Aurelian probably came from Sirmium, or perhaps Moe-sia, although his roots were obscure. He did become a leading officer during the reign of Emperor Gallienus, and in 268, when the general Aureolus revolted, he assumed that officer’s command of the cavalry corps at Mediolanum (Milan). During the reduction of the city, Aurelian became embroiled with Marcus Claudius (Claudius Gothicus) in an imperial intrigue. Gallienus was murdered, and Claudius became emperor, with Aurelian serving as Master of the Horse.
A series of campaigns against the Goths followed, but in January 270, Claudius died of the plague in Sirmium. His brother Quintillus aspired to the throne, but Aurelian gained support of the army and was elevated to the throne. Quintillus killed himself.
The state of imperial affairs was pitiful when Aure-lian came to power. Barbarians threatened the frontiers while usurpers divided the Roman world. General Tetri-cus was on the Rhine, and Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra, stood with various generals and pretenders in her camp. Aurelian took the only course of action open to him. The empire had to be strengthened and unified. With the nickname Manu ad ferrum, “Hand-on-hilt,” this burly, coarse but gifted soldier aspired to the title Restitu-tor Orbis, the “Restorer of the World.”
He marched first against the Germanic Juthungi, who had invaded the province of Raetia and thus threatened Italy Aurelian forced the barbarians into a retreat and routed them on the Danube. The Juthungi sued for peace, and Aurelian allowed them to return home. Journeying to Rome, Aurelian received the imperial powers begrudgingly. He could not enjoy them in peace for long. An urgent request came from Pannonia, where the Vandals were on the attack. Aurelian crushed them in 270-271 but had to face the Juthungi again in Italy, this time allied with the Alamanni and the Marcomanni. The tribes ambushed Aurelian near Placentia, defeating him and forcing a retreat into northern Italy. However, the Germans were too disorganized to follow up on their victory, and Aurelian used the time to bolster the defenses of the north. He marched against them a second time and exterminated them at Metaurus, Fanum Fortuna, and Ticinum, winning the so-called juthun-
GINE WAR.
Returning to Rome in 271, Aurelian had to pacify a terrified city He halted the rioting and put up new defense walls (the Aurelian Walls). The minters of Rome had also revolted, and Aurelian was forced to trap and execute them and their allies, some of senatorial rank, in a terrible battle on the Caelian Hills. Thrace was reconquered and freed of the Goths, who were pursued over the Danube. But imperial frontiers had proven impossible to defend, and the province of Dacia was abandoned entirely A battle near the Orontes River ended the revolt of Palmyra in the East, as Aurelian defeated General Zab-das and his forces.
In 274, Aurelian marched into Gaul to attack the usurper Tetricus and his Gallic empire. At the battle of Campi Catalaunii, near Chalons, Tetricus abandoned his troops and surrendered. The empire had been pacified, and a triumphant return to Rome ended senatorial resistance to Aurelian’s claims.
The currency of the empire had been reduced in value, causing inflation, and Aurelian reformed the system using the sestertii. Informers were punished, debts cancelled, bread and corn rationed fairly, and religious devotion to the sun god, Sol Invictus, encouraged. Aure-lian attempted by these means to develop a universal deity to unite the pagan world. In the process he started persecution of the Christians again.
With his internal reforms accomplished, Aurelian returned to the East in the summer of 275 with ambitions toward Mesopotamia. A harsh disciplinarian, he caught his secretary, Eros, in a lie during the campaign and promised dire punishment. Eros, expecting to die, went to the Praetorian Guards and said that Aurelian planned to kill them too. A plot sprang up immediately, resulting in the assassination of Aurelian a short time later.
Ten around 360 C. E. and covering the period from the reign of Tiberius to Constantius II
Aurelius Victor was, by his own admission, a man of humble African origin. Following the publication of his book, Caesars, he was honored by Julian with the post of governor of Pannonia Secundae in 361 and was later the Prefect of the City of Rome (c. 389). A pagan, Victor wrote in the style of Sallust. The Caesars was a large collection of stories but was only the most important of several histories. A second imperial annal was an Epitome to the time of Theodosius I. Although similarities exist between the two, the apparent differences in sources rendered them both unique. A record of the earliest period of Rome was found in Origo gentis romanae (Origin of the Roman nation) and the era of the Kings and the Republic was treated in his De viris illustribus (On famous men), using as its sources Hyginus and Livy.
Aureolus, Manius Acilius (d. 268 c. e.) A cavalry commander under Gallienus (253-268 c. e.)
From Dacia, Aureolus came to the attention of the emperor sometime during 257, when Gallienus was searching for a commander for his new central cavalry corps. Aureolus was given the post and a force of horsemen stationed in Mediolanum (Milan) for use as a flying detachment for the frontiers. In 258, the baptism of fire for this unit came in the campaigns against the Alamanni, who threatened Italy itself, invading through Raetia. Just outside of Mediolanum the barbarians were routed.
In 260, two usurpers were crushed, Ingenius in Pan-nonia and then Regalianus in upper Pannonia. Aureolus now received considerable liberty in his command, for a subordinate, Domitianus, was dispatched to crush the family of the quartermaster in Thrace, Macrianus, who were in revolt. In 268, while Gallienus was away on campaign, Aureolus rebelled while in charge of the Italian defenses. Gallienus marched back to face him, laid siege to Mediolanum, but then was assassinated. Aureolus surrendered to one of the assassins, M. Aurelius Claudius, but was executed immediately.
Aureus Imperial coin of Rome; its standard issue gold currency from the time of Julius Caesar to the reign of Constantine the Great. Caesar introduced the coin around 49 B. C.E., and it developed a value approximately equal to 25 denarii and 100 sestertii. After Constantine the Great, the aureus declined in worth as a gold piece and was replaced by the solidus.
Aurelius, Marcus See marcus aurelius.
Aurelius Victor (fl. late fourth century c. e.) Historian whose main work was a brief account of the emperors, writ-
Ausonius, Decimus Magnus (fl. fourth century c. e.) Poet, consul and governor of Gaul
Ausonius grew up in Burdigala (Bordeaux), receiving his education in rhetoric and grammar while studying in his native area and Tolosa (Toulouse). His teaching became renowned, and Emperor Valentinian I sought his aid in tutoring his son and heir, Gratian. Ausonius became a powerful adviser, and in 375, when Gratian succeeded to the throne, he was given a Praetorian prefectship with control of Gaul, followed in 379 by a consulship. Ausonius remained a fixture at court but was eventually challenged for imperial attention by St. Ambrose. With Gratian’s murder in 383, Ausonius retired to Bordeaux and to his poetry and correspondence. He was a prolific poet and writer. There were poems, often collected (Ephemeris and Parentalia) or individual (Mosella). His other notable works included the Ordo Nobilium Urbium, a collection of articles on great cities.
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