Titus Fulvius Iunius Macrianus (died 261), also known as Macrianus Minor, was 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 ...

. He was the son of

Fulvius Macrianus Fulvius Macrianus (died 261), also called Macrianus Major, was a Roman usurper. He was one of Valerian's fiscal officers.J. Bray (1997), p.95 More precisely, sources refer to him as being in charge of the whole state accounts ('' A rationibus'') ...

, also known as Macrianus Major.Jones, pg. 528

Career

Although his father was from an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

family, Macrianus Minor's mother was of noble birth and her name, possibly, was Iunia. According to the often unreliable Historia Augusta, he had served as military

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

under Valerian. Macrianus, his father and his brother

Quietus Titus Fulvius Junius Quietus (died 261) was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Gallienus. History Quietus was the son of Fulvius Macrianus and a noblewoman, possibly named Junia. According to ''Historia Augusta'', he was a military tribu ...

, were in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

in 260, for the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

campaign of Emperor Valerian, when the Roman army was defeated, and the emperor was captured.Körner, http://www.roman-emperors.org/galusurp.htm#Note%202 With help from his father, who kept the imperial treasure, and by the influence of Balista, Valerian's

praefect ''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 ...

, Macrianus gained the imperial office together with his brother

, through the election by the army, in contrast with the lawful 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 ...

, son and co-emperor with Valerian, who was far in the West. The two emperors and brothers were recognized in the eastern part of the Empire, having a stronghold in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, the grain supplying province for the city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. After having temporarily secured the Persian frontier, Macrianus Major and Macrianus Minor moved to the West to attack and eliminate their rival Gallienus. They were however defeated in autumn 261 by Aureolus, and later killed by their own soldiers at the father's request.

Cultural depictions

Macrianus appears in Harry Sidebottom's historical fiction novel series as one of the series' antagonists..

References

Sources

Körner, Christian, "Usurpers in the east: The Macriani and Ballista", s.v. "Usurpers under Gallienus", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''
* Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395'', Cambridge University Press, 1971 {{DEFAULTSORT:Minor, Macrianus 261 deaths Thirty Tyrants (Roman) Gallienus usurpers Imperial Roman consuls Year of birth unknown Fulvii People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Roman pharaohs

Career

Cultural depictions

See also

References

Sources