Gallienus usurpers
Encyclopedia
The Gallienus usurpers were the usurpers
who claimed imperial power
during the reign of Gallienus
(253–268, the first part of which he shared with his father Valerian
). The existence of usurpers during the Crisis of the Third Century
was very common, and the high number of usurpers fought by Gallienus is due to his long rule; 15 years was a long reign by the standards of the 3rd century Roman Empire
.
, and in the West, with the birth of the Gallic Empire
. With the uncertainty of the period, the legions wanted to restore Roman power in the wake of Valerian's defeat, against the pressure of the barbarian people in the west and the Persians in the East.
, among which:
Roman usurper
Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule.The...
who claimed imperial power
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
during the reign of Gallienus
Gallienus
Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...
(253–268, the first part of which he shared with his father Valerian
Valerian (emperor)
Valerian , also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260. He was taken captive by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the only Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, resulting in wide-ranging instability across the Empire.-Origins and rise...
). The existence of usurpers during the Crisis of the Third Century
Crisis of the Third Century
The Crisis of the Third Century was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression...
was very common, and the high number of usurpers fought by Gallienus is due to his long rule; 15 years was a long reign by the standards of the 3rd century Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Uprisings after the defeat of Valerian
After Valerian's defeat and capture by the Persians in 260, his son Gallienus become the only emperor. However, many uprisings happened, both in the East, with the formation of the Palmyrene EmpirePalmyrene Empire
The Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
, and in the West, with the birth of the Gallic Empire
Gallic Empire
The Gallic Empire is the modern name for a breakaway realm that existed from 260 to 274. It originated during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
. With the uncertainty of the period, the legions wanted to restore Roman power in the wake of Valerian's defeat, against the pressure of the barbarian people in the west and the Persians in the East.
Usurpers in the West
- 260 – IngenuusIngenuusIngenuus was a Roman military commander, the imperial legate in Pannonia, who became a usurper to the throne of the emperor Gallienus when he led a brief and unsuccessful revolt in the year 260. Appointed by Gallienus himself, Ingenuus served him well by repulsing a Sarmatian invasion and securing...
- Chosen by the population and the army of the province of PannoniaPannoniaPannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. Killed for GallienusGallienusGallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...
by Manius Acilius AureolusAureolusFor the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon.Manius Acilius Aureolus was a Roman military commander and would-be usurper. He was one of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus...
in 260 during the battle at Mursa. - 260 – RegalianusRegalianusP. C Regalianus was a Dacian general who turned against the Roman Empire and became himself emperor for a brief period, being murdered by the hands who raised him to power.-Career:...
- After his victory over the SarmatiansSarmatiansThe Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
in 260, he was killed by a coalition of his own people and of the Roxolani. - 260-268 - PostumusPostumusMarcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus in 260 and formed the so-called Gallic Empire...
- Ruled over a Gallic EmpireGallic EmpireThe Gallic Empire is the modern name for a breakaway realm that existed from 260 to 274. It originated during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
until his murder in 268. - 268 – Manius Acilius AureolusAureolusFor the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon.Manius Acilius Aureolus was a Roman military commander and would-be usurper. He was one of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus...
- Initially a GallienusGallienusGallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...
supporter, Aureolus turned against Gallienus while fighting against PostumusPostumusMarcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus in 260 and formed the so-called Gallic Empire...
and his Gallic EmpireGallic EmpireThe Gallic Empire is the modern name for a breakaway realm that existed from 260 to 274. It originated during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
. In 268, having surrendered to Emperor Claudius Gothicus after the death of Gallienus, Aureolus was murdered by the Praetorian Guard before Claudius could decide what to do with him.
Usurpers in the East
- 260-261 – Macrianus MajorMacrianus MajorFulvius Macrianus , also called Macrianus Major, was a Roman usurper. He was one of Valerian's fiscal officers. More precisely, sources refer to him as being in charge of the whole state accounts or, in the language of a later age, as Count of the Treasury and the person in charge of markets and...
, Macrianus MinorMacrianus MinorTitus Fulvius Iunius Macrianus , also known as Macrianus Minor, was a Roman usurper. He was the son of Fulvius Macrianus, also known as Macrianus Major.- Career :...
, QuietusQuietusTitus Fulvius Iunius Quietus was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Gallienus.Quietus was the son of Fulvius Macrianus and a noblewoman, possibly named Iunia...
, and BalistaBalistaBalista or Ballista , also known in the sources with the probably wrong name of "Callistus", was one of the Thirty Tyrants of the Historia Augusta, and supported the rebellion of the Macriani against Emperor Gallienus....
, in the East. After ValerianValerian (emperor)Valerian , also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260. He was taken captive by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the only Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, resulting in wide-ranging instability across the Empire.-Origins and rise...
's defeat, Gallienus was the only remaining emperor, but he was in the West. The Eastern army, needing a leader, offered the rule to Macrianus Major, a noble and wealthy man, but he refused because of his age and health. With the help of Balista, the Valerian prefectPrefectPrefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
who had defeated the Persians after the emperor's death, and with Valerian wealth he held from his office of procurator arcae et praepositus annonae in expeditione Persica, Macrianus Major made his two sons Macrianus Minor and Quietus emperors. While Quietus and Balista stayed in the East and in Egypt to secure their rule, Macrianus Major and Minor moved to Thrace, to counter Gallienus, ruler of Italy and Illyricum. However, Gallienus' general AureolusAureolusFor the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon.Manius Acilius Aureolus was a Roman military commander and would-be usurper. He was one of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus...
defeated and killed in battle both the Macriani, while Quietus was killed by OdaenathusOdaenathusLucius Septimius Odaenathus, Odenathus or Odenatus , the Latinized form of the Syriac Odainath, was a ruler of Palmyra, Syria and later of the short lived Palmyrene Empire, in the second half of the 3rd century, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the...
of PalmyraPalmyraPalmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
. - 261 – PisoLucius Calpurnius Piso FrugiLucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi was a Roman usurper, whose existence is questionable, as based only on the unreliable Historia Augusta....
and Valens Thessalonicus, in AchaeaAchaeaAchaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...
. The only source for these two usurpers is the Historia Augusta. Valens was the governor of Achaea, and remained loyal to Gallienus. In his march west, Macrianus sent Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi to counter Valens. Valens' troops proclaimed their commander emperor, and Piso's troops did the same with their commander. Piso was then killed by Valens, who was later killed by his own troops. The account of Achaea events made by Historia Augusta is very obscure and contains some forgeries, such as a senatus consultum granting Piso a statue. - 261 – Mussius AemilianusMussius AemilianusLucius Mussius Aemilianus was a Roman usurper.Mussius Aemilianus probably was of Italian stock. He was an officer in the Roman army under Philip the Arab and Valerian. Under the latter he became praefect of Egypt. He supported the rebellion of the Macriani against Gallienus...
, in Aegyptus Province. Mussius supported the MacrianiMacrianiMacriani is the name of three Roman usurpers who tried to gain the Roman throne from Emperor Gallienus. They were:*Macrianus Major, the father*Macrianus Minor, first son*Quietus, second son...
rebellion, controlling Egypt. When the Macriani were defeated, he probably proclaimed himself emperor, but was defeated and killed by Aurelius TheodotusTheodotusin workTheodotus is the name of:*Theodotus of Aetolia *Theodotus Hemiolius *Theodotus of Chios *Theodotus of Byzantium *Theodotus *Theodotus of Rome...
, a general sent by Gallienus. - 262 – MemorMemorMemor was a Roman usurper against Emperor Gallienus.Memor was a Northern African Roman official, responsible for the Egyptian grain supply to Rome. After the defeat of the Macriani usurpers, Emperor Gallienus sent his general Aurelius Theodotus to Egypt to secure his hold on the province....
was in Northern Africa. He projected a rebellion against Gallienus, but was killed by Theodotus.
Fictional usurpers
The author(s) of the Historia Augusta, which modern scholars consider a forgery, listed several other Gallienus usurpers in the book on the Thirty TyrantsThirty Tyrants (Roman)
The Thirty Tyrants were a series of thirty rulers that appear in the Historia Augusta as having ostensibly been pretenders to the throne of the Roman Empire during the reign of the emperor Gallienus....
, among which:
- TrebellianusTrebellianusTrebellianus , also Trebatius Priscus or Trebatius Testa, was a Roman usurper listed among the thirty tyrants in the Historia Augusta...
– rebelled in IsauriaIsauriaIsauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In...
, gained control of Asia Minor, but was defeated by Camsisoleus, general of Gallienus, who was Egyptian and brother of Theodotus. - CelsusCelsus (usurper)Titus Cornelius Celsus, Roman usurper under Gallienus, one of the Thirty Tyrants enumerated by Trebellius Pollio.In the twelfth year of Gallienus' reign , when usurpers were springing up in every quarter of the Roman world, a certain Celsus, who had never risen higher in the service of the state...
- fictional usurper of Africa. Allegedly proclaimed emperor by Vibius Passienus, proconsulProconsulA proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of the province, and Fabius Pomponianus, general of the Libyan frontier. He ruled for seven days. - SaturninusSaturninus (253-268)Saturninus is mentioned in the Historia Augusta as a Roman usurper during the reign of emperor Gallienus . It is very probably a fictional construction by the author of the Historia Augusta....
– not to be confused with Julius SaturninusJulius SaturninusSextus Julius Saturninus was a Roman usurper against Emperor Probus.Julius Saturninus was a Gaul by birth and was a friend of Emperor Probus...
, usurper under Probus, appears in the Historia Augusta as optimus ducum Gallieni temporis. According to this source, he was proclaimed emperor by his troops, but later killed by them for his severity. He is a fictional usurper, probably built on the model of Julius Saturninus.
External links
- Roman Emperors DIR account, with references