Laelian (; ),Martindale, pg. 492 also incorrectly referred to as ''Lollianus'' and ''Aelianus'',Polfer, ''Laelianus'' was a

usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it a ...

against

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 ...

, the emperor 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 ...

. His revolt lasted from approximately late February to early June 269.Polfer, ''Laelianus''

Origins

Little is known about Laelian. He shares the same '' nomen'' as a prominent Hispano-Roman family, the

Ulpii The gens Ulpia was a Ancient Rome, Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Trajan, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix, Thirtieth Le ...

, that included

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 ...

among its members, and may have been a relative.Polfer, ''Laelianus'' This is supported by the strong allusion to Hispania on an

aureus The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden') was the main gold coin of ancient Rome from the 1st century BC to the early 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the ''solidus (coin), solidus''. This type of coin was sporadically issued during the Roman ...

he struck, which featured the design of Hispania reclining with a rabbit to her side. If he indeed was a relative, this may be the reason Hispania allied itself with

Claudius II 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 Laelian, seemingly without a struggle.

Rule

Laelian declared himself emperor at

Moguntiacum Mainz (; see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in the Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region—Germany's second-larges ...

(modern-day Mainz in Germany) in February/March 269, after repulsing a Germanic invasion. Although his exact position is unknown, he is believed to have been a senior officer under Postumus, either the ''

legatus A legate (Latin: , ) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in comman ...

'' of

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...

or the commander of Legio XXII ''Primigenia''.Polfer, ''Laelianus'' Laelian represented a strong danger to Postumus because of the two legions he commanded (''Primigenia'' in Moguntiacum and VIII ''Augusta'' in

Argentoratum Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the city of Strasbourg. The name was first mentioned in 12 BC, when it was a Roman military outpost established by Nero Claudius Drusus. From 90 AD the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently statio ...

);Polfer, ''Laelianus'' Despite this, his rebellion lasted only about two months before he was executed, reputedly by his own soldiers, or by Postumus' troops after a siege of Laelian's capital.Martindale, pg. 492 The siege of Moguntiacum was also fatal for Postumus; it is said he was slain when he refused to allow his troops to plunder the city following its capture.Southern, pg. 118 Laelian (under the Latin name ''Lollianus'') is listed among 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 ...

in 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 ...

''.

References

Sources

Primary sources

Aurelius Victor Sextus Aurelius Victor ( 320 – 390) was a historian and politician of the Roman Empire. Victor was the author of a now-lost monumental history of imperial Rome covering the period from Augustus to Constantius II. Under the emperor Julian (361 ...

''Liber de Caesaribus''
* Eutropius
''Brevarium'', Book 9
* ''

''
The Thirty Tyrants

Secondary sources

* Southern, Pat. ''The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine'', Routledge, 2001 * Potter, David Stone, ''The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-395'', Routledge, 2004 * Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395'', Cambridge University Press, 1971 * Michel Polfer,

, ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''] (1999)

External links

* {{Authority control 269 deaths 3rd-century monarchs in Europe 3rd-century murdered monarchs Cornelii Gallic emperors Thirty Tyrants (Roman) Ulpii Year of birth unknown