Lucius Mussius Aemilianus
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Lucius Mussius Aemilianus '' signo'' Aegippius (died 261 or 262) who held a number of military and civilian positions during the middle of the third century. He is best known as a
Roman usurper Roman usurpers were individuals or groups of individuals who obtained or tried to obtain power by force and without legitimate legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during the Roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third cent ...
during the reign of
Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...
.


Sources

The sources for this emperor include
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
, ''
Ecclesiae Historia The ''Church History'' ( grc-gre, Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ ἱστορία; la, Historia Ecclesiastica or ''Historia Ecclesiae'') of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea was a 4th-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the devel ...
'' 7.11; '' Epitome de Caesaribus'', 32.4; '' Historia Augusta'', "Gallienus" 4.1-2, 5.6, 9.1; " Tyranni Triginta" 22.1-8, as well as several papyri and one inscription.


Career

Mussius Aemilianus probably was of Italian stock. His career in imperial service is documented up to 18 May 247 from an inscription recovered at
Fiumicino Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...
. Appointments he held up to that date include ''praefectus vehiculorum trium provinciarum Galliarum'', ''procurator Alexandreae Pelusi'' and a third location (now lost), ''procurator portus utriusque Ostiae''. Valerian appointed him ''
Praefectus ''Praefectus'', often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) but ...
'' of Roman Egypt, a position he held from possibly as early as 256 to 261. While the primary concern of the governor of Egypt was to safeguard the harvest and delivery of grain to the populace of Rome, he had other responsibilities which included resuming the persecution of Christians that had started under his predecessor Aurelius Appius Sabinus.
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
preserves a letter of Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria where the bishop documents his trial before Mussius Aemilianus for professing Christianity, for which he was exiled to Cephro in the Libyan Desert. A surviving papyrus, dated to 259/260, has been identified as an independent witness to this trial.Lincoln H. Blumell
"The Date of P.Oxy. XLIII 3119, the Deputy-Prefect Lucius Missius Aemilianus, and the Persecution of Christians by Valerian and Gallienus"
''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 186 (2013), pp. 111–113


Usurpation

He supported the rebellion of the Macriani against
Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...
(260-261). When the Macriani were defeated Mussius Aemilianus proclaimed himself emperor. Gallienus sent his general Aurelius Theodotus to Egypt to deal with Aemilianus. After a short struggle Aemilianus was defeated (before 30 March 262), captured, and later strangled in prison. Subsequently Memor, a possible supporter, was executed.


See also

* Gallienus usurpers


References


Further reading


"Usurpers in Egypt: Mussius Aemilianus and Memor", in Körner, Christian, "Usurpers under Gallienus"
''De Imperatoribus Romanis'' website * John R. Martindale
"Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Addenda et Corrigenda to Volume I"
'' Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', 23 (1974), pp. 246-252 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mussius Aemilianus, Lucius Gallienus usurpers Thirty Tyrants (Roman) 3rd-century Roman governors of Egypt Year of birth unknown 260s deaths Year of death uncertain Aemilianus, Lucius Roman pharaohs