Postumus

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Postumus

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus

Gallienus

Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus ruled the Roman Empire as co-emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and then as the sole Roman Emperor from 260 to 268....
in 260 and formed the so called Gallic Empire

Gallic Empire

The Gallic Empire is the modern name for the independent realm that existed from 260 to 273, during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
. He was recognised in Gaul, Germania, Britannia and Iberia until his murder in 268.

Rise to power
Little is known about the early life of Postumus, but it is believed that he was a Batavian of humble origins who rose through the ranks of the army, eventually becoming the governor of Germania Superior

Germania Superior

Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a Roman province of the Roman Empire. It comprised the area of western Switzerland, the French Jura mountains and Alsace regions and south-western Germany....
or Inferior

Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
.

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Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus

Gallienus

Gallic Empire

Rise to power

Little is known about the early life of Postumus, but it is believed that he was a Batavian of humble origins who rose through the ranks of the army, eventually becoming the governor of Germania Superior

Germania Superior

Germania Inferior

Gallienus

Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus ruled the Roman Empire as co-emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and then as the sole Roman Emperor from 260 to 268....
was dealing with problems in the east, he left his son, Saloninus

Saloninus

Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus was Roman Emperor in 260.Saloninus was born around the year 242. His father was the later emperor Gallienus, his mother Cornelia Salonina....
, and military commanders, including Postumus, to protect the Rhine

Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. Amid the chaos of an invasion by the Alamanni

Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic languagess located around the upper Main river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211?17 and claimed thereby to be their defeater....
and Franks

Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
, Postumus was declared emperor. Postumus then besieged and attacked Cologne

Cologne

Silvanus (praetorian prefect)

Silvanus was a praetorian prefect who protected Saloninus, the son of the emperor Gallienus. In 260 after an invasion of the Alamanni and Franks in which Postumus declared himself emperor, Silvanus had a dispute with the usurper Postumus....
, praetorian prefect and former co-director of Roman policy on Gaul (along with Postumus) had sided with Saloninus. After breaching the walls of the city, Postumus had Silvanus and Saloninus killed; later he erected a triumphal arch to celebrate his victory.

Rule

Postumus was recognized as emperor in Gaul, Hispania

Hispania

Hispania was the name given by the Ancient Rome to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior....
, Germany, and Britain. He set up the capital of his empire at Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
, complete with its own senate, consuls and praetorian guard. He represented himself as the restorer of Gaul on some of his coins, a title he earned after successfully defending Gaul against the Germans. The coins issued by Postumus were of better workmanship and higher precious metal content than coins issued by Gallienus.

In 263, Gallienus launched a campaign to defeat Postumus. After initial success against him, Gallienus was seriously wounded and needed to return home. After his failed attempt at defeating Postumus, Gallienus was occupied with crises in the rest of his empire and never challenged Postumus again.

Aureolus

Aureolus

For the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon.Aureolus was a Roman Empire Roman army and would-be usurper. He was one of the of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus....
, a general of Gallienus who was in command of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
, openly changed sides and allied himself with Postumus. The city of Milan would have been critical to Postumus if he planned to march on Rome. For whatever reason, Postumus failed to support Aureolus, who was besieged by Gallienus.

Postumus was himself challenged by a usurper in 268, one of the many so-called Gallienus usurpers

Gallienus usurpers

The Gallienus usurpers were the Roman usurper who claimed Roman Emperor during the reign of Gallienus . The existence of usurpers during the Crisis of the Third Century was very common, and the high number of usurpers fought by Gallienus is due to his long rule; 15 years was a long reign by the standards of the 3rd century Roman Empire....
of the period. Laelianus

Laelianus

Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus was a Roman usurper against Postumus, the emperor of the Gallic Empire.OriginsLittle is known about Laelianus....
, one of Postumus' top military leaders, was declared emperor in Mainz

Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
by the local garrison and surrounding troops (Legio XXII Primigenia

Legio XXII Primigenia

Legio vigesima secunda Primigenia , dedicated to the goddess Fortuna Roman legion levied by Roman Emperor Caligula in 39, for his campaigns in Germania....
). Although Postumus was able to quickly capture Mainz and kill Laelianus, he was unable to control his own troops and they turned on him and killed him, since they were dissatisfied with him for not allowing them to sack the city of Mainz (Aur. Vict.

Aurelius Victor

Sextus Aurelius Victor was an historian and politician of the Roman Empire.Aurelius Victor was the author of a History of Rome from Augustus to Julian the Apostate , published ca....
33.8; Eutrop.

Eutropius

IntroductionNot much is known about the early life of Eutropius because there are no written texts that document his life. Eutropius should not be confused with Eutropius of Valencia or Saint Eutropius....
9.9.1).

Following the death of Postumus, his empire lost control of Britain and Spain, and the shrunken remains of the Gallic Empire

Gallic Empire

The Gallic Empire is the modern name for the independent realm that existed from 260 to 273, during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
were inherited by Marcus Aurelius Marius

Marcus Aurelius Marius

Marcus Aurelius Marius was emperor of the Gallic Empire in 268.According to later tradition, he was a blacksmith by trade who rose through the ranks of the Roman army to become an officer....
.

Postumus is listed among the Thirty Tyrants

Thirty Tyrants (Roman)

The Thirty Tyrants were a series of thirty rulers that appear in the Historia Augusta as having ostensibly been pretenders to the throne of the Roman Empire during the reign of the emperor Gallienus....
in the Historia Augusta. Although his reign is often listed as beginning in 259, it is now believed that the summer or fall of 260 is the more likely date that he was hailed emperor. This topic is still debated. If the date of 260 is chosen for the start of Postumus' reign, then all of the subsequent dates involving the Gallic Empire are pushed forward by one year.

External links

Partial of Postumus