Cyriades (referred to in other sources as Mareades or Mariades or Mariadnes) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

rebel who betrayed the city of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

sometime during the 250s. His chief claim to fame is that he is enumerated as one of the Thirty Tyrants who supposedly tried to overthrow the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

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 ...

The ''Historia Augusta''

Cyriades is listed first in the catalogue of usurpers that comprise the chapter on the Thirty Tyrants within the notoriously unreliable '' Historia Augusta'' (and writing under the fictitious name of

Trebellius Pollio The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

), whose narrative is brief, indistinct, and largely inaccurate. According to this source, Cyriades was the son of a rich man, also named Cyriades, and whose debauched lifestyle offended his father. After stealing from his father, he fled to the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

, stimulated

to invade the eastern

provinces and helped in the capture of

and Caesarea. At this point he assumed the purple together with the title of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, possibly killing his father before being slain by his own followers after a short, cruel and crime filled reign. The ''Historia Augusta'' dates this as occurring when the emperor Valerian was on his way to the east to fight the Persians, so the traditional assumption is that the date of this rebellion was 259.

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...

instead dated the usurpation as occurring after the defeat and capture of Valerian in 260.

Other sources

The events of the Persian invasion of the east are also mentioned by other sources, but they attribute the fall of Antioch to the intrigues of an individual named Mareades or Mariades or Mariadnes, none of whom claimed the imperial dignity.

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

mentioned that during the attack on Antioch during the reign of Gallienus, "Mareades, who had inconsiderately brought the Persians there to the destruction of his own people, was burned alive." Outside of the reference to Gallienus' reign, Ammianus Marcellinus does not date this event, but some scholars date this to 256. The ''Anonymous Continuator of

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

'' refers to a Mariadnes, and describes the same event, but with some variations. Firstly, the people of Antioch were aware of the upcoming invasion, and that a large part of the population of Antioch remained in the city, being well-disposed toward Mariadnes and also favouring a change from the Romans to the Persians. Since this part of the work immediately precedes a section on the approaching formal recognition of Aemilianus as Augustus in 253, its author set the event described therein in the early 250s. This date, and the fall of Antioch occurring during the reign of

Trebonianus Gallus Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus (206 – August 253) was Roman emperor from June 251 to August 253, in a joint rule with his son Volusianus. Early life Gallus was born in Italy, in a family with respected Etruscan senatorial background. He h ...

, is favoured by a number of modern scholars. Finally, according to John Malalas, during Valerian's reign, Mariades, one of the officials of Antioch, was expelled from the city council on charges of embezzlement. He was responsible for the running of the chariot races, had not bought the horses for one of the factions, and had stolen money that had been set aside for the

Hippodrome The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...

. As a result, he fled to Persia, and in an interview with Shapur I, agreed to betray Antioch to the Persians. After the capture of the city, which was plundered and burnt to the ground, Shapur had Mariades beheaded as he was a traitor to his own people. Although John Malalas dates this event to 265/6, his narrative also implies that it occurred around 252/3. It is now accepted that Cyriades and Mariades are one and the same person. One possibility is that the name Cyriades is a Hellenized version of the Aramaic name Maryad'a ("My Lord Knows"), with CYRI the Latin transliteration of the Greek KYPI ("Lord"). This may give rise to the claim made in the ''Historia Augusta'' that Cyriades was firstly made

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

and then Augustus, as KYPI could be used for the holder of either title.Potter, D. S., ''Prophecy and History in the Crisis of the Roman Empire'' (1990), p. 269 There is no numismatic and epigraphic evidence that Cyriades (or Mariades) was ever proclaimed Augustus. The coins published by Groltzius and Mediobarbus are rejected by

numismatists A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

as unquestionably spurious.

References

*{{Source-attribution, ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', by William Smith (1849)

External links

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, page 916
250s deaths Thirty Tyrants (Roman) Year of birth unknown