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Caius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was Emperor 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....
 (Imperium Galliarum) from 270/271 to 273, following the murder of Victorinus
Victorinus

Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor of the secessionist Gallic Empire from 268 to 270 or 271, following the brief reign of Marcus Aurelius Marius....
. Tetricus, who ruled with his son, Tetricus II, was the last of the Gallic emperors.

icus was born to a noble family and held the administrative rank of praeses provinciae (provincial governor) of Aquitania at the time of Victorinus' death.






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Caius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was Emperor 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....
 (Imperium Galliarum) from 270/271 to 273, following the murder of Victorinus
Victorinus

Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor of the secessionist Gallic Empire from 268 to 270 or 271, following the brief reign of Marcus Aurelius Marius....
. Tetricus, who ruled with his son, Tetricus II, was the last of the Gallic emperors.

Biography

Tetricus was born to a noble family and held the administrative rank of praeses provinciae (provincial governor) of Aquitania at the time of Victorinus' death. Victorinus' mother, Victoria, paid the army heavily to declare Tetricus emperor near Burdigalia (Bordeaux
Bordeaux

is a Port city on the Garonne in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its aire urbaine at a 2008 estimate. It is the Capital of the Aquitaine regions of France, as well as the Prefectures in France of the Gironde Departments of France....
, France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
), which was approved in Gaul and Britain. Following his appointment, Tetricus repelled Germanic tribes that took advantage of the confusion following the death of Victorinus to invade.

Tetricus installed his capital at Augusta Treverorum (present Trier
Trier

Trier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere settlement or army camp....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, near the vital Rhine border, hence later seat of a Tetrarch
Tetrarch

Tetrarch is a Greek language term for a holder of Roman Emperor office under a Tetrarchy. It was applied earlier to rulers of minor principalities owing allegiance to Rome....
) and appointed his son, Tetricus II
Tetricus II

Caius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was the son of Tetricus I, Emperor of the Gallic Empire .In 273, he was raised to the rank of caesar , with the title of princeps iuventutis, and in January 274 he started his first consulship, together with his father....
, Caesar
Caesar (title)

Caesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of emperor character. It derives from the Roman naming convention#Cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator....
 (273). Tetricus made no attempts to expand the Gallic Empire, other than southward, regaining Aquitania
Aquitania

Aquitania may refer to:*the territory of the Aquitani* Gallia Aquitania, a province of the Roman Empire* 387 Aquitania, a fairly large main belt asteroid...
 (which had rejoined the Roman empire during the reign of Claudius Gothicus). In late 273 or early 274, Faustinus
Faustinus

Faustinus was an usurper against Tetricus I, the last emperor of the Gallic Empire. Not much is known about him. Neither his complete name nor the year of his birth are known....
, provincial governor of Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica

Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany....
, rebelled against him in Augusta Treverorum.

In 273, Emperor Aurelian
Aurelian

Lucius Domitius Aurelianus , known in English as Aurelian, Roman Emperor , was the second of several highly successful "soldier-emperors" who helped the Roman Empire regain its power during the latter part of the third century and the beginning of the fourth....
 set out to reconquer the western Roman empire, following his victories in the east. Tetricus took his army southward from Trier to meet Aurelian, who was advancing into northern Gaul. The decisive battle
Battle of Chalons (273)

The Battle of Ch?lons was fought in 274, between Roman Emperor Aurelian, and the Roman Emperor of the Gallic Empire, Tetricus I.Tetricus was defeated, and surrendered to Aurelian, but the Roman Emperor spared him his life....
 took place near Châlons-sur-Marne, where Tetricus and his son surrendered to Aurelian.

According to literary sources, after being displayed as trophies at Aurelian's triumph
Roman triumph

A Roman triumph was a civil religion and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publically celebrate the achievements of an army commander who had won great military successes, originally and traditionally, who had successfully completed a war....
 in Rome, the lives of Tetricus and his son were spared by Aurelian, and Tetricus was even given the title of corrector
Corrector

A corrector is a person who or object that practices correction, usually by removing or rectifying errors.The word is originally a Roman title corrector, derived from the Latin verb corrigere, meaning "an action to rectify, to make right a wrong."...
 Lucaniae et Bruttiorum, that is governor of a southern region of Italia
Italia (Roman province)

Italia, under the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire, was the name of the Italian peninsula....
. Tetricus died at an unknown date in Italy; he is listed as one of Rome's 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.

Numismatics

The antoninianii
Antoninianus

The antoninianus was a coin used during the Roman Empire thought to have been valued at 2 denarius. It was initially silver, but was slowly debasement to bronze....
 (silver coins) of Tetricus were the most frequently imitated prototypes for barbarous radiate
Barbarous radiate

Barbarous radiates are imitations of the antoninianus, a type of coin issued during the Roman Empire, which are so named due to their crude style and prominent radiate crown worn by the emperor....
s, barbaric imitations of Roman coins.

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