Quintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Decius (died c. June 251), known simply as Herennius Etruscus, was briefly Roman emperor in 251, ruling jointly under his father

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

. His father was proclaimed emperor by his troops in September 249 while in

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 ...

and

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

, in opposition to

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

. Decius defeated Philip in battle, and was then proclaimed emperor by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Etruscus, still a child, was elevated to (heir) in 250, then further raised to (emperor) in May 251. When the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

, under Cniva, invaded the Danubian provinces, he was sent with a

vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

, followed by the main body of Roman troops, led by Decius. They ambushed Cniva at the Battle of Nicopolis ad Istrum in 250,

rout A rout is a Panic, panicked, disorderly and Military discipline, undisciplined withdrawal (military), retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's discipline, command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale ...

ing him, before being ambushed and routed themselves at the Battle of Beroe. Etruscus was killed in the

Battle of Abritus The Battle of Abritus also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii occurred near Abritus (modern Razgrad) in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian t ...

the following year, alongside his father. After the deaths of both emperors,

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 respected senatorial family with Etruscan ancestry, cer ...

, who had been governor of Moesia, was elected emperor by the remaining Roman forces. Herennius Etruscus Coin

Life

Quintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Decius was the son of

, a Roman general who later became emperor, and Herennia Etruscilla, his wife. His birth date is sometimes given between 220 and 230, but there is no way to confirm this. Etruscus was probably a young boy when he was proclaimed emperor in 251, as depicted in his coins. Decius became emperor after being sent to lead troops in the provinces of

and

, where he was declared emperor by his troops in September 249, in opposition to

Philip the Arab Philip I (; – September 249), commonly known as Philip the Arab, was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, who had been Praetorian prefect, rose to power. He quickly negotiated peace with the S ...

. He led his troops against Philip, their forces meeting in September 249, near

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, Italy. In this battle, Philip was slain, after which the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

declared Decius emperor, and honored him with the name Traianus, a reference to Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

. Both Herennius Etruscus and his younger brother Hostilian were elevated to in 250, and in May 251 Herennius Etruscus was elevated to , making him co-emperor under Decius. He was also made

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

for 251.

In 249, the

, led by King Cniva, invaded the Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire with a huge force. They split into two columns; one column launched an assault on

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

, and the other force, made up of 70,000 men, and personally led by Cniva, invaded Moesia. Cniva's forces further split into two groups; one marched to assault Philippopolis, and the other marched to Novae. Cniva was prevented from laying siege to Novae by

, the governor of Moesia and future emperor, and thus moved south, on to Nicopolis. By this time news of the invasion reached Rome, and both Decius and Herennius Etruscus traveled to repulse the Gothic invasion, although Hostilian remained in Rome. Herennius Etruscus was sent forward with a

, followed by the main body of Roman forces, led by Decius. Decius and Herennius Etruscus took the Gothic forces by surprise in the Battle of Nicopolis, and beat them decisively. Following the crushing defeat, Cniva retreated over the

Haemus Mons The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

(

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

), and met up with his other forces at Philippopolis. Cniva then ambushed the forces of Decius and Herennius Etruscus at the Battle of Beroe, near the small town of Beroca at the base of the Haemus Mons. The Roman forces were beaten decisively in this engagement and fled in disarray to Moesia where Decius and Herennius Etruscus worked to reorganize them. Cniva then returned to Philippopolis, and with the help of Titus Julius Priscus, the Roman governor of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

, managed to capture the city. Decius and Herennius Etruscus launched a counterattack in spring 251 and were initially successful in pushing back the Goths. However, Cniva set an ambush for them, in June 251, near Abritus (modern-day Razgrad,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

). In this battle, both Decius and Herennius Etruscus were killed. The exact circumstances of the death of Herennius Etruscus are vague. The main source for the event, Aurelius Victor, says only that Herennius Etruscus was killed when he "pressed the attack too boldly". Aurelius Victor specifies that he was acting as an , commanding troops from a distance but not physically engaging in the combat, rather than a commilito, who physically fought in the battle. After the news of his death reached Decius, he refused to be consoled, stating that the loss of one life was minor to a battle, and thus continued the combat, in which he was also slain. The death of Decius is similarly obscure, although it is agreed upon that he must have died either during the battle, as a , during the retreat from the battle, or else was slain while serving as . The reserve forces of Trebonianus Gallus failed to reinforce the main army in time to save Decius and Herennius Etruscus, although whether this was due to treachery or misfortune is unknown. After the death of both Decius and Herennius Etruscus, and much of the Roman army with them, the remaining forces immediately elected

, the governor of Moesia, as emperor. Trebonianus Gallus made peace with Cniva on humiliating terms, allowing them to keep their prisoners and spoils in order to secure peace. In order to gain popular support, Trebonianus Gallus retained Herennia Etruscilla as '' Augusta'' (empress), and elevated Hostilian to , making him co-emperor alongside Trebonianus Gallus himself. Hostilian died in November 251, either from a plague or murder, after which Volusianus, Trebonianus Gallus' son, was raised to . After Trebonianus Gallus was overthrown by Aemilianus in 253, Herennia Etruscilla faded into obscurity.

References

Citations

Primary sources

*Anonymous in their Epitome de Caesaribus. (29.3). * Aurelius Victor in his '' De Caesaribus'' (29.5). *

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

in his ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...

'' (18.103). * Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius in his '' De Mortibus Persecutorum'' (4). * Zonaras in his '' Epitome Historiarum'' (12.20).

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herennius Etruscus 220s births 251 deaths 3rd-century Roman emperors Year of birth uncertain 3rd-century Roman consuls Decian dynasty Roman emperors killed in battle Deaths by arrow wounds Deified Roman emperors Messii Sons of Roman emperors Illyrian emperors Damnatio memoriae Romans from Pannonia