GALLIENUS 267AD Alexandria Egypt Homonoia Authentic Ancient Roman Coin i55162

Gallienus (Latinin:
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus Augustus; 
c. 218 – 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. While he won a number of military victories, he was 
unable to prevent the secession of important provinces.
Life

Rise to power

The exact birth date of Gallienus is unknown. The Greek chronicler
John Malalas
and the Epitome de Caesaribus 
report that he was about 50 years old at the time of his death, meaning he was 
born around 218. He was the son of emperor
Valerian
and
Mariniana
, who may have been of senatorial 
rank, possibly the daughter of
Egnatius Victor Marinianus
, and his brother was
Valerianus Minor
. Inscriptions on coins connect 
him with Falerii
in
Etruria
, which may have been his birthplace; it 
has yielded many inscriptions relating to his mother’s family, the Egnatii.^[3] 
Gallienus married
Cornelia Salonina
about ten years before his 
accession to the throne. She was the mother of three princes:
Valerian II
, who died in 258;
Saloninus
, who was named co-emperor but was 
murdered in 260 by the army of general Postumus; and
Marinianus
, who was killed in 268, shortly 
after his father was assassinated.

When
Valerian
was proclaimed Emperor on 22 October 
253, he asked the
Senate
to ratify the elevation of Gallienus to 
Caesar and
Augustus
. He was also designated
Consul Ordinarius
for 254. As
Marcus Aurelius
and his adopted brother
Lucius Verus
had done a century earlier, 
Gallienus and his father divided the Empire. Valerian left for the East to stem 
the Persian threat, and Gallienus remained in Italy to repel the Germanic tribes 
on the Rhine
and
Danube
.
Division of the empire
had become necessary due 
to its sheer size and the numerous threats it faced, and it facilitated 
negotiations with enemies who demanded to communicate directly with the emperor.

Early 
reign and the revolt of Ingenuus

Gallienus spent most of his time in the provinces of the Rhine area (Germania 
Inferior,
Germania Superior
,
Raetia
, and
Noricum
), though he almost certainly visited 
the Danube
area and
Illyricum
during 253 to 258. According to 
Eutropius and Aurelius Victor, he was particularly energetic and successful in 
preventing invaders from attacking the German provinces and Gaul, despite the 
weakness caused by Valerian’s march on Italy against
Aemilianus
in 253. According to numismatic 
evidence, he seems to have won many victories there, and a victory in
Roman Dacia
might also be dated to that period. 
Even the hostile Latin tradition attributes success to him at this time.

In 255 or 257, Gallienus was made Consul again, suggesting that he briefly 
visited Rome on those occasions, although no record survives. During his Danube 
sojourn (Drinkwater suggests in 255 or 256), he proclaimed his elder son
Valerian II
Caesar and thus official heir to 
himself and Valerian I; the boy probably joined Gallienus on campaign at that 
time, and when Gallienus moved west to the Rhine provinces in 257, he remained 
behind on the Danube as the personification of Imperial authority.

Sometime between 258 and 260 (the exact date is unclear), while Valerian was 
distracted with the ongoing invasion of Shapur in the East, and Gallienus was 
preoccupied with his problems in the West,
Ingenuus
, governor of at least one of the 
Pannonian provinces, took advantage and declared himself emperor. Valerian II 
had apparently died on the Danube, most likely in 258. Ingenuus may have been 
responsible for that calamity. Alternatively, the defeat and capture of Valerian 
at the
battle of Edessa
may have been the trigger for 
the subsequent revolts of Ingenuus,
Regalianus
, and
Postumus
. In any case, Gallienus reacted with 
great speed. He left his son
Saloninus
as Caesar at
Cologne
, under the supervision of Albanus (or 
Silvanus) and the military leadership of Postumus. He then hastily crossed the
Balkans
, taking with him the new cavalry corps 
(comitatus) under the command of
Aureolus
and defeated Ingenuus at
Mursa
or
Sirmium
.The victory must be attributed mainly 
to the cavalry and its brilliant commander. Ingenuus was killed by his own 
guards or committed suicide by drowning himself after the fall of his capital, 
Sirmium.

Invasion of the 
Alamanni

A major invasion by the
Alemanni
and other Germanic tribes occurred 
between 258 and 260 (it is hard to fix the precise date of these 
events),probably due to the vacuum left by the withdrawal of troops supporting 
Gallienus in the campaign against Ingenuus.
Franks
broke through the lower Rhine, invading

Gaul, some reaching as far as southern Spain, sacking Tarraco (modern
Tarragona
).The Alamanni invaded, probably 
through
Agri Decumates
(an area between the upper Rhine 
and the upper Danube), likely followed by the
Juthungi
. After devastating Germania Superior 
and Raetia (parts of southern
France
and
Switzerland
), they entered Italy, the first 
invasion of the Italian peninsula, aside from its most remote northern regions, 
since Hannibal
500 years before. When invaders 
reached the outskirts of Rome, they were repelled by an improvised army 
assembled by the Senate, consisting of local troops (probably prǣtorian guards) 
and the strongest of the civilian population.On their retreat through northern 
Italy, they were intercepted and defeated in the
battle of Mediolanum
(near present day
Milan
) by Gallienus’ army, which had advanced 
from Gaul, or from the Balkans after dealing with the Franks.The battle of 
Mediolanum was decisive, and the Alamanni didn’t bother the empire for the next 
ten years. The Juthungi managed to cross the Alps with their valuables and 
captives from Italy. An historian in the 19th century suggested that the 
initiative of the Senate gave rise to jealousy and suspicion by Gallienus, thus 
contributing to his exclusion of senators from military commands.

The revolt of 
Regalianus

Around the same time,
Regalianus
, a military commander of
Illyricum
, was proclaimed Emperor. The reasons 
for this are unclear, and the Historia Augusta (almost the sole resource 
for these events) does not provide a credible story. It is possible the seizure 
can be attributed to the discontent of the civilian and military provincials, 
who felt the defense of the province was being neglected.

Regalianus held power for some six months and issued coins bearing his image. 
After some success against the
Sarmatians
, his revolt was put down by the 
invasion of Roxolani
into
Pannonia
, and Regalianus himself was killed 
when the invaders took the city of
Sirmium
. There is a suggestion that Gallienus 
invited Roxolani to attack Regalianus, but other historians dismiss the 
accusation.It is also suggested that the invasion was finally checked by 
Gallienus near Verona
and that he directed the restoration of 
the province, probably in person.

Capture of Valerian, revolt of Macrianus

In the East, Valerian was confronted with serious troubles. A band of
Scythians
set a naval raid against
Pontus
, in the northern part of modern Turkey. 
After ravaging the province, they moved south into
Cappadocia
. Valerian led troops to intercept 
them but failed, perhaps because of a plague that gravely weakened his army, as 
well as the contemporary invasion of northern
Mesopotamia
by
Shapur I
, ruler of the
Sassanid Empire
.

In 259 or 260, the Roman army was defeated in the
Battle of Edessa
, and Valerian was taken 
prisoner. Shapur’s army raided
Cilicia
and
Cappadocia
(in present day
Turkey
), sacking, as Shapur’s inscriptions 
claim, 36 cities. It took a rally by an officer
Callistus
(Balista), a fiscal official named
Fulvius Macrianus
, the remains of the Eastern 
Roman legions, and
Odenathus
and his
Palmyrene
horsemen to turn the tide against 
Shapur. The Persians were driven back, but Macrianus proclaimed his two sons
Quietus
and
Macrianus
(sometimes misspelled Macrinus) as 
emperors. Coins struck for them in major cities of the East indicate 
acknowledgement of the usurpation. The two Macriani left Quietus, Ballista, and, 
presumably, Odenathus to deal with the Persians while they invaded Europe with 
an army of 30,000 men, according to the Historia Augusta. At first they 
met no opposition. The Pannonian legions joined the invaders, being resentful of 
the absence of Gallienus. He sent his successful commander Aureolus against the 
rebels, however, and the decisive battle was fought in the spring or early 
summer of 261, most likely in Illyricum, although
Zonaras
locates it in Pannonia. In any case, 
the army of the usurpers surrendered, and their two leaders were killed.

In the aftermath of the battle, the rebellion of Postumus had already 
started, so Gallienus had no time to deal with the rest of the usurpers, namely 
Balista and Quietus. He came to an agreement with Odenathus, who had just 
returned from his victorious Persian expedition. Odenathus received the title of
dux Romanorum and besieged the usurpers, who were based at
Emesa
. Eventually, the people of Emesa killed 
Quietus, and Odenathus arrested and executed Balista about November 261.

The revolt of Postumus

After the defeat at Edessa, Gallienus lost control over the provinces of 
Britain, Spain, parts of Germania, and a large part of Gaul when another 
general, Postumus
, declared his own realm (usually known 
today as the
Gallic Empire
). The revolt partially coincided 
with that of
Macrianus
in the East. Gallienus had installed 
his son Saloninus and his guardian,
Silvanus
, in Cologne in 258. Postumus, a 
general in command of troops on the banks of the Rhine, defeated some raiders 
and took possession of their spoils. Instead of returning it to the original 
owners, he preferred to distribute it amongst his soldiers. When news of this 
reached Silvanus, he demanded the spoils be sent to him. Postumus made a show of 
submission, but his soldiers mutinied and proclaimed him Emperor. Under his 
command, they besieged Cologne, and after some weeks the defenders of the city 
opened the gates and handed Saloninus and Silvanus to Postumus, who had them 
killed. The dating of these events is not accurate, but they apparently occurred 
just before the end of 260. Postumus claimed the consulship for himself and one 
of his associates, Honoratianus, but according to D.S. Potter, he never tried to 
unseat Gallienus or invade Italy.

Upon receiving news of the murder of his son, Gallienus began gathering 
forces to face Postumus. The invasion of the Macriani forced him to dispatch 
Aureolus with a large force to oppose them, however, leaving him with 
insufficient troops to battle Postumus. After some initial defeats, the army of 
Aureolus, having defeated the Macriani, rejoined him, and Postumus was expelled. 
Aureolus was entrusted with the pursuit and deliberately allowed Postumus to 
escape and gather new forces. Gallienus returned in 263 or 265 and surrounded 
Postumus in an unnamed Gallic city. During the siege, Gallenus was severely 
wounded by an arrow and had to leave the field. The standstill persisted until 
the death of Gallienus, and the
Gallic Empire
remained independent until 274.

The revolt of 
Aemilianus

In 262, the mint in
Alexandria
started to again issue coins for 
Gallienus, demonstrating that Egypt had returned to his control after 
suppressing the revolt of the Macriani. In spring of 262, the city was wrenched 
by civil unrest as a result of a new revolt. The rebel this time was the prefect 
of Egypt,
Lucius Mussius Aemilianus
, who had already 
given support to the revolt of the Macriani. The correspondence of bishop
Dionysius of Alexandria
provides a colourful 
commentary on the sombre background of invasion, civil war, plague, and famine 
that characterized this age.

Knowing he could not afford to lose control of the vital Egyptian granaries, 
Gallienus sent his general Theodotus against Aemilianus, probably by a naval 
expedition. The decisive battle probably took place near Thebes, and the result 
was a clear defeat of Aemilianus. In the aftermath, Gallienus became Consul 
three more times in 262, 264, and 266.

Herulian invasions, revolt of Aureolus, conspiracy and death

In the years 267–269, Goths and other barbarians invaded the empire in great 
numbers. Sources are extremely confused on the dating of these invasions, the 
participants, and their targets. Modern historians are not even able to discern 
with certainty whether there were two or more of these invasions or a single 
prolonged one. It seems that, at first, a major naval expedition was led by the
Heruli
starting from north of the
Black Sea
and leading in the ravaging of many 
cities of Greece (among them,
Athens
and
Sparta
). Then another, even more numerous army 
of invaders started a second naval invasion of the empire. The Romans defeated 
the barbarians on sea first. Gallienus’ army then won a battle in
Thrace
, and the Emperor pursued the invaders. 
According to some historians, he was the leader of the army who won the great
Battle of Naissus
, while the majority believes 
that the victory must be attributed to his successor,
Claudius II
.

In 268, at some time before or soon after the battle of Naissus, the 
authority of Gallienus was challenged by
Aureolus
, commander of the cavalry stationed in
Mediolanum
(Milan), 
who was supposed to keep an eye on
Postumus
. Instead, he acted as deputy to 
Postumus until the very last days of his revolt, when he seems to have claimed 
the throne for himself. The decisive battle took place at what is now
Pontirolo Nuovo
near Milan; Aureolus was 
clearly defeated and driven back to Milan. Gallienus laid siege to the city but 
was murdered during the siege. There are differing accounts of the murder, but 
the sources agree that most of Gallienus’ officials wanted him dead. According 
to the
Historia Augusta
, an unreliable source compiled 
long after the events it describes, a conspiracy was led by the commander of the 
guard
Aurelius Heraclianus
and Marcianus.

Cecropius, commander of the Dalmatians, spread the word that the forces of 
Aureolus were leaving the city, and Gallienus left his tent without his 
bodyguard, only to be struck down by Cecropius.One version has Claudius selected 
as Emperor by the conspirators, another chosen by Gallienus on his death bed; 
the Historia Augusta was concerned to substantiate the descent of the
Constantinian dynasty
from Claudius, and this 
may explain its accounts, which do not involve Claudius in the murder. The other 
sources (Zosimus 
i.40 and
Zonaras
xii.25) report that the conspiracy was 
organized by Heraclianus, Claudius, and
Aurelian
.

According to Aurelius Victor and Zonaras, on hearing the news that Gallienus 
was dead, the Senate in Rome ordered the execution of his family (including his 
brother Valerianus and son Marinianus) and their supporters, just before 
receiving a message from Claudius to spare their lives and deify his 
predecessor.

 

Arch of Gallienus
in Rome, 262 – 
dedicated to, rather than built by, Gallienus.

Legacy

Gallienus was not treated favorably by ancient historians, partly due to the 
secession of Gaul and
Palmyra
and his inability to win them back. 
According to modern scholar Pat Southern, some historians now see him in a more 
positive light.Gallienus produced some useful reforms. He contributed to 
military history as the first to commission primarily
cavalry
units, the
Comitatenses
, that could be dispatched anywhere 
in the Empire in short order. This reform arguably created a precedent for the 
future emperors
Diocletian
and
Constantine I
.

The biographer
Aurelius Victor
reports that Gallienus forbade
senators
from becoming military commanders. 
This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable
equestrian
commanders rose to prominence. In 
Southern’s view, these reforms and the decline in senatorial influence not only 
helped Aurelian to salvage the Empire, but they also make Gallienus one of the 
emperors most responsible for the creation of the
Dominate
, along with
Septimius Severus
, Diocletian, and Constantine 
I.

By portraying himself with the attributes of the gods on his coinage, 
Gallienus began the final separation of the Emperor from his subjects.A late 
bust of Gallienus (see above) depicts him with a largely blank face, gazing 
heavenward, as seen on the famous stone head of
Constantine I
. One of the last rulers of Rome 
to be theoretically called “Princeps”, or First Citizen, Gallienus’ shrewd 
self-promotion assisted in paving the way for those who would be addressed with 
the words “Dominus et Deus” (Lord and God).

• 
  

  Antoninianus
  issued to celebrate
  LEG II ITAL VII P VII F, “ItalicaLegio 
  II seven 
  times faithful and loyal.”

• 
  

  Antoninianus issued to celebrate LEG III ITAL VI P VI F, 
  “ItalicaLegio 
  III six times 
  faithful and loyal.”

• 
  

  Antoninianus issued to celebrate LEG VII MAC VI P VI F, 
  “MacedonicaLegio 
  VII six 
  times faithful and loyal.”

• 
  

  Antoninianus issued to celebrate LEG VII CLA VI P VI F, 
  “ClaudiaLegio 
  VII six