Chapters
| Name | Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus |
|---|---|
| Ruled as | Imperator Caesar Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus Augustus |
| Reign | 253 – 268 CE |
| Born | 218 CE |
| Died | 268 CE |
Gallienus was born in 218 CE as Publius Licinius Egnatius. He was the son of Valerian I, with whom he co-ruled from 253. In 260 CE he took over the independent rule after his father got into Persian captivity during the Battle of Edessa. According to ancient sources, the Persian king – Shapur – used the captured emperor as a footstool when mounting a horse. Gallienus is a controversial figure because many historians (especially from the senatorial circle) talk about his role in bringing Rome to ruin. The reality, however, was different. Gaul belongs to one of the most outstanding rulers of Rome, but historians unfavourable to the emperor distorted the image of his rule during the period of the peak crisis of Roman statehood.
His first wife – Pipa was the daughter of the Marcomanni king. With his wife, Salonina he had sons: Valerian II (murdered around 257 CE; co-ruled in 253-257 CE) and Saloninus (murdered 260 CE; he co-ruled in the years 258 – 260 CE). The marriage with Salonina is, among imperial marriages, an uncommon example of the spouses’ exceptional fidelity and compatibility. During his reign, chaos reigned in the empire, but the emperor tried with all his strength to control it. Gallienus was keenly interested in philosophical issues, being a friend of Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism.
Background of events
In the 60s of the 3rd century CE, the crisis of the empire reached its apogee. The empire that was attacked from many sides was practically at the mercy of the Persians and of the increasingly repeated expeditions of the Germans for spoils. Shapur’s bold moves and the chaos on the Germanic border favoured the emergence of new usurpations, which erupted with even greater force after Valerian was taken prisoner. The empire was at the stage of the most profound decay of military structures in many provinces as a result of the Severan reforms (the Severus dynasty). Soldiers, fused with their provinces, showed more and more arbitrariness resulting from the lack of discipline in the army. In the years 260-275, successive usurpers such as Postumus or Septimius Odenat counted primarily on the separation of their provinces from the rest of the state, which was to give them broad economic independence in a short time. and military.
Coordinates
In 253 CE, legionaries proclaimed 58-year-old Valerian I emperor. At the end of 253 CE, the Senate confirmed the election of Valerian as emperor. Valerian appointed his son Gallienus (he was 35) as a co-emperor in charge of the western part of the empire. Its main task was to protect the European provinces from barbarian invasions from across the great border rivers. However, he was not very successful in this field. He managed to some extent to secure the Rhine line, where he defeated the Alamans. He took the nickname Germanicus Maximus, and the inscription Restitutor Galliarum (“Restorer of the Gallic Provinces”) was stamped on the coins. In the summer of 257 or 258 CE, the Alamans broke the Danube line and reached the area of Mediolanum, where many packs were prowling and spreading panic. Gallienus defeated the barbarians at the battle of Mediolanum, where the new cavalry formations (comitatus) introduced by Gallienus proved useful; they outnumbered traditional infantry. Comitatenses were heavy cavalry that became the main tactical force of the imperial Roman army. A large role in the battle was also played by Marcus Acylius Aureolus, who was one of the most talented commanders of the emperor.
Self reign
During one of the wars with Persia, when the Persians occupied Mesopotamia, Valerian went against their leader, King Shapur I. According to chroniclers, in 260 CE, the emperor was captured during the battle of Edessa, captured by Shapur during truce negotiations. From that moment on, Gallienus was the single ruler of the empire. In 260 CE he issued an Edict of Tolerance to end the persecution of Christians. Following this document, the emperor issued a letter to the bishops of Egypt in 262 CE, in which he addressed the clergy. The edict granted the clergy the right to proclaim the word of God and to have their own cemeteries. The issuance of such ordinances came as a big surprise to Christians, who expected Gallienus to continue the policy of his father, who had issued two edicts on the persecution. By issuing these ordinances, Gallienus was looking for a way to alleviate the bad attitude of society towards Christians, as well as to attract a Christian recruit. Moreover, Gallienus argued that one cannot force religious beliefs.
The main problem that the emperor had to deal with throughout his reign was usurpations in various parts of the Empire. Particularly strong separatist tendencies appeared in the Danubian provinces, where contenders began to emerge at the end of the joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus. In 258 CE the governor of Pannonia Ingenuuswas proclaimed emperor. The revolt of his subordinate troops probably also affected the inhabitants of Pannonia and Moesia, outraged by insufficient protection against invasions of foreign tribes. The imposition of Ingenuus on the emperor by the soldiers of these provinces was a pretext for the people of these provinces to express their views through the support of the usurper. The reasons for such assumptions are the circumstances in which Gallienus dealt with the usurper. As the description in “Historia Augusta” shows, the emperor very quickly came to Pannonia to suppress the usurpation. In the battle of Mursia or Sirmium issued to the usurper, the emperor defeated the pretender, and then: “He exerted his fury on all the Moesians, both soldiers and ordinary inhabitants”.