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Aurelian - Roman Emperor: 270-275 A.D.Husband of Severina Aurelian (Latin: Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Augustus;
9 September 214 or 215 - September or October 275) was Roman Emperor
from 270 to 275. Born in humble circumstances, he rose through the
military ranks to become emperor. During his reign, he defeated the
Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals,
Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern
provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The
following year he conquered the Gallic Empire in the west, reuniting the
Empire in its entirety. He was also responsible for the construction of
the Aurelian Walls in Rome, and the abandonment of the province of
Dacia.His successes were instrumental in ending the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century, earning him the title Restitutor Orbis or 'Restorer of the World'. Although Domitian was the first emperor who had demanded to be officially hailed as dominus et deus (master and god), these titles never occurred in written form on official documents until the reign of Aurelian. Early lifeAurelian
was born on 9 September, most likely in 214 AD, although 215 AD is also
possible. The ancient sources are not agreed on his place of birth,
although he was generally accepted as being a native of Illyricum.
Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior (now Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) is the
preferred location, which was created by Aurelian as Emperor when he
abandoned the old trans-Danubian territory of Dacia. The academic
consensus is that he was of humble birth and that his father was a
peasant-farmer who took his Roman nomen from his landlord, a
senator of the clan Aurelius. Saunders suggests that his family might in
fact have been of Roman settler origin and of much higher social
status; however, his suggestion has not been taken up by his more recent
academic colleagues such as Southern and Watson. Using the
evidence of the ancient sources, it was at one time suggested that
Aurelian's mother was a freedwoman of a member of the clan Aurelius and
that she herself was a priestess of the Sun-God in her native village.
These two propositions, together with the tradition that the clan
Aurelius had been entrusted with the maintenance of that deity's cult in
Rome, inspired the notion that this could explain the devotion to the
sun-god that Aurelian was to manifest as Emperor - see below. However,
it seems that this pleasant extrapolation of dubious facts is now
generally accepted as being no more than just that. Military careerIt
is commonly accepted that Aurelian probably joined the army in 235 AD
at around age twenty. It is also generally assumed that, as a member of
the lowest rank of society - albeit a citizen - he would have enlisted
in the ranks of the legions. Idiosyncratically, Saunders suggests that
his career is more easily understood if it is assumed that his family
was of Roman settler origins with a tradition of military service and
that he enlisted as an equestrian. This would have opened up for him the
tres militia - the three steps of the equestrian military career
- one of the routes to higher equestrian office in the Imperial
Service. This could be a more expeditious route to senior military and
procuratorial offices than that pursued by ex-rankers, although not
necessarily less laborious. However, Saunders's conjecture as to
Aurelian's early career is not supported by any evidence other than his nomen
which could indicate Italian settler ancestry - although even this is
contested - and his rise to the highest ranks which is more easily
understood if he did not have to start from the bottom. His suggestion
has not been taken up by other academic authorities. Whatever his
origins, Aurelian certainly must have built up a very solid reputation
for military competence during the tumultuous mid-decades of the
century. To be sure, the exploits detailed in the Historia Augusta vita Divi Aureliani,
while not always impossible, are not supported by any independent
evidence and one at least is demonstrably an invention typical of that
author. However, he was probably associated with Gallienus's cavalry
army and shone as an officer of that corps d'élite because, when
he finally emerged in a historically reliable context in the early part
of the reign of Claudius II, he seems to have been its commander. Service under GallienusHis
successes as a cavalry commander ultimately made him a member of
emperor Gallienus' entourage. In 268, Aurelian and his cavalry
participated in general Claudius' victory over the Goths at the Battle
of Naissus. Later that year Gallienus traveled to Italy and fought
Aureolus, his former general and now usurper for the throne. Driving
Aureolus back into Mediolanum, Gallienus promptly besieged his adversary
in the city. However, while the siege was ongoing the Emperor was
assassinated. One source says Aurelian, who was present at the siege,
participated and supported general Claudius for the purple - which is
plausible. Aurelian was married to Ulpia Severina, about whom
little is known. Like Aurelian she was from Dacia. They are known to
have had a daughter together. Service under ClaudiusClaudius
was acclaimed Emperor by the soldiers outside Mediolanum. The new
Emperor immediately ordered the senate to deify Gallienus. Next, he
began to distance himself from those responsible for his predecessor's
assassination, ordering the execution of those directly involved.
Aureolus was still besieged in Mediolanum and sought reconciliation with
the new emperor, but Claudius had no sympathy for a potential rival.
The emperor had Aureolus killed and one source implicates Aurelian in
the deed, perhaps even signing the warrant for his death himself. During
the reign of Claudius, Aurelian was promoted rapidly: he was given
command of the elite Dalmatian cavalry, and was soon promoted to overall
Magister equitum, effectively the head of the army after the
Emperor - the Emperor's position before his acclamation. The war against
Aureolus and the concentration of forces in Italy allowed the Alamanni
to break through the Rhaetian limes along the upper Danube. Marching
through Raetia and the Alps unhindered, they entered northern Italy and
began pillaging the area. In early 269, emperor Claudius and Aurelian
marched north to meet the Alamanni, defeating them decisively at the
Battle of Lake Benacus. While still dealing with the defeated
enemy, news came from the Balkans reporting large-scale attacks from the
Heruli, Goths, Gepids, and Bastarnae. Claudius immediately dispatched
Aurelian to the Balkans to contain the invasion as best he could until
Claudius could arrive with his main army. The Goths were besieging
Thessalonica when they heard of emperor Claudius' approach, causing them
to abandon the siege and pillage north-eastern Macedonia. Aurelian
intercepted the Goths with his Dalmatian cavalry and defeated them in a
series of minor skirmishes, killing as many as three thousand of the
enemy. Aurelian continued to harass the enemy, driving them northward
into Upper Moesia where emperor Claudius had assembled his main army.
The ensuing battle was indecisive: the northward advance of the Goths
was halted but Roman losses were heavy. Claudius could not afford
another pitched battle, so he instead laid a successful ambush, killing
thousands. However, the majority of the Goths escaped and began
retreating south the way they had come. For the rest of year, Aurelian
harassed the enemy with his Dalmatian cavalry. Now stranded in
Roman territory, the Goths' lack of provisions began to take its toll.
Aurelian, sensing his enemies' desperation, attacked them with the full
force of his cavalry, killing many and driving the remainder westward
into Thrace. As winter set in, the Goths retreated into the Haemus
Mountains, only to find themselves trapped and surrounded. The harsh
conditions now exacerbated their shortage of food. However, the Romans
underestimated the Goths and let their guard down, allowing the enemy to
break through their lines and escape. Apparently emperor Claudius
ignored advice, perhaps from Aurelian, and withheld the cavalry and sent
in only the infantry to stop their break-out. The determined
Goths killed many of the oncoming infantry and were only prevented from
slaughtering them all when Aurelian finally charged in with his
Dalmatian cavalry. The Goths still managed to escape and continued their
march through Thrace. The Roman army continued to follow the Goths
during the spring and summer of 270. Meanwhile, a devastating plague
swept through the Balkans, killing many soldiers in both armies. Emperor
Claudius fell ill on the march to the battle and returned to his
regional headquarters in Sirmium, leaving Aurelian in charge of
operations against the Goths. Aurelian used his cavalry to great effect,
breaking the Goths into smaller groups which were easier to deal with.
By late summer the Goths were defeated: any survivors were stripped of
their animals and booty and were levied into the army or settled as
farmers in frontier regions. Aurelian had no time to relish his
victories; in late August news arrived from Sirmium that emperor
Claudius was dead. Opposition to QuintillusWhen Claudius
died, his brother Quintillus seized power with support of the Senate.
With an act typical of the Crisis of the Third Century, the army refused
to recognize the new Emperor, preferring to support one of its own
commanders: Aurelian was proclaimed emperor in September 270 by the
legions in Sirmium. Aurelian defeated Quintillus' troops, and was
recognized as Emperor by the Senate after Quintillus' death. The claim
that Aurelian was chosen by Claudius on his death bed can be dismissed
as propaganda; later, probably in 272, Aurelian put his own dies imperii the day of Claudius' death, thus implicitly considering Quintillus a usurper. With
his base of power secure, he now turned his attention to Rome's
greatest problems - recovering the vast territories lost over the
previous two decades, and reforming the res publica. EmperorThe Roman Empire in the 270sIn
248, Emperor Philip the Arab had celebrated the millennium of the city
of Rome with great and expensive ceremonies and games, and the Empire
had given a tremendous proof of self-confidence. In the following years,
however, the Empire had to face a huge pressure from external enemies,
while, at the same time, dangerous civil wars threatened the empire from
within, with usurpers weakening the strength of the state. Also, the
economic substrate of the state, agriculture and commerce, suffered from
the disruption caused by the instability. On top of this an epidemic
swept through the Empire around 250, greatly diminishing manpower both
for the army and for agriculture. The end result was that the
Empire could not endure the blow of the capture of Emperor Valerian in
260. The eastern provinces found their protectors in the rulers of the
city of Palmyra, in Syria, whose autonomy grew until the formation of
the Palmyrene Empire, which was more successful against the Persian
threat. The western provinces, those facing the limes of the
Rhine, seceded to form a third, autonomous state within the territories
of the Roman Empire, which is now known as the Gallic Empire. In
Rome, the Emperor was occupied with the internal menaces to his power
and with the defense of Italia and the Balkans. This was the situation
faced by Gallienus and Claudius, and the problems Aurelian had to deal
with at the beginning of his rule. Reunification of the empireThe
first actions of the new Emperor were aimed at strengthening his own
position in his territories. Late in 270, Aurelian campaigned in
northern Italia against the Vandals, Juthungi, and Sarmatians, expelling
them from Roman territory. To celebrate these victories, Aurelian was
granted the title of Germanicus Maximus. The authority of the
Emperor was challenged by several usurpers - Septimius, Urbanus,
Domitianus, and the rebellion of Felicissimus - who tried to exploit the
sense of insecurity of the empire and the overwhelming influence of the
armies in Roman politics. Aurelian, being an experienced commander, was
aware of the importance of the army, and his propaganda, known through
his coinage, shows he wanted the support of the legions. Defending Italy Against the IuthungiThe
burden of the northern barbarians was not yet over, however. In 271,
the Alamanni moved towards Italia, entering the Po plain and sacking the
villages; they passed the Po River, occupied Placentia and moved
towards Fano. Aurelian, who was in Pannonia to control the Vandals'
withdrawal, quickly entered Italia, but his army was defeated in an
ambush near Placentia (January 271). When the news of the defeat arrived
in Rome, it caused great fear for the arrival of the barbarians. But
Aurelian attacked the Alamanni camping near the Metaurus River,
defeating them in the Battle of Fano, and forcing them to re-cross the
Po river; Aurelian finally routed them at Pavia. For this, he received
the title Germanicus Maximus. However, the menace of the Germanic
people remained high as perceived by the Romans, so Aurelian resolved
to build the walls that became known as the Aurelian Walls around Rome. Defeat of the Goths and abandonment of DaciaThe
emperor led his legions to the Balkans, where he defeated and routed
the Goths beyond the Danube, killing the Gothic leader Cannabaudes, and
assuming the title of Gothicus Maximus. However, he decided to
abandon the province of Dacia, on the exposed north bank of the Danube,
as too difficult and expensive to defend. He reorganized a new province
of Dacia south of the Danube, inside the former Moesia, called Dacia Aureliana, with Serdica as the capital. Conquest of the Palmyrene EmpireIn
272, Aurelian turned his attention to the lost eastern provinces of the
empire, the so-called "Palmyrene Empire" ruled by Queen Zenobia from
the city of Palmyra. Zenobia had carved out her own empire, encompassing
Syria, Palestine, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor. The Syrian queen
cut off Rome's shipments of grain, and in a matter of weeks, the Romans
started running low on bread. In the beginning, Aurelian had been
recognized as Emperor, while Vaballathus, the son of Zenobia, held the
title of rex and imperator ("king" and "supreme military
commander"), but Aurelian decided to invade the eastern provinces as
soon as he felt his army to be strong enough. Asia Minor was
recovered easily; every city but Byzantium and Tyana surrendered to him
with little resistance. The fall of Tyana lent itself to a legend:
Aurelian to that point had destroyed every city that resisted him, but
he spared Tyana after having a vision of the great 1st-century
philosopher Apollonius of Tyana, whom he respected greatly, in a dream. Apollonius
implored him, stating, "Aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from
the blood of the innocent! Aurelian, if you will conquer, be merciful!"
Whatever the reason, Aurelian spared Tyana. It paid off; many more
cities submitted to him upon seeing that the Emperor would not exact
revenge upon them. Within six months, his armies stood at the gates of
Palmyra, which surrendered when Zenobia tried to flee to the Sassanid
Empire. The "Palmyrene Empire" was no more. Eventually Zenobia and
her son were captured and made to walk on the streets of Rome in his
triumph, the woman in golden chains. With the grain stores once again
shipped to Rome, Aurelian's soldiers handed out free bread to the
citizens of the city, and the Emperor was hailed a hero by his subjects.
After a brief clash with the Persians and another in Egypt against the
usurper Firmus, Aurelian was obliged to return to Palmyra in 273 when
that city rebelled once more. This time, Aurelian allowed his soldiers
to sack the city, and Palmyra never recovered. More honors came his way;
he was now known as Parthicus Maximus and Restitutor Orientis ("Restorer of the East"). The
rich province of Egypt was also recovered by Aurelian. The Brucheion
(Royal Quarter) in Alexandria was burned to the ground. This section of
the city once contained the Library of Alexandria, although the extent
of the surviving Library in Aurelian's time is uncertain. Conquest of the Gallic EmpireIn
274, the victorious emperor turned his attention to the west, and the
"Gallic Empire" which had already been reduced in size by Claudius II.
Aurelian won this campaign largely through diplomacy; the "Gallic
Emperor" Tetricus was willing to abandon his throne and allow Gaul and
Britain to return to the Empire, but could not openly submit to
Aurelian. Instead, the two seem to have conspired so that when the
armies met at Châlons-en-Champagne that autumn, Tetricus simply deserted
to the Roman camp and Aurelian easily defeated the Gallic army facing
him.[citation needed] Tetricus was rewarded for his part in the conspiracy with a high-ranking position in Italy itself. Aurelian returned to Rome and won his last honorific from the Senate - Restitutor Orbis
("Restorer of the World"). This title was first assumed by Aurelian in
late summer of 272, and had been carried previously by both Valerian and
Gallienus. In four years, Aurelian had secured the frontiers of the
Empire and reunified it, effectively giving the Empire a new lease on
life that lasted 200 years. ReformsAurelian was a
reformer, and settled many important functions of the imperial
apparatus, dealing with the economy and religion. He restored many
public buildings, re-organized the management of the food reserves, set
fixed prices for the most important goods, and prosecuted misconduct by
the public officers. Religious reformAurelian strengthened the
position of the Sun god Sol Invictus as the main divinity of the Roman
pantheon. His intention was to give to all the peoples of the Empire,
civilian or soldiers, easterners or westerners, a single god they could
believe in without betraying their own gods. The center of the cult was a
new temple, built in 274 and dedicated on December 25 of that year in
the Campus Agrippae in Rome, with great decorations financed by the spoils of the Palmyrene Empire. During
his short rule, Aurelian seemed to follow the principle of "one faith,
one empire", which would not be made official until the Edict of
Thessalonica. He appears with the title deus et dominus natus
("God and born ruler") on some of his coins, a style also later adopted
by Diocletian. Lactantius argued that Aurelian would have outlawed all
the other gods if he had had enough time. He was recorded by Christian
historians as having organized persecutions. Felicissimus' rebellion and coinage reformAurelian's reign records the only uprising of mint workers. The rationalis
Felicissimus, a senior public financial official whose responsibilities
included supervision of the mint at Rome, revolted against Aurelian.
The revolt seems to have been caused by the fact that the mint workers,
and Felicissimus first, were accustomed to stealing the silver for the
coins and producing coins of inferior quality. Aurelian wanted to
eliminate this, and put Felicissimus on trial. The rationalis
incited the mintworkers to revolt: the rebellion spread in the streets,
even if it seems that Felicissimus was killed immediately, presumably
executed. The Palmyrene rebellion in Egypt had probably reduced
the grain supply to Rome, thus disaffecting the population to the
emperor. This rebellion also had the support of some senators, probably
those who had supported the election of Quintillus, and thus had
something to fear from Aurelian. Aurelian ordered the urban
cohorts, reinforced by some regular troops of the imperial army, to
attack the rebelling mob: the resulting battle, fought on the Caelian
hill, marked the end of the revolt, even if at a high price (some
sources give the figure, probably exaggerated, of 7,000 casualties).
Many of the rebels were executed; also some of the supporting senators
were put to death. The mint of Rome was closed temporarily, and the
institution of several other mints caused the main mint of the empire to
lose its hegemony. His monetary reformation included the introduction of antoniniani
containing 5% silver. They bore the mark XXI (or its Greek numerals
form KA), which meant that twenty of such coins would contain the same
silver quantity of an old silver denarius. Considering that this
was an improvement over the previous situation gives an idea of the
severity of the economic situation Aurelian faced. The Emperor struggled
to introduce the new "good" coin by recalling all the old "bad" coins
prior to their introduction. DeathIn 275, Aurelian
marched towards Asia Minor, preparing another campaign against the
Sassanids: the deaths of Kings Shapur I (272) and Hormizd I (273) in
quick succession, and the rise to power of a weakened ruler (Bahram I),
set the possibility to attack the Sassanid Empire. On his way, the
Emperor suppressed a revolt in Gaul - possibly against Faustinus, an
officer or usurper of Tetricus - and defeated barbarian marauders in
Vindelicia (Germany). However, Aurelian never reached Persia, as
he was murdered while waiting in Thrace to cross into Asia Minor. As an
administrator, Aurelian had been very strict and handed out severe
punishments to corrupt officials or soldiers. A secretary of Aurelian
(called Eros by Zosimus) had told a lie on a minor issue. In fear of
what the Emperor might do, he forged a document listing the names of
high officials marked by the emperor for execution and showed it to
collaborators. The notarius Mucapor and other high-ranking
officers of the Praetorian Guard, fearing punishment from the Emperor,
murdered him in September 275, in Caenophrurium, Thrace (modern Turkey). Aurelian's enemies in the Senate briefly succeeded in passing damnatio memoriae
on the Emperor, but this was reversed before the end of the year and
Aurelian, like his predecessor Claudius II, was deified as Divus Aurelianus. There is substantial evidence that Aurelian's wife Ulpia Severina, who had been declared Augusta
in 274, may have ruled the Empire by her own power for some time after
his death. The sources indicate that there was an interregnum between
Aurelian's death and the election of Marcus Claudius Tacitus as his
successor. Additionally, some of Ulpia's coins appear to have been
minted after Aurelian's death. LegacyAurelian's short
reign reunited a fragmented Empire while saving Rome from barbarian
invasions that had reached Italy itself. His death prevented a full
restoration of political stability and a lasting dynasty that could end
the cycle of assassination of emperors and civil war that marked this
period. Even so, he brought the Empire through a very critical period in
its history, and without Aurelian it never would have survived the
invasions and fragmentation of the decade in which he reigned. Much hard
fighting remained for his successors before the Empire finally regained
the initiative against the Persians and the northern barbarian peoples,
and it would be another twenty years or more before Diocletian fully
restored stability and ended the Crisis of the third century. However,
after that the Western half of the Empire would survive another two
hundred years, while the East would last another millennium, and for
that Aurelian must be allowed much of the credit. The city of Orléans in France is named after Aurelian. Originally named Cenabum, Aurelian rebuilt and named it Aurelianum or Aureliana Civitas ("city of Aurelian", cité d'Aurélien), which evolved into Orléans. The city of New Orleans (in French, La Nouvelle-Orléans), in Louisiana, United States is named after the commune of Orléans, and therefore by extension, Aurelian.
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Diocletian (Latin:Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus; c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was aRoman Emperor
from 284 to 305. Born to a family
of low status in theRoman province of Dalmatia
, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the EmperorCarus
. After the deaths of Carus and his sonNumerian
on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son,Carinus
, but Diocletian defeated him in theBattle of the Margus
. Diocletian's reign stabilized the Empire and marks the end of theCrisis of the Third Century
. He appointed fellow officer Maximian
Augustus
his senior co-emperor in 285.
Diocletian delegated further on 1 March 293, appointingGalerius
andConstantius
asCaesars
, junior co-emperors. Under this "Tetrarchy",
or "rule of four", each emperor would rule over a quarter-division of
the Empire. Diocletian secured the Empire's borders and purged it of all
threats to his power. He defeated theSarmatians
andCarpi
during several campaigns between 285 and 299, theAlamanni
in 288, and usurpers inEgypt
between 297 and 298. Galerius, aided by Diocletian, campaigned successfully againstSassanid Persia
, the Empire's traditional enemy. In 299 he sacked their capital,Ctesiphon
. Diocletian led the subsequent negotiations and achieved a lasting and
favorable peace. Diocletian separated and enlarged the Empire's civil
and military services and reorganized the Empire's provincial divisions,
establishing the largest and mostbureaucratic
government in the history of the Empire. He established new administrative centers inNicomedia
,Mediolanum
,Antioch
, andTrier
, closer to the Empire's frontiers than the traditional capital at Rome had been. Building on third-century trends towards absolutism
, he styled himself an autocrat, elevating himself above the Empire's
masses with imposing forms of court ceremonies and architecture.
Bureaucratic and military growth, constant campaigning, and construction
projects increased the state's expenditures and necessitated a
comprehensive tax reform. From at least 297 on, imperial taxation was
standardized, made more equitable, and levied at generally higher rates.
Not all of Diocletian's plans were successful: the
Edict on Maximum Prices
(301), his attempt to curb inflation
viaprice controls
, was counterproductive and quickly ignored. Although effective while he
ruled, Diocletian's Tetrarchic system collapsed after his abdication
under the competing dynastic claims ofMaxentius
andConstantine
, sons of Maximian and Constantius respectively. TheDiocletianic Persecution
(303–11), the Empire's last, largest, and bloodiest official persecution ofChristianity
, did not destroy the Empire's Christian community; indeed, after 324
Christianity became the empire's preferred religion under its first
Christian emperor,Constantine
.
In spite of his failures, Diocletian's reforms fundamentally changed
the structure of Roman imperial government and helped stabilize the
Empire economically and militarily, enabling the Empire to remain
essentially intact for another hundred years despite being near the
brink of collapse in Diocletian's youth. Weakened by illness, Diocletian
left the imperial office on 1 May 305, and became the only Roman
emperor to voluntarily abdicate the position. He lived out his
retirement inhis palace
on the Dalmatian coast, tending to his vegetable gardens. His palace eventually became the core of the modern-day city ofSplit
.
Early life
Diocletian was probably born nearSalona
inDalmatia
(Solin
in modern Croatia
), some time around 244. His parents named him Diocles, or possibly Diocles Valerius. The modern historianTimothy Barnes
takes his official birthday, 22 December, as his actual birthdate.
Other historians are not so certain. Diocles' parents were of low
status, and writers critical of him claimed that his father was a scribe
or afreedman
of the senator Anullinus, or even that Diocles was a freedman himself.
The first forty years of his life are mostly obscure. TheByzantine
chroniclerJoannes Zonaras
states that he was
Dux
Moesiae
, a commander of forces on the lowerDanube
. The often-unreliable
Historia Augusta
states that he served in Gaul, but this account is not corroborated
by other sources and is ignored by modern historians of the period.
Death of Numerian
Emperor Carus
' death left his unpopular sons Numerian and Carinus as the new Augusti.
Carinus quickly made his way to Rome from Gaul and arrived by January
284. Numerian lingered in the east. The Roman withdrawal from Persia was
orderly and unopposed. TheSassanid
kingBahram II
could not field an army against them as he was still struggling to
establish his authority. By March 284, Numerian had only reached Emesa (Homs)
inSyria
; by November, only Asia Minor. In Emesa he was apparently still alive and in good health: he issued the only extantrescript
in his name there, but after he left the city, his staff, including the prefectAper
, reported that he suffered from an inflammation of the eyes. He traveled in a closed Coach from then on. When the army reached Bithynia
, some of the soldiers smelled an odor emanating from the Coach. They opened its curtains and inside they found Numerian dead.
Aper officially broke the news inNicomedia
(İzmit) in November. Numerianus' generals
and tribunes called a council for the succession, and chose Diocles as
Emperor, in spite of Aper's attempts to garner support. On 20 November
284, the army of the east gathered on a hill 5 kilometres (3.1 mi)
outside Nicomedia. The army unanimously saluted Diocles as their new
Augustus, and he accepted the purple imperial vestments. He raised his
sword to the light of the sun and swore an oath disclaiming
responsibility for Numerian's death. He asserted that Aper had killed
Numerian and concealed it. In full view of the army, Diocles drew his
sword and killed Aper. According to theHistoria Augusta, he quoted fromVirgil
while doing so. Soon after Aper's death, Diocles changed his name to
the more Latinate "Diocletianus", in full Gaius Aurelius Valerius
Diocletianus.
Conflict with Carinus
After his accession, Diocletian and Lucius Caesonius Bassus were named as consuls and assumed the
fasces
in place of Carinus and Numerianus. Bassus was a member of asenatorial
family fromCampania
, a former consul and proconsul of Africa, chosen by Probus for signal
distinction. He was skilled in areas of government where Diocletian
presumably had no experience. Diocletian's elevation of Bassus as consul
symbolized his rejection of Carinus' government in Rome, his refusal to
accept second-tier status to any other emperor, and his willingness to
continue the long-standing collaboration between the Empire's senatorial
and military aristocracies. It also tied his success to that of the
Senate, whose support he would need in his advance on Rome.
Diocletian was not the only challenger to Carinus' rule: the usurperM. Aurelius Julianus
, Carinus' corrector Venetiae, took control of northernItaly
andPannonia
after Diocletian's accession. Julianus minted coins from the mint at Siscia (Sisak,
Croatia) declaring himself as Emperor and promising freedom. It was all
good publicity for Diocletian, and it aided in his portrayal of Carinus
as a cruel and oppressive tyrant. Julianus' forces were weak, however,
and were handily dispersed when Carinus' armies moved from Britain to
northern Italy. As leader of the united East, Diocletian was clearly the
greater threat. Over the winter of 284–85, Diocletian advanced west
across theBalkans
. In the spring, some time before the end of May, his armies met Carinus' across the river Margus (Great Morava) inMoesia
. In modern accounts, the site has been located between the Mons Aureus (Seone, west ofSmederevo
) andViminacium
, near modernBelgrade
, Serbia.
Despite having the stronger army, Carinus held the weaker position.
His rule was unpopular, and it was later alleged that he had mistreated
the Senate and seduced his officers' wives. It is possible thatFlavius Constantius
, the governor of Dalmatia and Diocletian's associate in the household
guard, had already defected to Diocletian in the early spring. When theBattle of the Margus
began, Carinus' prefect Aristobulus also defected. In the course of the
battle, Carinus was killed by his own men. Following Diocletian's
victory, both the western and the eastern armies acclaimed him Augustus.
Diocletian exacted an oath of allegiance from the defeated army and
departed for Italy.
Early rule
Diocletian may have become involved in battles against theQuadi
andMarcomanni
immediately after the Battle of the Margus. He eventually made his way
to northern Italy and made an imperial government, but it is not known
whether he visited the city of Rome at this time. There is a
contemporary issue of coins suggestive of an imperial
adventus
(arrival) for the city, but some modern historians state that
Diocletian avoided the city, and that he did so on principle, as the
city and its Senate were no longer politically relevant to the affairs
of the Empire and needed to be taught as much. Diocletian dated his
reign from his elevation by the army, not the date of his ratification
by the Senate, following the practice established by Carus, who had
declared the Senate's ratification a useless formality. If Diocletian
ever did enter Rome shortly after his accession, he did not stay long;
he is attested back in the Balkans by 2 November 285, on campaign
against theSarmatians
.
Diocletian replaced theprefect
of Rome with his consular colleague Bassus. Most officials who had
served under Carinus, however, retained their offices under Diocletian.
In an act of clementia denoted by the epitomatorAurelius Victor
as unusual, Diocletian did not kill or depose Carinus' traitorous
praetorian prefect and consul Ti. Claudius Aurelius Aristobulus, but
confirmed him in both roles. He later gave him the proconsulate of
Africa and the rank of urban prefect. The other figures who retained
their offices might have also betrayed Carinus.
Maximian made co-emperor
Maximian's consistent loyalty to Diocletian proved an important component of the Tetrarchy's early successes.
The assassinations ofAurelian
and Probus demonstrated that sole rulership was dangerous to the
stability of the Empire. Conflict boiled in every province, from Gaul to
Syria, Egypt to the lower Danube. It was too much for one person to
control, and Diocletian needed a lieutenant. At some time in 285 atMediolanum
(Milan), Diocletian raised his fellow-officerMaximian
to the office ofCaesar
, making him co-emperor.
The concept of dual rulership was nothing new to the Roman Empire.Augustus
, the first Emperor, had nominally shared power with his colleagues, and more formal offices of co-Emperor had existed fromMarcus Aurelius
on. Most recently, the emperor Carus and his sons had ruled together,
albeit unsuccessfully. Diocletian was in a less comfortable position
than most of his predecessors, as he had a daughter, Valeria, but no
sons. His co-ruler had to be from outside his family, raising the
question of trust. Some historians state that Diocletian adopted
Maximian as his filius Augusti, his "Augustan son", upon his
appointment to the throne, following the precedent of some previous
emperors. This argument has not been universally accepted.
The relationship between Diocletian and Maximian was quickly couched
in religious terms. Around 287 Diocletian assumed the title Iovius, and Maximian assumed the title Herculius. The titles were probably meant to convey certain characteristics of their associated leaders. Diocletian, inJovian
style, would take on the dominating roles of planning and commanding; Maximian, inHerculian
mode, would act as Jupiter's
heroic subordinate. For all their religious connotations, the emperors were not "gods" in the tradition of theImperial cult
—although they may have been hailed as such in Imperialpanegyrics
. Instead, they were seen as the gods' representatives, effecting their
will on earth. The shift from military acclamation to divine
sanctification took the power to appoint emperors away from the army.
Religious legitimization elevated Diocletian and Maximian above
potential rivals in a way military power and dynastic claims could not.
Conflict with Sarmatia and Persia
After his acclamation, Maximian was dispatched to fight the rebelBagaudae
in Gaul. Diocletian returned to the East, progressing slowly. By 2 November, he had only reached Citivas Iovia (Botivo, near Ptuj
,Slovenia
). In the Balkans during the autumn of 285, he encountered a tribe ofSarmatians
who demanded assistance. The Sarmatians requested that Diocletian
either help them recover their lost lands or grant them pasturage rights
within the Empire. Diocletian refused and fought a battle with them,
but was unable to secure a complete victory. The nomadic pressures of
theEuropean Plain
remained and could not be solved by a single war; soon the Sarmatians would have to be fought again.
Diocletian wintered inNicomedia
. There may have been a revolt in the eastern provinces at this time, as he brought settlers fromAsia
to populate emptied farmlands inThrace
. He visitedSyria Palaestina
the following spring, His stay in the East saw diplomatic success in the conflict with Persia: in 287,Bahram II
granted him precious gifts, declared open friendship with the Empire,
and invited Diocletian to visit him. Roman sources insist that the act
was entirely voluntary.
Around the same time, perhaps in 287, Persia relinquished claims onArmenia
and recognized Roman authority over territory to the west and south of
the Tigris. The western portion of Armenia was incorporated into the
Empire and made a province.Tiridates III
,Arsacid
claimant to the Armenian throne and Roman client, had been disinherited
and forced to take refuge in the Empire after the Persian conquest of
252-53. In 287, he returned to lay claim to the eastern half of his
ancestral domain and encountered no opposition. Bahram II's gifts were
widely recognized as symbolic of a victory in the ongoingconflict with Persia
, and Diocletian was hailed as the "founder of eternal peace". The
events might have represented a formal end to Carus' eastern campaign,
which probably ended without an acknowledged peace. At the conclusion of
discussions with the Persians, Diocletian re-organized the Mesopotamian
frontier and fortified the city ofCircesium
(Buseire, Syria) on theEuphrates
.
Maximian made Augustus
Maximian's campaigns were not proceeding as smoothly. The Bagaudae had been easily suppressed, butCarausius
, the man he had put in charge of operations against Saxon
andFrankish
pirates
on theSaxon Shore
, had begun keeping the goods seized from the pirates for himself.
Maximian issued a death-warrant for his larcenous subordinate. Carausius
fled the Continent, proclaimed himself Augustus, and agitated Britain
and northwestern Gaul into open revolt against Maximian and Diocletian.
Spurred by the crisis, on 1 April 286, Maximian took up the title ofAugustus
. His appointment is unusual in that it was impossible for Diocletian to
have been present to witness the event. It has even been suggested that
Maximian usurped the title and was only later recognized by Diocletian
in hopes of avoiding civil war. This suggestion is unpopular, as it is
clear that Diocletian meant for Maximian to act with a certain amount of
independence.
Maximian realized that he could not immediately suppress the rogue
commander, so in 287 he campaigned solely against tribes beyond theRhine
instead. The following spring, as Maximian prepared a fleet for an
expedition against Carausius, Diocletian returned from the East to meet
Maximian. The two emperors agreed on a joint campaign against theAlamanni
. Diocletian invaded Germania through Raetia while Maximian progressed
from Mainz. Each emperor burned crops and food supplies as he went,
destroying the Germans' means of sustenance. The two men added territory
to the Empire and allowed Maximian to continue preparations against
Carausius without further disturbance. On his return to the East,
Diocletian managed what was probably another rapid campaign against the
resurgent Sarmatians. No details survive, but surviving inscriptions
indicate that Diocletian took the title Sarmaticus Maximus after 289.
In the East, Diocletian engaged in diplomacy with desert tribes in
the regions between Rome and Persia. He might have been attempting to
persuade them to ally themselves with Rome, thus reviving the old,
Rome-friendly,Palmyrene
sphere of influence
, or simply attempting to reduce the frequency of their incursions. No
details survive for these events. Some of the princes of these states
were Persian client kings, a disturbing fact in light of increasing
tensions with the Sassanids. In the West, Maximian lost the fleet built
in 288 and 289, probably in the early spring of 290. Thepanegyrist
who refers to the loss suggests that its cause was a storm, but this
might simply be the an attempt to conceal an embarrassing military
defeat. Diocletian broke off his tour of the Eastern provinces soon
thereafter. He returned with haste to the West, reaching Emesa by 10 May
290, and Sirmium on the Danube by 1 July 290.
Diocletian met Maximian in Milan in the winter of 290–91, either in
late December 290 or January 291. The meeting was undertaken with a
sense of solemn pageantry. The Emperors spent most of their time in
public appearances. It has been surmised that the ceremonies were
arranged to demonstrate Diocletian's continuing support for his
faltering colleague. A deputation from the Roman Senate met with the
Emperors, renewing its infrequent contact with the Imperial office. The
choice of Milan over Rome further snubbed the capital's pride. But then
it was already a long established practice that Rome itself was only a
ceremonial capital, as the actual seat of the Imperial administration
was determined by the needs of defense. Long before Diocletian,Gallienus
(r. 253–68) had chosen Milan as the seat of his headquarters. If the
panegyric detailing the ceremony implied that the true center of the
Empire was not Rome, but where the Emperor sat ("...the capital of the
Empire appeared to be there, where the two emperors met"), it simply
echoed what had already been stated by the historianHerodian
in the early third century: "Rome is where the emperor is". During the
meeting, decisions on matters of politics and war were probably made in
secret. The Augusti would not meet again until 303.
Tetrarchy
Foundation of the Tetrarchy
Triumphal Arch of the Tetrarchy,
Sbeitla
,
Tunisia
Some time after his return, and before 293, Diocletian transferred command of the war against Carausius from Maximian toConstantius Chlorus
, a former governor of Dalmatia and a man of military experience stretching back toAurelian
's campaigns againstZenobia
(272–73). He was Maximian's praetorian prefect in Gaul, and the husband to Maximian's daughter,Theodora
. On 1 March 293 at Milan, Maximian gave Constantius the office of Caesar. In the spring of 293, in either Philippopolis (Plovdiv,Bulgaria
) or Sirmium, Diocletian would do the same for Galerius
, husband to Diocletian's daughter Valeria, and perhaps Diocletian's
praetorian prefect. Constantius was assigned Gaul and Britain. Galerius
was assigned Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and responsibility for the eastern
borderlands.
This arrangement is called the Tetrarchy, from aGreek
term meaning "rulership by four". The Tetrarchic Emperors were more or
less sovereign in their own lands, and they travelled with their own
imperial courts, administrators, secretaries, and armies. They were
joined by blood and marriage; Diocletian and Maximian now styled
themselves as brothers. The senior co-Emperors formally adopted Galerius
and Constantius as sons in 293. These relationships implied a line of
succession. Galerius and Constantius would become Augusti after the
departure of Diocletian and Maximian. Maximian's sonMaxentius
and Constantius' sonConstantine
would then become Caesars. In preparation for their future roles,
Constantine and Maxentius were taken to Diocletian's court in Nicomedia.
Conflict in the Balkans and Egypt
Diocletian spent the spring of 293 traveling with Galerius from Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica,Serbia
) toByzantium
(Istanbul,Turkey
). Diocletian then returned to Sirmium, where he would remain for the
following winter and spring. He campaigned against the Sarmatians again
in 294, probably in the autumn, and won a victory against them. The
Sarmatians' defeat kept them from the Danube provinces for a long time.
Meanwhile, Diocletian built forts north of the Danube, atAquincum
(Budapest,Hungary
), Bononia (Vidin, Bulgaria), Ulcisia Vetera, Castra Florentium, Intercisa (Dunaújváros, Hungary), and Onagrinum (Begeč, Serbia). The new forts became part of a new defensive line called the Ripa Sarmatica.
In 295 and 296 Diocletian campaigned in the region again, and won a
victory over the Carpi in the summer of 296. Afterwards, during 299 and
302, as Diocletian was then residing in the East, it was Galerius' turn
to campaign victoriously on the Danube. By the end of his reign,
Diocletian had secured the entire length of the Danube, provided it with
forts, bridgeheads, highways, and walled towns, and sent fifteen or
more legions to patrol the region; an inscription atSexaginta Prista
on the Lower Danube extolled restored tranquilitas at the region. The defense came at a heavy cost, but was a significant achievement in an area difficult to defend.
Galerius, meanwhile, was engaged during 291–293 in disputes inUpper Egypt
, where he suppressed a regional uprising. He would return to Syria in
295 to fight the revanchist Persian Empire. Diocle
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