Carus
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Marcus Aurelius Carus (c. 222 – July or August 283) was
He died while campaigning against the
Biography
Carus, whose name before the accession may have been Marcus Numerius Carus,
Two traditions surround his accession to the throne in August or September of 282. According to some mostly Latin sources, he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers after the murder of Probus by a mutiny at Sirmium.[14] Greek sources however claim that he rose against Probus in Raetia in a usurpation and had him killed.[15] Allegedly, he initially refused the offer at first out of loyalty, but soon accepted.[16] The often unreliable Historia Augusta is aware of both traditions, although it prefers the former.[17] He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, contenting himself with an announcement to the Senate.[18] This was a marked departure from the constitutionalism of his immediate predecessors, Tacitus and Probus, who at least outwardly respected the authority of the senate, and was the precursor to the even more despotic military autocracy of Diocletian.[19] Despite this, he still sought to deify the emperor Probus.[20]
Campaign against the Sassanids and death
Carus bestowed the title of
The
Legacy
Like the conquests of
In the sphere of civil affairs, Carus is remembered principally for the final suppression of the authority of the senate, which had been partially restored under Tacitus and Probus. He declined to accept their ratification of his election, informing them of the fact by a haughty and distant dispatch. He was the last emperor to have united a civil with a military education, in that age when the two were increasingly detached; Diocletian (Imp. 284–305), who succeeded Carus after the brief reign of the latter's sons, was to confirm and formalize the separation of professions, and the autocratic foundation of the imperial rule.[32]
Though Carus was known throughout his life for his austere and virtuous manners, the suspicion of his complicity in Probus' death, along with his haughty conduct towards the senate, tarnished his reputation before his death, and Julian, as Gibbon observes, conspicuously places him among the tyrants of Rome, in his catalogue of The Caesars.[33]
Family tree
previous Tacitus Roman Emperor 275–276 | Florianus Roman Emperor 276 | Probus Roman Emperor 276–282 | Carus Roman Emperor 282–283 | next Diocletian Roman Emperor 284–305 ∞ Prisca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carinus Roman Emperor 282–284 | Numerian co-emperor 282–284 | Galeria Valeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
Sources
Primary Sources
- Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus
- Eutropius, Breviarium ab urbe condita
- Historia Augusta, Life of Carus, Carinus and Numerian
- Joannes Zonaras, Compendium of History extract: Zonaras: Alexander Severus to Diocletian: 222–284
Secondary Sources
- Leadbetter, William, "Carus (282–283 A.D.)", DIR
- ISBN 0-521-07233-6.
- ISBN 978-0199755868.
- Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001
- Gibbon, Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carus, Marcus Aurelius". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
References
- ^ a b Jones, pg. 183
- ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
- ^ a b c Potter 2013, p. 26.
- OCLC 503449219.
- ^ "Portraiture of Emperor Carus". rome101.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ "Portrait-bust of a man, perhaps Carus". Ostia Atica. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), ch. XII., p. 292
- ^ Victor, 38:1
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (Tom B. Jones, "A Note on Marcus Aurelius Carus" Classical Philology 37.2 (April 1942), pp. 193–194).
- ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 4:2
- ^ Gibbon, ibid; and ch. XIII., p. 340
- ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 5:4
- ^ Gibbon, ch. XII., p. 292
- ^ Jerome, Chron. s. a. 282
- ^ Zonaras, 12:29
- ^ C, Franco (6 September 2020). "Roman Emperor Carus | History Cooperative". Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 6:1
- ^ Southern, pg. 132
- ^ Gibbon, p. 293; and ch. XIII., pp. 328, 329
- ^ a b c Cavazzi, Franco (16 December 2021). "Emperor Carus". The Roman Empire. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Encyclopedia Iranica
- ^ a b Zonaras, 12:30
- ^ Victor 38:2
- ^ Gibbon, ch. XII., p. 293
- ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 7:1
- ^ Gibbon, p. 294. Enemy casualties are given at over 36,000.
- ^ a b Leadbetter, www.roman-emperors.org/carus.htm
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Southern, pg. 133
- ^ William Leadbetter, Carus (282-283 A.D.)
- ^ Gibbon, p. 296
- ^ Gibbon, ch. XIII., pp. 328–33.
- ^ Gibbon, ch. XII., p. 293 and note.
Further reading
- Altmayer, Klaus (2014). Die Herrschaft des Carus, Numerianus und Carinus als Vorläufer der Tetrarchie. Historia Einzelschriften. Vol. 230. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. ISBN 978-3-515-10621-4.