The Metropolitan Museum catalogs a bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), object 99.35.448, dated 37–38 CE. Its portrait and inscriptions are material evidence from the reign; they are not evidence of Dominism.
The Life of Caligula is an ancient literary biography, not a contemporary transcript. It records attributed reports and hostile characterizations that must be evaluated as claims by an author.
The British Museum dates Constantine’s imperial rule from 306 to his death in 337. This provides chronology for the historical figure, not evidence of a campaign against a fictional doctrine.
Attributed literary testimony: evaluate author, timing, genre, and hostility. A reported story is not automatically an observed event.
Coins
Contemporary objects can attest images, titles, and material presentation. The cited sestertius supplies a bounded example.
Inscriptions
A separate evidence class. No inscription authenticating Dominatus Nihilum is asserted or supplied here.
Archaeology
Physical context and documented finds are distinct from the project’s invented recovery scenes. No fictional discovery is placed in this category.
Administrative documents / papyri
No document in this category is cited here as evidence for the fictional doctrine.
Modern scholarly interpretation
Barrett and Yardley’s 2023 introduction distinguishes the limitations of literary accounts and the supplementary value of coins and inscriptions. This is modern source criticism, not an ancient witness.
Research checked September 2026. Links distinguish collection records, ancient narrative, and modern scholarship. No historical claim is sourced to an invented project citation.
British Museum, Caligula, biographical authority record BIOG140673. Evidence use: reign chronology.
British Museum, Constantine the Great, biographical authority record BIOG140661. Evidence use: reign chronology.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), accession 99.35.448, 37–38 CE. Evidence use: contemporary coin.
Suetonius, Life of Caligula, The Lives of the Caesars, Loeb Classical Library edition (1913), hosted by LacusCurtius at the University of Chicago. Evidence use: later ancient narrative.
Anthony A. Barrett and J. C. Yardley, The Emperor Caligula in the Ancient Sources, Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2023, pp. 1–16. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198854562.003.0001. Evidence use: modern source criticism; publicly available abstract consulted.
Open question / 2026
What changes when a compelling story loses its claim to be evidence?