The Gallienus usurpers were the usurpers who claimed imperial power during the reign of

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – 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 empire. He ...

(253–268, the first part of which he shared with his father Valerian). The existence of usurpers during the

Crisis of the Third Century The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis, was a period in History of Rome, Roman history during which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressure of repeated Barbarian invasions ...

was very common, and the high number of usurpers fought by Gallienus is due to his long rule; fifteen years being considered long by the standards of the 3rd century

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Uprisings after the defeat of Valerian

After Valerian's defeat and capture by the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

in 260, his son Gallienus became the only emperor. However, many uprisings happened, both in the East, with the formation of the

Palmyrene Empire The Palmyrene Empire was a short-lived breakaway state from the Roman Empire resulting from the Crisis of the Third Century. Named after its capital city, Palmyra, it encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Arabia Petraea, and Egypt ...

, and in the West, with the birth of the

Gallic Empire The Gallic Empire or Gallo-Roman Empire are names used in modern historiography for a secession, breakaway part of the Roman Empire that functioned ''de facto'' as a separate state from 260 to 274. It originated during the Crisis of the Third Cent ...

. With the uncertainty of the period, the legions wanted to restore Roman power in the wake of Valerian's defeat, against the pressure of the barbarian people in the west and the Persians in the East.

Usurpers in the West

* 260: Ingenuus – Chosen by the population and the army of the province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

. Killed for

by Manius Acilius Aureolus in 260 during the battle at

Mursa Osijek () is the List of cities and towns in Croatia, fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the adm ...

. * 260: Regalian – After his victory over the

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

in 260, he was killed by a coalition of his own people and of the

Roxolani The Roxolani or Rhoxolāni ( , ; ) were a Sarmatian people documented between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century AD, first east of the Borysthenes (Dnieper) on the coast of Lake Maeotis (Sea of Azov), and later near the borders of Roman Daci ...

. * 260–269:

Postumus Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus ( 259–269) 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 al ...

– Ruled over a

until his murder in 269. * 268: Manius Acilius Aureolus – Initially a

supporter, Aureolus turned against Gallienus while fighting against

and his

. In 268, having surrendered to Emperor

Claudius Gothicus Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – August/September 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Batt ...

after the death of Gallienus, Aureolus was murdered by the Praetorian Guard before Claudius could decide what to do with him.

Usurpers in the East

* 260–261: Macrianus Major, Macrianus Minor,

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 trib ...

, and Balista, in the East. After Valerian's defeat, Gallienus was the only remaining emperor, but he was in the West. The Eastern army, needing a leader, offered the rule to Macrianus Major, a noble and wealthy man, but he refused because of his age and health. With the help of Balista, the Valerian

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

who had defeated the Persians after the emperor's death, and with Valerian wealth he held from his office of ''procurator arcae et praepositus annonae in expeditione Persica'', Macrianus Major made his two sons Macrianus Minor and Quietus emperors. While Quietus and Balista stayed in the East and in Egypt to secure their rule, Macrianus Major and Minor moved to Thrace, to counter Gallienus, ruler of Italy and Illyricum. However, Gallienus' general

Aureolus Aureolus was a Roman military commander during the reign of Emperor Gallienus before he attempted to usurp the Roman Empire. After turning against Gallienus, Aureolus was killed during the political turmoil that surrounded the Emperor's assass ...

defeated and killed in battle both the Macriani, while Quietus was killed by

Odaenathus Septimius Odaenathus (Greek language, Greek: Ὀδαίναθος, Palmyrene Aramaic: 𐡠𐡣𐡩𐡮𐡶‎ (file:Dynt.png, 35px), ; ; 220 – 267) was the founder king (malik) of the List of Palmyrene monarchs, Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled fr ...

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. * 261: Piso and Valens Thessalonicus, in

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...

. The only source for these two usurpers is the ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...

''. Valens was the governor of Achaea, and remained loyal to Gallienus. In his march west, Macrianus sent Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi to counter Valens. Valens' troops proclaimed their commander emperor, and Piso's troops did the same with their commander. Piso was then killed by Valens, who was later killed by his own troops. The account of Achaea events made by ''Historia Augusta'' is very obscure and contains some forgeries, such as a ''senatus consultum'' granting Piso a statue. * 261:

Mussius Aemilianus Lucius Mussius Aemilianus ''signo'' Aegippius (died 261 or 262) was a Roman Empire, Roman who held a number of military and civilian positions during the middle of the third century. He is best known as a Roman usurper during the reign of Gallien ...

, in Aegyptus Province. Mussius supported the Macriani rebellion, controlling Egypt. When the Macriani were defeated, he probably proclaimed himself emperor, but was defeated and killed by Aurelius Theodotus, a general sent by Gallienus. * 262:

Memor The Gallienus usurpers were the Roman usurper, usurpers who claimed Roman Emperor, imperial power during the reign of Gallienus (253–268, the first part of which he shared with his father Valerian (emperor), Valerian). The existence of usurpers ...

was in Northern Africa. He projected a rebellion against Gallienus, but was killed by Theodotus.

Fictitious usurpers

The author(s) of the ''

'', which modern scholars consider a forgery, listed several other Gallienus usurpers in the book on the ''

Thirty Tyrants The Thirty Tyrants (, ''hoi triákonta týrannoi'') were an oligarchy that briefly ruled Classical Athens, Athens from 404 BC, 404 BCE to 403 BC, 403 BCE. Installed into power by the Sparta, Spartans after the Athenian surrender in the Peloponnesian ...

'', among which: * Trebellianus – rebelled in

Isauria Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...

, gained control of Asia Minor, but was defeated by Camsisoleus, general of Gallienus, who was Egyptian and brother of Theodotus. *

Celsus Celsus (; , ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work '' The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: )Hoffmann p.29 survives exclusively via quotati ...

– fictitious usurper of Africa. Allegedly proclaimed emperor by Vibius Passienus,

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

of the province, and Fabius Pomponianus, general of the Libyan frontier. He ruled for seven days. * Saturninus – not to be confused with Julius Saturninus, usurper under

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

, appears in the ''Historia Augusta'' as ''optimus ducum Gallieni temporis''. According to this source, he was proclaimed emperor by his troops, but later killed by them for his severity. He is an apocryphal usurper, probably built on the model of Julius Saturninus.

External links

Roman Emperors DIR
account, with references {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallienus Usurpers

Uprisings after the defeat of Valerian

Usurpers in the West

Usurpers in the East

Fictitious usurpers

See also

External links