The new emperor Carus – the name means ‘beloved’ – sent his eldest son Carinus to Gaul and took his youngest son Numerianus with him on a campaign in the East against the Persians. It seems likely that Probus had already been planning an offensive against Rome’s eastern nemesis, but…
There can be no doubt that Marcus Aurelius Probus was a very successful general. According to Aurelius Victor, he “was almost a second Hannibal because of his great knowledge of warfare and his versatile training of the soldiers and his toughening of the young recruits”.[1] For most of his reign,…
Marcus Claudius Tacitus may have been an old man, but he still had a lot of energy left. He immediately punished some of the soldiers involved in the death of his predecessor Aurelianus. Mucapor was tortured to death, but some of the conspirators apparently managed to get away, for they…
Now that Zenobia had been defeated and captured, Aurelianus could focus on the one remaining rebel in the West: Tetricus, ruler of the so-called ‘Gallic Empire’ (the name is a modern invention). In early 274, the army of Aurelianus met that of Tetricus in the vicinity of Durocatalaunum (modern Châlons).…
Still in 271, while en route to the East to confront Zenobia, Aurelianus campaigned against marauding tribes that had once again broken through the Danube border. The not-so reliable Historia Augusta mentions campaigns in Illyricum (a generic term for the Balkans) and Thrace and even claims that the emperor fought…
Claudius Gothicus was succeeded by his brother Quintillus. He was accepted by the Senate as Augustus, but the Senate had little real power in those days. Quintillus reigned long enough to mint coins, but the army was unhappy with the Senate’s choice and quickly presented its own candidate: Lucius Domitius…
Marcus Aurelius Claudius was in his fifties when he became Augustus. According to Aurelius Victor, the dying Gallienus had named Claudius – who was at Ticinum (Pavia) at the time of the murder – his successor. This is not impossible, although it is a lot more likely that he was…
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus Augustus was now sole ruler of the vast Roman Empire, or rather: the sole legitimate ruler. Most western provinces were in the hands of Postumus, ruler of the ‘Gallic Empire’, while Gallienus soon had to deal with usurpers and rebels in the eastern provinces as well.…
When he marched on Rome in 253, Aemilianus had taken away many troops from the Danube border. Valerianus had done the same when he marched on the Eternal City with the legions from the Rhine the same year. As a result, these borders were weakly defended and the Germanic and…
Soon after accepting the purple, the new emperor Trebonianus Gallus made a deal with the invading Goths. They were allowed to leave Roman territory with all their loot and prisoners and were even granted an annual tribute. It was a humiliating agreement, but what was worse was that, instead of…
After defeating Philippus Arabs at Verona in September of 249, Gaius Messius Quintus Decius had become the new ruler of the vast Roman Empire. The new emperor built the thermae Decianae or Baths of Decius on the Aventine Hill in Rome and was possibly also responsible for construction of the…
Marcus Julius Philippus had been born in the small village of Thraconitis in the north of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea.[1] This explains why he became known to posterity as Philip the Arab or Philippus Arabs. The emperor later had his place of birth completely rebuilt in grand style…
Gordianus III was just thirteen years old when he became sole Augustus of the Roman Empire. Since his grandfather and uncle, Gordianus I and II, had lost their lives when their rebellion had been quelled by Legio III Augusta, the new emperor decided to disband this legion. The legion would…