanus (355 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis Cameron, Averil and Garnsey, Peter (Eds.). (1998). The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 13, the Late Empire, AD 337–425. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sir Ronald Syme, Ammianus and the Historia Augusta (Oxford: 1968). J.F. Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus (London: 1989). T.D. Barnes, "Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality" (Ithaca: 1998). Jan Willem Drijvers and David Hunt, eds., The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus (London, 1999). D.C. Nutt, "Silvanus and the Emperor Constantius II" 7