Numerian

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Numerian
Emesa
SpouseDaughter of Arrius Aper
Names
Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus
Marcus Aurelius Numerianus nobilissimus Caesar (282)[1]
Regnal name
Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Numerianus Augustus[1]
FatherCarus

Numerian (

Probus in 282.[3]

Early life and Carus' reign

Possible portrait head of Numerian in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston[4]

Numerian was the younger son of

Probus, in which the latter was killed.[5][6] By one account, Carus had himself rebelled against the emperor, and Probus' army, stationed in Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), decided they did not wish to fight Carus and assassinated their emperor instead.[7] According to the Historia Augusta and the view accepted by Gibbon, whose opinion is primarily dependent on the Historia Augusta as a source, Carus was not responsible for Probus's death, and inflicted severe punishment upon the murderers.[8] Carus, already sixty, wished to establish a dynasty[9] and immediately elevated Carinus and Numerian to the rank of Caesar.[10]

In 283, Carus left Carinus in charge of the West and moved with Numerian and his praetorian prefect

Sassanid Empire. The Sassanids had been embroiled in a succession dispute since the death of Shapur and were in no position to oppose Carus' advance.[11][12]

According to Zonaras, Eutropius, and Festus, Carus won a major victory against the Persians, taking Seleucia and the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon (near modern Al-Mada'in, Iraq), cities on opposite banks of the Tigris.[13] In celebration, Numerian, Carus, and Carinus all took the title Persici maximi.[14] Carus died in July or early August of 283,[3] allegedly due to a strike of lightning.[15]

Numerian and Carinus as Augusti

The death of Carus left Numerian and Carinus as the new Augusti. Carinus quickly made his way to Rome from Gaul, arriving in January 284, while Numerian lingered in the East.[16] The Roman retreat from Persia was orderly and unopposed, for the Persian King, Bahram II, was still struggling to establish his authority.[17]

By March 284, Numerian had only reached Emesa (

Asia Minor.[18] In Emesa he was apparently still alive and in good health, as he issued the only extant rescript in his name there.[19] Coins were issued in his name in Cyzicus at some time before the end of 284, but it is impossible to know whether he was still in the public eye by that point.[20]

After Emesa, Numerian's staff, including the prefect Aper, reported that Numerian suffered from an inflammation of the eyes and had to travel in a closed coach.[21] When the army reached Bithynia,[16] or Thrace,[22] some of Numerian's soldiers smelled an odor reminiscent of a decaying corpse emanating from the coach.[17] They opened its curtains and found Numerian dead.[23] Gibbon, however, dismisses with derision the report of the stench of Numerian's decay: "Could no aromatics be found in the Imperial household?"[24]

After Numerian's death

Aper officially broke the news of Numerian's death in

Bosphorus, where they chose as emperor Diocletian, commander of the cavalry arm of the imperial bodyguard,[26] despite Aper's attempts to garner support.[25] The army of the east unanimously saluted their new Augustus. Diocletian accepted the purple imperial vestments and raised his sword to the light of the sun, swearing an oath denying responsibility for Numerian's death. He asserted that Aper had killed Numerian and concealed the deed. In full view of the army, Diocletian then turned and killed Aper, who had been hauled bound before the assembly.[27][28]

Character

According to the

Historia Augusta, Numerian was a man of considerable literary attainments, remarkably amiable, and known as a great orator and poet. Allegedly, the Senate raised him a statue, inscribed To the most powerful of orators.[29]

Family tree

previous
Prisca

Carinus
Roman Emperor
282-284
∞ Magnia Urbica		Numerian
co-emperor 282-284		Galeria Valeria

Citations

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2
    .
  2. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 634.
  3. ^ a b c Leadbetter, "Carus."
  4. ^ "Portraiture of Emperor Numerian". rome101.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  5. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Leadbetter, "Carus"; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Southern, Severus to Constantine, p. 132; Williams, Diocletian, p. 32.
  6. ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), ch. XII., pp. 291, 292
  7. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Southern, Severus to Constantine, p. 132.
  8. ^ Gibbon, p. 292
  9. ^ Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Southern, Severus to Constantine, p. 132; Williams, Diocletian, p. 32.
  10. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Williams, Diocletian, p. 32.
  11. ^ Leadbetter, "Carus"; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39.
  12. ^ Gibbon, pp. 294, 295
  13. ^ Zonaras, 12.30; Eutropius, 9.14.1; Festus, 24; Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, 4; Leadbetter, "Carus"; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, p. 279; Williams, Diocletian, p. 33.
  14. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Leadbetter, "Carus."
  15. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Leadbetter, "Carus"; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Southern, Severus to Constantine, p. 133; Williams, Diocletian, pp. 33–34.
  16. ^ a b Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4.
  17. ^ a b Southern, Severus to Constantine, p. 133.
  18. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Leadbetter, "Numerianus."
  19. Codex Justinianeus
    5.52.2; Leadbetter, "Numerianus"; Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, p. 279.
  20. ^ Roman Imperial Coinage 5.2 Numerian no. 462; Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, pp. 279–80).
  21. ^ Leadbetter, "Numerianus."
  22. ^ a b Gibbon, p. 301
  23. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Leadbetter, "Numerianus"; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, p. 39; Williams, Diocletian, p. 35.
  24. ^ Gibbon, Ibid. note
  25. ^ a b Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, p. 280.
  26. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, p. 4; Barnes, New Empire, p. 31; Bowman, "Diocletian", p. 68; Mathisen, "Diocletian"; Williams, Diocletian, p. 33, 35-36.
  27. ^ Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, pp. 4–5; Leadbetter, "Numerian"; Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, pp. 39–40; Williams, Diocletian, p. 37.
  28. ^ Gibbon, Ibid.
  29. ^ Gibbon, p. 300

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Numerian.
Regnal titles
Preceded by Roman emperor
283–284
With: Carinus 		Succeeded by
Carinus (until 285) and Diocletian
Political offices
Preceded by
Consul of the Roman Empire
284
with Carinus
 Succeeded by
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