Coin (antoninianus) of Aurelian

Lucius Domitius Aurelianus (September 9, 214–275), known in English as Aurelian, Roman Emperor (270–275), was the second of several highly successful "soldier-emperors" who helped the Roman Empire regain its power during the latter part of the third century and the beginning of the fourth. During his reign, the Empire was reunited in its entirety, following 15 years of rebellion, the loss of two-thirds of its territory to usurpers and devastating barbarian invasions. His success brought an end to the Empire's Crisis of the Third Century.
His full name, with titles, was Caesar Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Augustus, Germanicus Maximus, Gothicus Maximus, Parthicus Maximus, Restitutor Orientis, Restitutor Orbis. Aurelian (270-275) silvered antoninianus Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG; radiate bust of Aurelian right Reverse: ORIENS AVG; Sol holding globe, standing over captives File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Aurelian (270-275) silvered antoninianus Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG; radiate bust of Aurelian right Reverse: ORIENS AVG; Sol holding globe, standing over captives File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... Events The kingdom of Osroene becomes a province of the Roman Empire. ... Events Eutychian elected pope (probable date) September 25 - Marcus Claudius Tacitus appointed emperor by the senate Births Eusebius of Caesarea (approximate date) Saint George, soldier of the Roman Empire and later Christian martyr (or 280, approximate date). ... Events Quintillus briefly holds power over the Roman Empire, and is succeeded by Aurelian Vandals and Sarmatians driven out of Roman territory Romans leave Utrecht after regular invasions of Germanic people. ... Events Eutychian elected pope (probable date) September 25 - Marcus Claudius Tacitus appointed emperor by the senate Births Eusebius of Caesarea (approximate date) Saint George, soldier of the Roman Empire and later Christian martyr (or 280, approximate date). ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The Crisis of the Third Century (also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis ) is a commonly applied name for the crumbling and near collapse of the Roman Empire between 235 and 284 caused by the three simultaneous crises of external invasion, internal civil war and economic collapse. ...

Rise to power

Born to an obscure provincial family in Sirmium (city in Pannonia), his career began during the reign of emperor Valerian, when he earned a consulship. Later on, he served as a general in several wars, and his success ultimately made him the right-hand man and cavalry commander of the army of Emperor Gallienus. In 268, his cavalry routed the powerful cavalry force of the Goths at the battle of Naissus and broke the back of the most fearsome invasion of Roman territory since Hannibal. Sremska Mitrovica (Сремска Митровица) is a city located in the Vojvodina province of Serbia and Montenegro at 44. ... Position of the Roman province of Pannonia Pannonia is an ancient country bounded north and east by the Danube, conterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. ... Publius Licinius Valerianus (Latin: IMPERATOR CAESAR PVBLIVS LICINIVS VALERIANVS · PIVS FELIX · INVICTVS AVGVSTVS)¹ (ca. ... Gallienus depicted on a lead seal. ... Events The Alamanni invade Italy. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Battle of Naissus Conflict Roman-Gothic war Date September 268 Place Nis, Serbia and Montenegro Result Roman victory The Battle of Naissus took place in September of 268 between the armies of the Goths and forces of the Roman Empire, led by Gallienus as emperor and the future Emperor Aurelian... Hannibals feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: a fresco detail, ca 1510, Capitoline Museum, Rome Hannibal (247 BC – 182 BC) was a military commander of ancient Carthage, best known for his achievements in the Second Punic War in marching an army from Spain...

Two years later, when Claudius lay on his death-bed, he supposedly named Aurelian as his successor. Although Claudius' brother Quintillus briefly seized power, Aurelian had the support of the legions and soon gained control. With his base of power secure, he now turned his attention to Rome's greatest problem — recovering the vast territories lost over the previous two decades. Quintillus picture on a coin. ... Legion can refer to several encylopedic topics, including: In military history, an organization or military unit: A Roman legion. ...

Against the Germans

Late in 270, Aurelian campaigned in northern Italy against the Vandals and Sarmatians, expelling them from Roman territory and earning the title of Germanicus Maximus. The next year, he finished what Claudius had started, hurling the last remaining Goths back over the Danube River. For this, he received the title Gothicus Maximus. However, he was forced to abandon the province of Dacia, on the exposed north bank of the Danube, as too difficult and expensive to defend. He reorganised a new province of Dacia south of Danube, inside the former Moesia. Events Quintillus briefly holds power over the Roman Empire, and is succeeded by Aurelian Vandals and Sarmatians driven out of Roman territory Romans leave Utrecht after regular invasions of Germanic people. ... The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire, and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. ... Sarmatian Cataphract from Tanais: compare Pausanias description of armor (text below) Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae (the second form is mostly used by the earlier Greek writers, the other by the later Greeks and the Romans) were a people whom Herodotus (4. ... Length 2,888 km Elevation of the source 1,078 m Average discharge 30 km before Passau: 580 m³/s Vienna: 1,900 m³/s Budapest: 2,350 m³/s just before Delta: 6,500 m³/s Area watershed 817,000 km² Origin Black Forest (Schwarzwald-Baar, Baden- Württemberg, Germany... Dacia, in ancient geography the land of the Daci or Getae, was a large district of Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathians, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisa (Tisza river, in Hungary), on the east by the Tyras (Dniester or Nistru... In ancient geography, Moesia was a district inhabited by a Thracian people. ...

The menace of the German people was, however, perceived as high by the Romans, and Aurelian was forced to build a wall around Rome. The Aurelian Walls where built between 270 and 273, by Roman Emperor Aurelian to defend the city of Rome, capital of the Roman Empire by barbarian attacks. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...

Against the Palmyrene Empire

Aurelian, personification of Sol, defeats the Palmyrene Empire, and becomes ORIENS AVG, emperor of the East.

In 272, he turned his attention to the lost eastern provinces of the empire, the so-called "Palmyrene Empire" ruled by Queen Zenobia from the city of Palmyra. Zenobia had carved out her own empire, encompassing Syria, Palestine, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor. Image File history File links Aurelian Silvered Æ Antoninianus. ... Image File history File links Aurelian Silvered Æ Antoninianus. ... This article is about Greek mythology. ... Events Roman emperor Aurelian reconquers the kingdom of Palmyra (Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor), forcing queen Zenobia to flee to Parthia. ... Zenobia (or Xenobia) is the name commonly used for the daughter of (= bat or bath) Zabaai ben Selim. ... Palmyra (now Tadmor,تدمر, Syria) was an ancient city in central Syria, located on an oasis about 210 km (130 mi) northeast of Damascus. ... Palestine (Latin: Syria Palæstina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina, ארץ־ישראל Eretz Yisrael; Arabic: فلسطين Filasá¹­Ä«n) is the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Jordan River, plus various adjoining lands to the east. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. ...

Asia Minor was recovered easily; every city but Byzantium and Tyana surrendered to him with little resistance. The fall of Tyana lent itself to a legend; Aurelian to that point had destroyed every city that resisted him, but he spared Tyana after having a vision of the great philosopher Apollonius of Tyana, whom he respected greatly, in a dream. Apollonius implored him, stating: "Aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from the blood of the innocent! Aurelian, if you will conquer, be merciful!" Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. ... Tyana was an ancient city of Anatolia, in modern south-eastern Turkey. ... Apollonius of Tyana ( 2- 98) was a philosopher and mathematician of Greek origin. ...

Whatever the reason, Aurelian spared Tyana. It paid off; many more cities submitted to him upon seeing that the emperor would not exact revenge upon them. Within six months, his armies stood at the gates of Palmyra, which surrendered when Zenobia tried to flee to Parthia. The "Palmyrene Empire" was no more. After a brief clash with the Parthians and another in Egypt, he was forced to return to Palmyra in 273 when that city rebelled once more. This time, Aurelian allowed his soldiers to sack the city, and Palmyra never recovered from this. More honors came his way; he was now known as Parthicus Maximus and Restitutor Orientis (Restorer of the East). Parthian Empire at its greatest extent The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the East and it limited... Events Under the command of Emperor Aurelian, the Roman Army sacks the city of Palmyra. ...

Against the Gallic Empire

In 274, the victorious emperor turned his attention to the west, and the "Gallic Empire" which had already been reduced in size by Claudius II. Aurelian won this campaign largely through diplomacy; the "Gallic Emperor" Tetricus II was willing to abandon his throne and allow Gaul and Britain to return to the empire, but could not openly submit to Aurelian. Instead, the two seem to have conspired so that when the armies met at Châlons-en-Champagne that fall, Tetricus simply deserted to the Roman camp and Aurelian easily defeated the Gallic army facing him. Tetricus was rewarded for his part in the conspiracy with a high-ranking position in Italy itself. Events The Gallic Empire (Gaul and Britain) is reconquered by Roman Emperor Aurelian With the conquests of the Palmyran Empire (272) and the Gallic Empire, the Roman Empire is united again Births Deaths Pope Felix I Cao Fang, emperor of the Kingdom of Wei Categories: 274 ... The Gallic Empire (in Latin, imperium Galliarum) is the modern name for the independent realm that lived a brief existence during the Roman Empires Crisis of the Third Century, from 259 to 274. ... Caius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was emperor of the Gallic Empire from 270/271 to 273, following the murder of Victorinus. ... Châlons-en-Champagne is a city and commune in France. ...

Aurelian returned to Rome and won his last honorific from the Senate — Restitutor Orbis, Restorer of the World. In four years, he had secured the frontiers of the empire and reunified it, effectively giving the empire a new lease on life that lasted 200 years.

Death

In the fall of 275, Aurelian was in Asia Minor preparing another campaign against the Parthians, who were stirring up trouble on the frontier, when he met his end. As an administrator, Aurelian had been very strict and handed out severe punishments to corrupt officials or soldiers. A secretary of Aurelian's had told a lie on a minor issues. Scared of what the emporer might do, he told high ranking officials that the emperor wanted their life. The high-ranking soldiers in the Praetorian Guard, fearing punishment from the Emperor, murdered him in September of 275. Events Eutychian elected pope (probable date) September 25 - Marcus Claudius Tacitus appointed emperor by the senate Births Eusebius of Caesarea (approximate date) Saint George, soldier of the Roman Empire and later Christian martyr (or 280, approximate date). ... The Praetorian Guard (sometimes Prætorian Guard) (in Latin: praetoriani) comprised a special force of bodyguards used by Roman emperors. ...

Aurelian's enemies in the Senate briefly succeeded in passing damnatio memoriae on the emperor, but this was reversed before the end of the year and Aurelian, like his predecessor Claudius, was deified. Damnatio memoriae (Latin for damnation of memory, in the sense of removed from the remembrance) was a form of dishonor which could be passed by the Roman Senate upon traitors or others who brought discredit to the Roman Empire. ...

Although strongly devoted to the Roman paganism, Aurelian, like most of the soldier-emperors, had little interest in religious matters and generally left Christianity to thrive. Within a European Christian context, paganism is a catch-all term which has come to connote a broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices (see Cult (religion)) of a natural religion (as opposed to a revealed religion of a text), which are usually, but not necessarily, characterized... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as portrayed in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ...

See also: Roman Empire The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ...

Quintillus picture on a coin. ... This is a list of Roman Emperors with the dates they controlled the Roman Empire. ... Marcus Claudius Tacitus, (c. ...