Illyrian emperors

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Illyrian emperors" is the name generally given to those emperors who governed the Roman Empire between 268 and 282, between the so-called Barracks emperors and the emperors of the Tetrarchy. They are given this name because many of them came from Illyria, that is the Northern part of the Balkan peninsula, and more precisely, for many of them, from the province of Pannonia.

[edit] Illyrian Emperors

In the second and third centuries, Illyria was famous for its soldiers: being less Romanized than other regions of the Empire, it was one of the main purveyors of troops for the Roman army. One of the largest concentration of troops (twelve legions at its peak in the mid-third century) was on the Danube. It was the policy of some of the "Barracks emperors", especially Gallienus (260-268), to promote able soldiers to high-ranking military posts. This means that, instead of commanders with an aristocratic background (members of the Roman Senate or the equestrian order), many soldiers of more humble origins, even mere peasants, began to be made generals— which meant that they could become emperors by being raised to power by their legions.

This rather short period was very important in the history of the Empire, since it represents the beginning of the recovery from the Crisis of the Third Century, a long period of usurpations and military difficulties. All of the Illyrian emperors were trained and able soldiers, and they recovered some of the provinces and positions lost by their predecessors, including Gaul and the eastern provinces.

Even if their five reigns were quite short, the Illyrian emperors opened the way to their successors, the more successful and durable emperors of the Tetrarchy. Many of these were themselves of Illyrian origin.

The traditional list of Illyrian emperors included Marcus Aurelius Carus:

Claudius II the Gothic (268-270), from Pannonia Inferior.
Quintillus (270), his brother.
Aurelian (270-275), from Pannonia.
- (Marcus Claudius Tacitus (275-276), was from Umbria).
Florianus (276), maybe his half-brother, also from Umbria.
Probus (276-282), from Pannonia.
- Marcus Aurelius Carus (282-283), traditionally included among the so-called "Illyrian Emperors", was certainly born in Narbo in Gaul.^[1] Numerian (283-284) and Carinus (284-285) were his sons.

See also Concise List of Roman Emperors for more details.

[edit] Roman emperors of Illyrian origin

Several further emperors were of Illyrian^[2]^[3] origin, or partly or possibly of Illyrian origin, being born in Illyria, especially in or near the city of Sirmium. Nevertheless, they are not counted among Illyrian emperors as such. They are (in chronological order) :

Before the epoch of Illyrian emperors :
- Trajan Decius (249-251)
After the epoch of Illyrian emperors :
- Diocletian (285-306), born in Dalmatia
- Maximianus Herculius (285-305)
- Constantine I the Great and his family.
- Justin I, born near Dardania, probably of local Dardanian stock.
- Justinian I the Great.

[edit] References

^ The tradition that he was one of the so-called "Illyrian Emperors", based on the unreliable vita Cari embedded in the Augustan History, was accepted uncritically by Scaliger, who assumed the other sources were wrong, and followed by Gibbon. (Tom B. Jones, "A Note on Marcus Aurelius Carus" Classical Philology 37.2 (April 1942), pp. 193-194).
^ "These men are usually called the Illyrian emperors since they all were born in that province (Illyricum) and were raised to power by legions stationed there" The Ancient World, Joseph Ward Swain
^ "Most of them were natives of Illyricum and its neighborhood, and hence are called Illyrian emperors" A History of the Ancient World, George Willis Botsford