- For other Romans of this name, see Licinia (gens).
Licinius I ( c. 263 – 325), was
Roman EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
from 308 to 324. Co-author of the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire, for the majority of his reign he was the rival of
Constantine IConstantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
. He was finally defeated at the
Battle of AdrianopleThe Battle of Adrianople was fought on July 3, 324 during a Roman civil war, the second to be waged between the two emperors Constantine I and Licinius; Licinius suffered a heavy defeat.-Background:...
, before being executed on the orders of Constantine I.
Early Reign
Born to a
DacianThe Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
peasant family in
MoesiaMoesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the future emperor
GaleriusGalerius , was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300...
, on the Persian expedition in 298. He was trusted enough by Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to
MaxentiusMaxentius was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian, and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius.-Birth and early life:Maxentius' exact date of birth is unknown; it was probably around 278...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to attempt to reach some agreement about his illegitimate status. Galerius then trusted the eastern provinces to him when he went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death of
Flavius Valerius SeverusSeverus , sometimes known as Severus II, was a Western Roman Emperor from 306 to 307.- Officer in the Roman army :Severus was of humble birth, born in the Illyrian provinces around the middle of the third century AD...
.
Upon his return to the east, Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of
AugustusAugustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...
in the West on November 11, 308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of
IllyricumThe Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital...
,
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
and
PannoniaPannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
.
In 310 he took command of the war against the
SarmatiansThe Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
, inflicting a severe defeat on them and emerging victorious. Then on the death of Galerius, in May 311, Licinius entered into an agreement with
MaximinusMaximinus II , also known as Maximinus Daia or Maximinus Daza, was Roman Emperor from 308 to 313. He was born of Dacian peasant stock to the half sister of the emperor Galerius near their family lands around Felix Romuliana; a rural area then in the Danubian region of Moesia, now Eastern Serbia.He...
Daia, to share the eastern provinces between them. By this point, not only was Licinius the official
Augustus of the west, but he also possessed part of the eastern provinces as well, as the Hellespont and the
BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
became the dividing line, with Licinius taking the European provinces and Daia taking the Asian.
An alliance between Daia and Maxentius forced the two remaining emperors to enter into a formal agreement with each other. So in March 313 Licinius married
Flavia Julia ConstantiaFlavia Julia Constantia was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife, Flavia Maximiana Theodora....
, half-sister of
ConstantineConstantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
, at Mediolanum (now
MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
); they had a son,
Licinius the YoungerValerius Licinianus Licinius, Licinius II or Licinius the Younger , was the son of Roman emperor Licinius. He nominally served as Caesar in the eastern empire from 317 to 324 AD while his father was Augustus...
, in 315. Their marriage was the occasion for the jointly-issued "
Edict of MilanThe Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
" that restored confiscated properties to Christian congregations and allowed
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
to be professed in the empire.
Daia, in the meantime decided to attack Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000 men, he reached
BithyniaBithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
, although harsh weather he encountered along the way had gravely weakened his army. In April 313, he crossed the
BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
and went to
ByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
, which was held by Licinius' troops. Undeterred, he took the town after an eleven-day siege. He moved to Heraclea, which he captured after a short siege, before moving his forces to the first posting station. With a much smaller body of men, possibly around 30,000, Licinius arrived at Adrianople while Daia was still besieging
HeracleaHeraclea Sintica was an ancient Greekcity in Thracian Macedonia, to the south of the Struma River, the site of which is marked by the village of Rupite, Bulgaria, and which was identified by the discovery of local coins....
. On 30 April 313, the two armies clashed at the
Battle of TzirallumThe Battle of Tzirallum was one of the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy fought in 313 near Heraclea between the Roman armies of emperors Licinius and Maximinus.-Background:...
, and in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were crushed. Ridding himself of the imperial purple and dressing like a slave, Daia fled to
NicomediaNicomedia was an ancient city in what is now Turkey, founded in 712/11 BC as a Megarian colony and was originally known as Astacus . After being destroyed by Lysimachus, it was rebuilt by Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most...
. Believing he still had a chance to come out victorious, Daia attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at the
Cilician GatesThe Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m....
by establishing fortifications there. Unfortuately for Daia, Licinius' army succeeded in breaking through, forcing Daia to retreat to Tarsus where Licinius continued to press him on land and sea. The war between them only ended with Daia’s death in August 313.
Given that Constantine had already crushed his rival Maxentius in 312, the two men decided to divide the Roman world between them. As a result of this settlement, Licinius became sole Augustus in the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West. Licinius immediately rushed to the east to deal with another threat, this time from the Persian
SassanidThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
s.
Conflict with Constantine I
In 314, a civil war erupted between Licinius and Constantine, in which Constantine used the pretext that Licinius was harbouring another of Constantine’s brothers-in-law, Bassianus, whom Constantine accused of plotting to overthrow him. Constantine prevailed at the
Battle of CibalaeThe Battle of Cibalae was fought on October 8, 314 , between the two Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius. The site of the battle was approximately 350 kilometers within the territory of Licinius...
in
PannoniaPannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
(October 8, 314). Although the situation was temporarily settled, with both men sharing the consulship in 315, it was but a lull in the storm. The next year a new war erupted, when Licinius named
Valerius ValensAurelius Valerius Valens was Roman Emperor from late 316 to March 1, 317. Valens had previously been dux limitis in Dacia, but this is all we know of him....
co-emperor, only for Licinius to suffer a humiliating defeat on the plain of
MardiaThe Battle of Mardia, also known as Battle of Campus Mardiensis or Battle of Campus Ardiensis, was fought, probably at modern Harmanli in Thrace, in late 316/early 317 between the forces of Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius....
(also known as Campus Ardiensis) in
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. The emperors were reconciled after these two battles and Licinius had his co-emperor Valens killed.
Over the next ten years, the two imperial colleagues maintained an uneasy truce. Licinius kept himself busy with a campaign against the Sarmatians in 318, but temperatures rose again in 321 when Constantine pursued some Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across the Danube into what was technically Licinius’s territory. When he repeated this with another invasion, this time by the
GothsThe Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
who were pillaging
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, Licinius complained that Constantine had broken the treaty between them.
Constantine wasted no time going on the offensive. Licinius's fleet of 350 ships was defeated by Constantine I's fleet in 323. Then in 324, Constantine, tempted by the "advanced age and unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared war against him, and, having defeated his army of 170,000 men at the
Battle of AdrianopleThe Battle of Adrianople was fought on July 3, 324 during a Roman civil war, the second to be waged between the two emperors Constantine I and Licinius; Licinius suffered a heavy defeat.-Background:...
(July 3, 324), succeeded in shutting him up within the walls of
ByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
. The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius in the Battle of the Hellespont by
CrispusFlavius Julius Crispus , also known as Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus, was a Caesar of the Roman Empire. He was the first-born son of Constantine I and Minervina.-Birth:...
, Constantine’s eldest son and
CaesarCaesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
, compelled his withdrawal to
BithyniaBithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
, where a last stand was made; the
Battle of ChrysopolisThe Battle of Chrysopolis was fought on 18 September 324 at Chrysopolis , near Chalcedon , between the two Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius. The battle was the final encounter between the two emperors. After his navy's defeat in the Battle of the Hellespont, Licinius withdrew his forces...
, near
ChalcedonChalcedon , sometimes transliterated as Chalkedon) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari . It is now a district of the city of Istanbul named Kadıköy...
(September 18), resulted in Licinius' final submission. While Licinius' co-emperor
Sextus MartinianusSextus Marcius Martinianus was Roman Emperor from July to September 18, 324. He had been appointed co-emperor by Licinius.-Elevation:...
was killed, Licinius himself was spared due to the pleas of his wife, Constantine's sister, and interned at Thessalonica. The next year, Constantine had him hanged, accusing him of conspiring to raise troops among the barbarians.
Character & Legacy
Constantine made every effort to blacken the reputation of his imperial colleague. To this end, stories began circulating about Licinius’s cruelty. It was said that he had put to death Severianus, the son of the emperor Severus, as well as Candidianus, the son of Galerius. To this was added the execution of the wife and daughter of the Emperor
DiocletianDiocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
, who had fled from the court of Licinius before being discovered at Thessalonica. Much of this can be considered imperial propaganda on the part of Constantine.
In addition, as part of Constantine’s attempts to blacken Licinius’s name, he actively portrayed his brother-in-law as a pagan supporter. This was not the case; contemporary evidence tends to suggest that he was at least a committed supporter of Christians. He co-authored the Edict of Milan which ended the Great Persecution, and re-affirmed the rights of Christians in his half of the empire. He also added the Christian symbol to his armies, and attempted to regulate the affairs of the Church hierarchy just as Constantine and his successors were to do. It is even a possibility that he converted. However, Licinius’s name was dragged through the mud in
Eusebius of CaesareaEusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
’s works of historical revisionism. This turned what appeared to be a committed Christian into a man who feigned sympathy for the sect but who eventually exposed his true bloodthirsty pagan nature, only to be stopped by the virtuous Constantine.
Finally, on Licinius’s death, his memory was branded with infamy; his statues were thrown down; and by edict, all his laws and judicial proceedings during his reign were abolished.
Sources
- DiMaio, Michael, "Licinius (308 – 324 A.D.)", DIR (1997).
- Lendering, Jona, "Licinius", "Livius.org".
- Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395, Cambridge University Press, 1971
- Gibbon, Edward, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- Pears, Edwin. “The Campaign against Paganism A.D. 324.” The English Historical Review, Vol. 24, No. 93 (January 1909): 1–17.
External links