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Licinius I – Roman Emperor: 308-324 A.D. –
Bronze AE3 17mm (1.54 grams) Struck at the mint of Thessalonica 320 A.D.
Reference: RIC 76 (VII, Thessalonica)
IMPLICINIVSAVG – Helmeted, cuirassed bust right.
VIRTVSEXERCIT Exe: S/F/TS•A – Vexillum reading VOT/XX; seated captive on
either side.
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The vexillum (English pronunciation: plural vexilla
was a flag
-like object used in the
Classical Era
of the
Roman Empire
. The word is itself a diminutive
for the Latin word, velum, sail, which confirms the historical evidence (from
coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally “little sails” i.e. flag-like
standards. In the vexillum the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar
suspended from the staff; this is unlike most modern flags in which the ‘hoist’
of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical staff. The bearer of a
vexillum was known as a
vexillarius
or vexillifer. Just as
in the case of the regimental colors or flag of Western regiments, the vexillum
was a treasured symbol of the military unit that it represented and it was
closely defended in combat
.
Nearly all of the present-day regions of
Italy
preserve the use of vexilla. Many
Christian processional banners are in the vexillum form; usually these banners
are termed labara
(Greek:
λάβαρον) after the standard adopted by the
first Christian Roman emperor
Constantine I
which replaced the imperial eagle
with the “Chi-Rho”
symbol
☧
.
The term Vexillum is also used by the
Legion of Mary
as the term for its standard. A
small version is used on the altar and a full size Vexillum leads processions.
Modern reconstruction of a centurion helmet, first century. Notice
the embossed eyebrows and the circular brass bosses typical of the
Imperial Gallic helmets.
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
The vexillum (English pronunciation: plural vexilla
was a flag
-like object used in the
Classical Era
of the
Roman Empire
. The word is itself a diminutive
for the Latin word, velum, sail, which confirms the historical evidence (from
coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally “little sails” i.e. flag-like
standards. In the vexillum the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar
suspended from the staff; this is unlike most modern flags in which the ‘hoist’
of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical staff. The bearer of a
vexillum was known as a
vexillarius
or vexillifer. Just as
in the case of the regimental colors or flag of Western regiments, the vexillum
was a treasured symbol of the military unit that it represented and it was
closely defended in combat
.
Nearly all of the present-day regions of
Italy
preserve the use of vexilla. Many
Christian processional banners are in the vexillum form; usually these banners
are termed labara
(Greek:
λάβαρον) after the standard adopted by the
first Christian Roman emperor
Constantine I
which replaced the imperial eagle
with the “Chi-Rho”
symbol
☧
.
The term Vexillum is also used by the
Legion of Mary
as the term for its standard. A
small version is used on the altar and a full size Vexillum leads processions.
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