It would be hard to overemphasize the importance of the division of the empire in the 260s for the course of later Roman dynastic history. While it was by no means obvious that the regime that would succeed in reuniting the disparate parts of the empire would emerge from the staff of Gallienus, the fact of the matter was that it did. In early 268 there was every reason to think that Gallienus’ empire was on the verge of collapse. Aureolus, his most successful general, based at Milan, suddenly declared his allegiance to Postumus. In the summer of the same year, large raiding parties from north of the Danube once again began to penetrate the frontiers of the empire. In the early 250s they had discovered that Rome’s naval defenses were weak; large fleets had ravaged the coast of Asia Minor in 252 and 258. A new fleet was assembled in the course of268, while, at the same time, other forces crossed the Danube (Potter 2004: 263-4). In the east, Odaenathus was murdered during the spring of 268, and his widow, Zenobia, claimed his position for her son, Vaballathus (the elder son of Odaenathus who had shared his title had either predeceased his father or been killed with him) (Potter 2004: 263).
It was then that fortune intervened, albeit briefly, on the side of Gallienus. Postumus was murdered at Cologne, and the imperium Galliarum plunged into chaos for the rest of the year (Drinkwater 1987: 33-4; Konig 1981: 132-40). Freed from the threat of an invasion from the north, and abandoning the Danubian provinces to their fate, Gallienus concentrated his efforts on Aureolus, only to fall victim himself to a military conspiracy in August. The general staff arrogated to itself the power to make an emperor, arranging the proclamation of Marcus Aurelius Claudius. Claudius defeated Aureolus, and, in the course of the next year, succeeded in defeating the raiders in the Balkans at a battle fought at Naissus, the modern city of Nis in Serbia. He was less successful in his other endeavors, failing to support the city of Autun, which had revolted against Victorinus, who emerged as the new Gallic emperor by the end of 268, and provoking war with Zenobia. The Palmyrenes defeated an army sent from the west, while also invading the provinces of Arabia and Egypt. Despite the open conflict, the Palmyrenes still seem to have hoped for an ultimate resolution to their dispute with the central government that would be peaceful. Papyri reveal that senior officials of Claudius retained their jobs, a continuation of Palmyrene reliance upon experienced administrators for provincial administration (Potter 2004: 270-1). Hopes for peace may have been enhanced by the fact that Claudius died on campaign in the Balkans very shortly after the Palmyrene offensive, and his successor, Aurelian, was beset by dangerous invasions of Italy as well as a serious revolt in Rome itself.
When Claudius died in the course of270, the general staff ignored his evident wish to be succeeded by his brother, Quintillus, and selected Marcus Aurelius Aurelianus as its emperor. Surviving serious threats to his own security in the course of the 270, Aurelianus, or Aurelian as he is commonly known, set about forging an alliance between the Balkan generals who dominated the high command and the traditional Italian aristocracy. There is a story, reported by the late fourth-century historian, Aurelius Victor, that Gallienus had issued an edict banning senators from military commands (Christol 1986: 45-54). The story is false, but it does reflect an important development. Men of equestrian background had been replacing senators in many major military and provincial commands, had dominated the government in the 240s, and, as the careers of Macrinus, Maximinus, and Philip show, had been able to take the throne themselves. What the story about the so-called reform of Gallienus reflects is that after Gallienus, only one man rose from the Senate to the palace. That men from the Balkans dominated military commands in the 270s is simply a result of the fact that the bulk of the army under Gallienus was from the Balkans, and these men carried through important reforms in the structure of the army: the creation of a central cavalry reserve (initially commanded by Aureolus), and the evident regularization of staff positions reflected in the newly significant title of protector (Christol 1977: 393-404). The cavalry corps may have been joined by some infantry formations to form the comitatus, which would accompany the emperor on campaign. The creation of the comitatus is important because it represents a clean break with the old legionary organization of the army, and, while units called legions would remain, they would be much reduced in size. This reform would seem to have made it easier to integrate different tactical units on the battlefield. The army of the later third and early fourth centuries would be a more effective force than the army of the age of Severus.
After ensuring the security of Italy in 270, Aurelian set about the reunification of the empire, bringing first Palmyra, and then the imperium Galliarum under his control. Despite the later tradition that he was a harsh man, given to acts of extreme brutality, it appears that Aurelian was in fact a remarkably diplomatic and mild conqueror. Officials who had served under the Palmyrenes in Egypt are known to have retained their positions, which may explain why the initial reconquest of that province appears to have passed without bloodshed (P. Oxy. 2612). Elsewhere we know of at least one official of the imperium Galliarum who continued his career, while the last emperor of that regime, Tetricus, who surrendered, also received an official position (Konig 1981: 181). Zenobia of Palmyra, who appears still to have been a young woman at the time that she was captured, was taken to Rome where she remarried (Milik 1972: 320). Her descendants are attested at Rome in the late fourth century. A contemporary historian, Dexippus, who wrote a history of the wars with the northern tribes (as well as at least two other historical works), appears as well to have stressed Aurelian’s diplomatic abilities (FGrH 100 F. 6-7). One other notable feature of the reconquest was the decision, early on, to abandon the province of Dacia as indefensible (Tausend 1999: 126-7).
Aurelian failed, however, to address many structural problems, and his decision in 274 to reform the imperial silver coinage was a disaster (Howgego 1995: 126; Harl 1996: 145-8). Despite the well documented decline in the silver content of the imperial coinage throughout the third century, the notional relationship of the silver and gold coinage had been preserved, preventing significant inflation. Aurelian’s decision to issue a new style of coinage, changing the relationship, caused immediate and rampant inflation. The coinage reform was followed - though we have no evidence that there was a connection - by the formation of a conspiracy against Aurelian in the general staff. He was murdered early in 275 near Perinthus.
Aurelian had made no dynastic provision, and it appears that the general staff was deeply divided over the question of both the succession and the fate of the conspirators, who were allowed to escape. After some delay (though not the six-month interregnum created by later historians) an elderly senator named Marcus Aurelius Tacitus was proclaimed emperor (Syme 1971a: 243). Unable to heal the rifts in the general staff, he was assassinated within a year by the same group that was responsible for the assassination of Aurelian. After a brief civil war in which Tacitus’ brother, Florian, was incapable of holding the throne against the challenge of Marcus Aurelius Probus, some order was restored when Probus took stern action against the party of the assassins - it is said that he summoned them to a banquet and had them killed (Zos. 1.65.1-2; Sauer 1998).
Although he had reunited the empire, Aurelian had not found a way to ensure the loyalty of either provincial officials or provincial aristocracies to the regime; these problems may have been exacerbated by the chaos that followed his death. The reign of Probus (276-82) is largely a tale of revolts by officials (there were at least four uprisings prior to the successful revolt led by the praetorian prefect, Carus, which ended Probus’ reign) and major unrest in the provinces. Despite his ability to suppress these revolts, Probus failed to respond proactively to the root causes of unrest. This would be the accomplishment of yet another man from the Danubian provinces, the emperor Diocletian, who took power from Carus’ son, Carinus, in 285.
World History
