Licinius I – Roman Emperor: 308-324 A.D. –
Bronze Follis 23mm (6.01 grams) Thessalonica mint 309-310 A.D.
Reference: RIC 30b (VI, Thessalonica)
VALLICINIVSPFAVG – Laureate head right.
GENIOAVGVSTI Exe: */B/.SM•TS – Genius standing left, pouring out patera and
holding cornucopia.
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Licinius I (Latin:
Gaius Valerius Licinianus Licinius Augustusc.
263 – 325), was
Roman Emperor
from 308 to 324. For the majority
of his reign he was the colleague and rival of
Constantine I
, with whom he co-authored the
Edict of Milan
that granted official toleration
to Christians in the Roman Empire. He was finally defeated at the
Battle of Chrysopolis
, before being executed on
the orders of Constantine I.
Sculptural portraits of Licinius (left) and his rival
Constantine I
(right).
Early reign
Coin of Licinius I.
Born to a Dacian
peasant family in
Moesia
Superior, Licinius accompanied his close
childhood friend, the future emperor
Galerius
, on the Persian expedition in 298. He
was trusted enough by Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to
Maxentius
in
Italy
to attempt to reach some agreement about
his illegitimate status. Galerius then trusted the eastern provinces to Licinius
when he went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death of
Flavius Valerius Severus
.
Upon his return to the east Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of
Augustus in the West
on November 11, 308. He
received as his immediate command the provinces of
Illyricum
,
Thrace
and
Pannonia
. In 310 he took command of the war
against the Sarmatians
, inflicting a severe defeat on them
and emerging victorious. On the death of Galerius in May 311, Licinius entered
into an agreement with
Maximinus II
(Daia) to share the eastern
provinces between them. By this point, not only was Licinius the official
Augustus of the west, but he also possessed part of the eastern provinces as
well, as the
Hellespont
and the
Bosporus
became the dividing line, with
Licinius taking the European provinces and Maximinus taking the Asian.
An alliance between Maximinus and Maxentius forced the two remaining emperors
to enter into a formal agreement with each other. So in March 313 Licinius
married
Flavia Julia Constantia
, half-sister of
Constantine I
, at Mediolanum (now
Milan
); they had a son,
Licinius the Younger
, in 315. Their marriage
was the occasion for the jointly-issued “Edict
of Milan” that reissued Galerius’ previous edict allowing
Christianity
to be professed in the Empire,
with additional dispositions that restored confiscated properties to Christian
congregations and exempted Christian clergy from municipal civic duties.[8]
The redaction of the edict as reproduced by
Lactantius
– who follows the text affixed by
Licinius in Nicomedia
on June 14 313, after Maximinus’
defeat – uses a neutral language, expressing a will to propitiate “any Divinity
whatsoever in the seat of the heavens”.
Coin of Licinius
Daia in the meantime decided to attack Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000
men, he reached Bithynia
, although harsh weather he encountered
along the way had gravely weakened his army. In April 313, he crossed the
Bosporus
and went to
Byzantium
, which was held by Licinius’ troops.
Undeterred, he took the town after an eleven-day siege. He moved to Heraclea,
which he captured after a short siege, before moving his forces to the first
posting station. With a much smaller body of men, possibly around 30,000,[10]
Licinius arrived at
Adrianople
while Daia was still besieging
Heraclea
. Before the decisive engagement,
Licinius allegedly had a vision in which an angel recited him a generic prayer
that could be adopted by all cults and which Licinius then repeated to his
soldiers.[11]
On 30 April 313, the two armies clashed at the
Battle of Tzirallum
, and in the ensuing battle
Daia’s forces were crushed. Ridding himself of the imperial purple and dressing
like a slave, Daia fled to
Nicomedia
. Believing he still had a chance to
come out victorious, Daia attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at the
Cilician Gates
by establishing fortifications
there. Unfortunately for Daia, Licinius’ army succeeded in breaking through,
forcing Daia to retreat to
Tarsus
where Licinius continued to press him on
land and sea. The war between them only ended with Daia’s death in August 313.
Given that Constantine had already crushed his rival Maxentius in 312, the
two men decided to divide the Roman world between them. As a result of this
settlement, Licinius became sole Augustus in the East, while his brother-in-law,
Constantine, was supreme in the West. Licinius immediately rushed to the east to
deal with another threat, this time from the Persian
Sassanids
.
Conflict with
Constantine I
In 314, a civil war erupted between Licinius and Constantine, in which
Constantine used the pretext that Licinius was harbouring Senecio, whom
Constantine accused of plotting to overthrow him. Constantine prevailed at the
Battle of Cibalae
in
Pannonia
(October 8, 314).[6]
Although the situation was temporarily settled, with both men sharing the
consulship
in 315, it was but a lull in the
storm. The next year a new war erupted, when Licinius named
Valerius Valens
co-emperor, only for Licinius
to suffer a humiliating defeat on the plain of
Mardia
(also known as
Campus Ardiensis
) in
Thrace
. The emperors were reconciled after
these two battles and Licinius had his co-emperor Valens killed.
Over the next ten years, the two imperial colleagues maintained an uneasy
truce. Licinius kept himself busy with a campaign against the Sarmatians in 318,
but temperatures rose again in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who
had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube into what was
technically Licinius’s territory. When he repeated this with another invasion,
this time by the Goths
who were pillaging
Thrace
, Licinius complained that Constantine
had broken the treaty between them.
Constantine wasted no time going on the offensive. Licinius’s fleet of 350
ships was defeated by Constantine I’s fleet in 323. Then in 324, Constantine,
tempted by the “advanced age and unpopular vices” of his colleague, again
declared war against him, and, having defeated his army of 170,000 men at the
Battle of Adrianople
(July 3, 324), succeeded
in shutting him up within the walls of
Byzantium
.[6]
The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius in the
Battle of the Hellespont
by
Crispus
, Constantine’s eldest son and
Caesar
, compelled his withdrawal to
Bithynia
, where a last stand was made; the
Battle of Chrysopolis
, near
Chalcedon
(September 18), resulted in Licinius’
final submission. While Licinius’ co-emperor
Sextus Martinianus
was killed, Licinius himself
was spared due to the pleas of his wife, Constantine’s sister, and interned at
Thessalonica
. The next year, Constantine had
him hanged, accusing him of conspiring to raise troops among the barbarians.
Character and legacy
Constantine made every effort to blacken the reputation of his imperial
colleague. To this end, stories began circulating about Licinius’s cruelty. It
was said that he had put to death Severianus, the son of the emperor Severus, as
well as Candidianus, the son of Galerius. To this was added the execution of the
wife and daughter of the Emperor
Diocletian
, who had fled from the court of
Licinius before being discovered at
Thessalonica
. Much of this can be considered
imperial propaganda on the part of Constantine.
In addition, as part of Constantine’s attempts to decrease Licinius’s
popularity, he actively portrayed his brother-in-law as a pagan supporter. This
was not the case; contemporary evidence tends to suggest that he was at least a
committed supporter of Christians. He co-authored the Edict of Milan which ended
the
Great Persecution
, and re-affirmed the rights
of Christians in his half of the empire. He also added the Christian symbol to
his armies, and attempted to regulate the affairs of the Church hierarchy just
as Constantine and his successors were to do. His wife was a devout Christian.
It is even a possibility that he converted. However,
Eusebius of Caesarea
, writing under the rule of
Constantine, charges him with expelling Christians from the Palace and ordering
military sacrifice, as well as interfering with the Church’s internal procedures
and organization. According to Eusebius, this turned what appeared to be a
committed Christian into a man who feigned sympathy for the sect but who
eventually exposed his true bloodthirsty pagan nature, only to be stopped by the
virtuous Constantine.
Finally, on Licinius’s death, his memory was branded with infamy; his statues
were thrown down; and by edict, all his laws and judicial proceedings during his
reign were abolished
Head of a genius worshipped by Roman soldiers (found at
Vindobona
, 2nd century CE)
In
ancient Roman religion
, the genius was
the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every
individual person, place, or thing.
Winged genius facing a woman with a tambourine and mirror, from
southern Italy, about 320 BC.
Nature of the genius
The rational powers and abilities of every human being were attributed to
their soul, which was a genius. Each individual place had a genius
(genius
loci) and so did powerful objects, such as volcanoes. The concept
extended to some specifics: the genius of the theatre, of vineyards, and of
festivals, which made performances successful, grapes grow, and celebrations
succeed, respectively. It was extremely important in the Roman mind to
propitiate the appropriate genii for the major undertakings and events of their
lives.
Specific genii
Bronze genius depicted as
pater familias
(1st century CE)
Although the term genius might apply to any divinity whatsoever, most
of the higher-level and state genii had their own well-established names.
Genius applied most often to individual places or people not generally
known; that is, to the smallest units of society and settlements, families and
their homes. Houses, doors, gates, streets, districts, tribes, each one had its
own genius.The supreme hierarchy of the Roman gods, like that of the
Greeks, was modelled after a human family. It featured a father,
Jupiter
(“father god”), who, in a
patriarchal society
was also the supreme divine
unity, and a mother,
Juno
, queen of the gods. These supreme
unities were subdivided into genii for each individual family; hence, the
genius of each female, representing the female domestic reproductive
power, was a Juno. The male function was a Jupiter.
The juno was worshipped under many titles:
- Iugalis, “of marriage”
- Matronalis, “of married women”
- Pronuba, “of brides”
- Virginalis, “of virginity”
Genii were often viewed as protective spirits, as one would propitiate
them for protection. For example, to protect infants one propitiated a number of
deities concerned with birth and childrearing
:
Cuba (“lying down to sleep”), Cunina (“of the cradle”) and
Rumina (“of breast-feeding”). Certainly, if those genii did not
perform their proper function well, the infant would be in danger.
Hundreds of lararia, or family shrines, have been discovered at
Pompeii
, typically off the
atrium
, kitchen or garden, where the smoke
of burnt offerings could vent through the opening in the roof. A lararium
was distinct from the penus (“within”), another shrine where the
penates
, gods associated with the storerooms,
was located. Each lararium features a panel fresco containing the same
theme: two peripheral figures (Lares)
attend on a central figure (family genius) or two figures (genius
and Juno) who may or may not be at an altar. In the foreground is one or
two serpents crawling toward the genius through a meadow motif.
Campania
and
Calabria
preserved an ancient practice of
keeping a propitious house snake, here linked with the genius. In
another, unrelated fresco (House
of the Centenary) the snake-in-meadow appears below a depiction of
Mount Vesuvius
and is labelled Agathodaimon,
“good
daimon
“, where daimon must be regarded
as the Greek equivalent of genius.
History of the concept
Origin
Etymologically
genius
(“household guardian spirit”) has
the same derivation as nature from
gēns
(“tribe”, “people”) from the
Indo-European
root *gen-, “produce.”
It is the indwelling nature of an object or class of objects or
events that act with a perceived or hypothesized unity. Philosophically the
Romans did not find the paradox of the one being many confusing; like all other
prodigies they attributed it to the inexplicable mystery of divinity. Multiple
events could therefore be attributed to the same and different divinities and a
person could be the same as and different from his genius. They were not
distinct, as the later guardian angels, and yet the Genius Augusti was
not exactly the same as Augustus either. As a natural outcome of these
beliefs, the pleasantness of a place, the strength of an oath, an ability of a
person, were regarded as intrinsic to the object, and yet were all attributable
to genius; hence all of the modern meanings of the word. This point of
view is not attributable to any one civilization; its roots are lost in
prehistory. The Etruscans had such beliefs at the beginning of history, but then
so did the Greeks, the native Italics and many other peoples in the near and
middle east.
Genii under the
monarchy
No literature of the monarchy has survived, but later authors in recounting
its legends mention the genius. For example, under
Servius Tullius
the triplets
Horatii
of Rome fought the triplets Curiatii of
Alba Longa
for the decision of the war that had
arisen between the two communities. Horatius was left standing but his sister,
who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, began to keen, breast-beat and
berate Horatius. He executed her, was tried for murder, was acquitted by the
Roman people but the king made him expiate the Juno of his sister and the
Genius Curiatii, a family genius.
Republican genii
The genius appears explicitly in Roman literature relatively late as
early as Plautus
, where one character in the play,
Captivi
, jests that the father of another
is so avaricious that he uses cheap Samian ware in sacrifices to his own
genius, so as not to tempt the genius to steal it.In this passage,
the genius is not identical to the person, as to propitiate oneself would
be absurd, and yet the genius also has the avarice of the person; that
is, the same character, the implication being, like person, like genius.
Implied geniuses date to much earlier; for example, when
Horatius Cocles
defends the
Pons Sublicius
against an Etruscan crossing at
the beginning of the
Roman Republic
, after the bridge is cut down he
prays to the Tiber to bear him up as he swims across: Tiberine pater te,
sancte, precor …, “Holy father Tiber, I pray to you ….” The Tiber so
addressed is a genius. Although the word is not used here, in later
literature it is identified as one.
Horace
describes the genius as “the companion which controls the natal star; the god of
human nature, in that he is mortal for each person, with a changing expression,
white or black”.
Imperial genii
Octavius Caesar
on return to Rome after the
final victory of the
Roman Civil War
at the
Battle of Actium
appeared to the Senate to be a
man of great power and success, clearly a mark of divinity. In recognition of
the prodigy they voted that all banquets should include a libation to his
genius. In concession to this sentiment he chose the name
Augustus
, capturing the numinous meaning of
English “august.” This line of thought was probably behind the later vote in 30
BC that he was divine, as the household cult of the Genius Augusti dates
from that time. It was propitiated at every meal along with the other household
numina.The vote began the tradition of the
divine emperors
; however, the divinity went
with the office and not the man. The Roman emperors gave ample evidence that
they personally were neither immortal nor divine.
Inscription on votive altar to the genius of
Legio VII Gemina
by L. Attius Macro
(CIL
II 5083)
If the genius
of the
imperator
, or commander of all troops, was
to be propitiated, so was that of all the units under his command. The
provincial troops expanded the idea of the genii of state; for example,
from Roman Britain have been found altars to the genii of Roma,
Roman aeterna, Britannia, and to every
legion
,
cohors
,
ala
and
centuria
in Britain, as well as to the
praetorium
of every
castra
and even to the
vexillae
. Inscriptional dedications to
genius were not confined to the military. From
Gallia Cisalpina
under the empire are numerous
dedications to the genii of persons of authority and respect; in addition
to the emperor’s genius principis, were the geniuses of patrons of
freedmen, owners of slaves, patrons of guilds, philanthropists, officials,
villages, other divinities, relatives and friends. Sometimes the dedication is
combined with other words, such as “to the genius and honor” or in the case of
couples, “to the genius and Juno.”
Surviving from the time of the empire hundreds of dedicatory, votive and
sepulchral inscriptions ranging over the entire territory testify to a floruit
of genius worship as an official cult. Stock phrases were abbreviated:
GPR, genio populi Romani (“to the genius of the Roman people”); GHL,
genio huius loci (“to the genius of this place”); GDN, genio domini
nostri (“to the genius of our master”), and so on. In 392 AD with the final
victory of Christianity
Theodosius I
declared the worship of the Genii,
Lares
and
Penates
to be treason, ending their official
terms. The concept, however, continued in representation and speech under
different names or with accepted modifications.
Roman iconography
Coins
The genius of a corporate social body is often a
cameo
theme on ancient coins: a
denarius
from Spain, 76–75 BC, featuring a bust
of the GPR (Genius Populi Romani, “Genius of the Roman People”) on
the
obverse
; an
aureus
of
Siscia
in
Croatia
, 270–275 AD, featuring a standing image
of the GENIUS ILLVR (Genius Exercitus Illyriciani, “Genius of the
Illyrian Army”) on the reverse; an
aureus
of Rome, 134–138 AD, with an image of a
youth holding a cornucopia and patera (sacrificial dish) and the inscription
GENIOPR, genio populi Romani, “to the genius of the Roman people,” on the
reverse.
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Scene from Lararium, House of Iulius Polybius, Pompeii
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Agathodaimon
(“good
divinity”), genius of the soil around Vesuvius
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Unknown Roman genius near Pompeii, 1st century BC
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Modern-era
representations
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Genius of love, Meister des Rosenromans, 1420-1430
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Genius of victory,
Michelangelo
(1475-1564
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Genius of
Palermo
, Ignazio Marabitti,
c. 1778
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Genius of liberty,
Augustin Dumont
, 1801-1884
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Genius of Alexander, Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun,
1814
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Genius of war, Arturo Melida y Alinara (1849-1902)
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