Silvanus was a Roman soldier and probably praetorian prefect during the third century who came briefly to the notice of history in the reign of Valerian and his co-Emperor

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 ...

. He is generally assumed to have been the commander of the praetorians under Gallienus. However, the sources only tell us that he was made the guardian of the Caesar

Saloninus Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus (died 260), typically just called Saloninus, was a Roman nobleman who briefly became Emperor in 260. The grandson of Valerian I, Saloninus was appointed (subordinate) Caesar in 258 in an attempt ...

by Saloninus's father, the Emperor

. This seems likely to mean that he exercised a guiding influence over his young protégé as he represented the Imperial Dynasty in the government of the Gallic provinces. In this respect Silvanus may be compared with

Ingenuus Ingenuus was a Roman military commander, the imperial legate in Pannonia, who became a usurper to the throne of the emperor Gallienus when he led a brief and unsuccessful revolt in the year 260. Appointed by Gallienus himself,Leadbetter, ww.rom ...

who seems to have exercised a similar function, ''in loco parentis'', in the command of the Danubian provinces by Saloninus's elder brother, the Caesar Valeriannus, earlier in the 250s. He would not have been given this office had he not been a seasoned soldier and administrator, but this does not mean that he was Gallienus's Praetorian Prefect. It was Parker who supposed that Silvanus must have held that office. This suggestion has since been generally accepted without question by academic opinion. However, while his command was clearly above that of a provincial governor, there is no proof that this was the case. Being Praetorian Prefect was not a necessary condition of being made the guardian of a Licinian Dynasty Caesar: it has never been seriously suggested that

, who seems to have been similarly ''in loco parentis'' in respect of Saloninus's brother, the Caesar Valerian in the Danubian provinces, was so honoured. Praetorian Prefect or not, in 260 Silvanus fell into dispute with

Postumus Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman commander of Batavian origin, who ruled as Emperor of the splinter state of the Roman Empire known to modern historians as the Gallic Empire. The Roman army in Gaul threw off its allegiance to Ga ...

over the disposition of loot which the latter had seized from a group of German raiders in Gaul. Postumus's army, infuriated, then proclaimed their man Emperor and attacked Silvanus and the young Caesar in

Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and t ...

(modernday Cologne). The pair were eventually given up by the citizens and killed by Postumus's men.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvanus 3rd-century Romans Praetorian prefects