Victoria (), also known as Vitruvia, was a leader in the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

breakaway realm known as 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 ...

in the late 3rd century. She was the mother of

Victorinus Marcus Piavonius VictorinusSome of the inscriptions record his name as M. Piavvonius Victorinus, as does the first release of coins from the Colonia mint. A mosaic from Augusta Treverorum (Trier) lists him as Piaonius. was Gallic Empire, emperor ...

, who ruled as Gallic Emperor until his assassination in 271. Afterwards, Victoria used her authority to stabilize the empire and select a successor.

History

Victoria is mentioned in

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 ...

's ''

Liber de Caesaribus 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- ...

'', and in the account of 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 unreliable ''

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 ...

''. Nothing is known of her early life, though she must have been from a wealthy and distinguished Gallic family, which produced the emperor

, her son.''Liber de Caesaribus'' 33.12. See Bird, p. 34; 141. According to Aurelius Victor, after Victorinus was killed in a mutiny, Victoria stepped in, using her copious resources to buy the support of the legions. Thus she assured the ascension of her chosen candidate for emperor,

Tetricus I Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallo-Roman nobleman who ruled as Augustus, emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274 AD. He was originally the (provincial governor) of Gallia Aquitania and became emperor after the murd ...

, who was formerly the governor of

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a list of Roman provinces, province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, wher ...

and speculated to be related to her. She also gave the title of Caesar to his son, Tetricus the Younger. The ''Historia Augusta'', which counts her as one of Rome's "Thirty Tyrants", adds additional details, claiming that Victoria initially made Victorinus' otherwise unattested son,

Victorinus Junior Victorinus Junior (supposedly died 271) was a fictional Roman usurper, usurper who was claimed to have risen up against the Roman Emperor Aurelian, according to the ''Historia Augusta''. He is included in the list of the Thirty Tyrants (Roman), T ...

, emperor, but that he too was killed, soon after his father.''The Thirty Pretenders'' Trebellius Pollio http://users.clas.ufl.edu/sterk/MeganWilliamsReadings/HA.30pretenders.pdf The ''Historia'' also says that she herself bore the titles ''Mater Castrorum'' ("Mother of the Camp") and '' Augusta'' and minted her own coins. She died shortly after Tetricus' ascension either by murder or natural causes. However, given the ''Historias notorious unreliability, the veracity of these elements is doubtful.

Relationship with Zenobia

Victoria has been called the Heroine or Empress of the West alongside

Zenobia Septimia Zenobia (Greek: Ζηνοβία, Palmyrene Aramaic: , ; 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner, and she married the ruler of the ...

, a contemporary female ruler and the Empress of the eastern division of the Roman Empire. Zenobia once sent ambassadors to Victoria, to suggest attacking Rome from the east and west, but Victoria refused.

Notes

References

* 271 deaths Thirty Tyrants (Roman) 3rd-century Roman women Year of birth unknown Ancient Romans from unknown gentes Gallic Empire Augustae Vitruvii 3rd-century women regents 3rd-century regents {{AncientRome-bio-stub

History

Relationship with Zenobia

See also

Notes

References