Gallic Empire
Gallic Empire | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
260–274 | |||||||||
Latin (official) | |||||||||
Government | Mixed, functionally absolute monarchy | ||||||||
Emperor | |||||||||
• 260–269 | Postumus | ||||||||
• 269 | Marius | ||||||||
• 269–270 | Victorinus | ||||||||
• 270–274 | Tetricus I | ||||||||
Historical era | Late Antiquity | ||||||||
• Established | 260 | ||||||||
274 | |||||||||
|
The Gallic Empire
The Gallic Empire was established by Postumus in 260 in the wake of barbarian invasions and instability in Rome, and at its height included the territories of Germania, Gaul, Britannia, and (for a time) Hispania. After Postumus' assassination in 269 it lost much of its territory, but continued under a number of emperors and usurpers. It was retaken by Roman emperor Aurelian after the Battle of Châlons in 274.
History
Origins
The Roman
The governors in Pannonia staged unsuccessful local revolts. The Emperor left for the Danube to attend to their disruption. This left Postumus, who was governor of Germania Superior and Inferior, in charge at the Rhine border. An exceptional administrator, Postumus had also ably protected Germania Inferior against an invasion led by the Franks in the summer of 260. In fact, Postumus defeated the Frankish forces at Empel so decisively that there would be no further Germanic raids for ten years. This all combined to make Postumus one of the most powerful men in the western reaches of the Roman Empire.
Gallienus's son
Postumus did not make any effort to extend his control into Italy or to depose Gallienus. Instead, he established parallel institutions modelled on the Roman Empire's central government: his regime had its own praetorian guard, two annually elected consuls (not all of the names have survived), and probably its own senate. According to the numismatic evidence, Postumus held the office of consul five times.
Postumus successfully fended off a military incursion by Gallienus in 263, and was never challenged by him again. However, in early 269 he was challenged by
After Postumus
An officer in Postumus' army, Marcus Aurelius Marius, was installed as Emperor upon Postumus's death, but died very shortly after; ancient sources writing much later state that he reigned only two days, though it is more likely, based on the numismatic record, that he reigned for a few months.[11] Subsequently, the tribune of the praetorians, Marcus Piavonius Victorinus came to power, being recognized as Emperor in northern Gaul and Britannia, but not in Hispania.[12] Meanwhile, Roman Emperor Gallienus had been killed in a coup in 268, and his successor in the central Roman provinces, Claudius Gothicus, re-established Roman authority in Gallia Narbonensis and parts of Gallia Aquitania; there is some evidence that the provinces of Hispania, which did not recognize Postumus's successors in Gaul, may have realigned with Rome then.[12][13]
Victorinus spent most of his reign dealing with insurgencies and attempting to recover the Gaulish territories taken by Claudius Gothicus. He was assassinated in 271, but his mother
The following year the younger Tetricus was made co-consul with his father, but the area under their control grew weak from internal strife, including a mutiny led by the usurper Faustinus.[14] By that time Aurelian had defeated the Palmyrene Empire and had made plans to reconquer the west. He moved into Gaul and defeated Tetricus at the Battle of Châlons in 274. According to some sources, Tetricus offered to surrender in exchange for clemency for him and his son before the battle.[14] This detail may be later propaganda, but either way, Aurelian was victorious, and the Gallic Empire was effectively ended.[14] In contrast with his propaganda after the recent defeat of Zenobia, Aurelian did not present his recapture of Gaul as a victory over a foreign enemy, and indeed many officials who had served in the army and administration of the Gallic Empire continued their careers, including Tetricus, who was appointed to an administrative post in Italy.[7]
Causes
The Gallic Empire was symptomatic of the fragmentation of power during the third-century crisis. It has also been taken to represent autonomous trends in the western provinces, including proto-feudalistic tendencies among the Gaulish land-owning class whose support has sometimes been thought to have underpinned the strength of the Gallic Empire,[15] and an interplay between the strength of Roman institutions and the growing importance of provincial concerns.[16]
One of Postumus' primary objectives as emperor was evidently the defense of the
The usurpation of power over Britain and northern Gaul by Carausius just twenty years later reflects a continuing trend by which local loyalties from the landed aristocracy and deteriorating morale in the legions enabled Carausius to seize power in Britain.[citation needed] Similarly with the withdrawal of legions after 408, many Britons desired a localized Roman authority rather than nationalist revolt. The desire for Roman order and institutions was entirely compatible with a degree of national or regional separatism.
List of Gallic Emperors
The Gallic Emperors are known primarily from the coins they minted.[18] The political and military history of the Gallic Empire can be sketched through the careers of these emperors. Their names are as follows:[19]
- Postumus 260–269
- (Laelian 269, usurper)
- Marius 269
- Victorinus 268/69–271
- (Domitian II 271?, usurper)[20]
- Tetricus I 271–274
- Tetricus II 273–274 (son of Tetricus I; Caesar)
- (Faustinus 273/74, usurper)
Consuls of the Gallic Empire
Year | Consul | Consul |
---|---|---|
260 | Postumus (second time)[24] | Honoratianus[25] |
261 | Postumus (third time)[24] | unknown[26] |
262 | unknown[26] | |
263 | ||
264 | ||
265 | Postumus (fourth time)[24] | |
266 | ||
267 | unknown[26] | |
269 | Postumus (fifth time)[26] | Victorinus (first time)[26] |
269 | unknown[26] | unknown[26] |
270 | Victorinus (second time)[24] | Sanctus[26] |
271 | Tetricus (first time)[24] | unknown[26] |
272 | Tetricus (second time)[24] | |
273 | Tetricus (third time)[24] | |
Year and sequence unknown: | ||
? | Censor (twice)[26] | Lepidus (twice)[26] |
? | Dialis[26] | Bassus[26] |
? | "Apr."[26] | "Ruf."[26] |
Family tree
Laelianus 269 | Postumus 260–269 | Marcus Aurelius Marius 269 | Victoria 271 | Tetricus I 271–274 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Postumus Junior (Fictional) 260–269 | Victorinus 268–271 | Tetricus II 271–274 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Victorinus Junior (Fictional) 271 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
- Roman governors of Germania Inferior
- Bagaudae
- Jublains archeological site
- Consul (Gallic Empire)
Notes
- ^ The regime had no distinct name or style that has survived on official monuments, inscriptions or coins; its titles and administrative structures followed the models of the central Roman government.[2] Occasionally modern historians use the Latin phrase Imperium Galliarum to refer to the state, derived from a passage in Eutropius: Victorinus postea Galliarum accepit imperium, "Victorinus took command of the Gallic provinces".[3]
- Valerian was captured and disgraced. Other dates cited in this article must be pushed back by one year for those who take 259 as the year of Postumus' accession.[6]
- Historia Augusta.
References
- ^ Bourne, R. J. (2001). Aspects of the relationship between the Central and Gallic Empires in the mid to late third century AD with special reference to coinage studies. Archaeopress. p. 22.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, pp. 126–127.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, p. 15.
- ^ Polfer (Postumus)
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, p. 97.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, pp. 95–106.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy, Adrian (2009). The Fall of the West. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 116–117.
- ^ a b Drinkwater 1987, pp. 24–27.
- ^ Aurelius Victor 33.8.
- ^ Eutropius 9.9.1.
- ^ Polfer, Michael (June 24, 1999). "Marius (A.D. 269)". De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ a b c Polfer, Michel (June 3, 2000). "Victorinus (A.D. 269–271)". De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ Weigel, Richard D. (June 19, 2001). "Claudius II Gothicus (268–270)". De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Polfer, Michel (January 28, 2000). "Tetricus I (AD 271–273)". De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, p. 239.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, pp. 247–8.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, pp. 226–7.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, p. 16.
- ^ Drinkwater 1987, p. 102.
- ^ Richard Abdy. "The Domitian II coin from Chalgrove: a Gallic emperor returns to history". Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ Cancik, H.; Schneider, H.; Salazar, C., Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 14 (2009), p. 91
- ISBN 3-515-04806-5, p. 65.
- ^ Alain Beyrand (ed.). "Victorina, ruler of the Gauls". Pressibus. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g Drinkwater (1987), p. 188.
- ^ Potter (2004), p. 260
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Polfer, Michel (2000), "Postumus (A.D. 260-269)", De Imperatoribus Romanis
Bibliography
- Drinkwater, J. F. (1987). The Gallic Empire: Separatism and Continuity in the north-western provinces of the Roman Empire, A.D. 260-274. Stuttgart: Steiner. ISBN 978-3515048064.