Aurelian

Aurelian (270-275 CE) was a Roman Emperor who built the Aurelian Walls (271-275 CE) around Rome. They were 12 miles (19km) long and 26 feet (8m) high.
He reunited the Roman Empire by reconquering the Palmyrene Empire and the Gallic Empire. Aurelian is considered to have saved the Roman Empire.

1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

NAME:
- Lucius Domitius Aurelianus
- ‘Germanicus Maximus’.
AURELIAN’S DATES OF REIGN AS EMPEROR:
- Sept. 270 CE – Sept. 275 CE
AURELIAN’S DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
- Born 9th Sept. 214-215 CE. Died Sept. 275 CE
PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
- Born in Sirmium. Died in Caenophrurium, Thrace.
AURELIAN’S PREDECESSOR:
- Quintillus
AURELIAN’S SUCCESSOR:
- Marcus Claudius Tacitus
HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
- Proclaimed Emperor by his Legions in Sirmium.
DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
- Assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, in Caenophrurium, Thrace.
WHERE BURIED:
- Unknown.
AURELIAN WAS FAMOUS BECAUSE:
- Aurelian reunited the Roman Empire by reconquering the Palmyrene Empire and the Gallic Empire.
- He surrounded Rome with a new defensive wall called the Aurelian Walls.
- He was one of the Illyrian Emperors.
- He abandoned Dacia in 271 CE.
- He destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria when he recaptured Egypt from the Palmyrene Empire.
- The city of Orleans, France, is named after Aurelian. He rebuilt it and renamed it after himself, ‘Aureliana civitas’, meaning the city of Aurelian.
- Aurelian built a Temple to Sol Invictus and made him the chief God in the Roman Pantheon.
MONUMENTS:
- Aurelian Walls (271-275 CE) built around Rome.

As the commander of the Legions in Pannonia, Aurelian’s Legions proclaimed him Emperor, in opposition to Senate’s choice of Quintillus.

The Alemanni crossed the Po river and made their base in Placentia. Aurelian was fighting the Vandals in Pannonia. He quickly returned to Italy, but his army was ambushed near Placentia. He regrouped and defeated the Alemanni, expelling them from Italia. However, Aurelian decided Rome needed proper defenses and set about building the Aurelian Walls.

Aurelian then set off to the Danube, crossed over and killed the leader of the Goths, Cannabaudes, for which the Senate rewarded him with the title of ‘Germanicus Maximus’.
But Aurelian recognised Dacia could no longer be held, and after 271 CE, he abandoned Dacia. Instead, he renamed part of Moesia Superior, ‘Dacia Aureliana’ with Serdica as its capital.

The Alemanni invasion of 271 CE, had made Aurelian realise Rome was now vulnerable, and needed a defensive wall.
Built in 5 years between 271-275 CE. This was a larger encirclement than the Servian Wall, built in the 4th century BCE.
The walls were 12 miles long (19km) and had 14 Gates. They were 26 feet (8m) high and constructed from tiled bricks and concrete. To save time and money, up to one sixth of the walls were built into existing monuments.

In 271 CE, Felicissimus was the Rationalis, meaning chief of the state treasury. Aurelian arrested him on charges of stealing the silver during the Minting process. Apparently, it was standard practice for the Mint to debase the coins and steal the silver, and Aurelian intended to change this policy.
Felicissimus ordered the Mint workers to rebel, and a serious revolt occurred in Rome.
Felicissimus was executed and 7,000 soldiers were killed whilst suppressing the Revolt, according to the Historia Augusta under ‘Aurelianus’.

In 271 CE Aurelian increased the weight of the Antoninianus and made it 5% silver.
The coins were marked ‘XXI’, meaning 20 Antoniniani were worth 1 silver Denarius.

Aurelian invaded the Palmyrene Empire:
272 CE Whilst his general led an army to recapture Egypt, Aurelian led the Legions into Anatolia, from Greece. He defeated Queen Zenobia at the Battle of Immae and again at the Battle of Emesa (Homs).
273 CE He finally besieged Palmyra which surrendered and Queen Zenobia was captured, taken to Rome in golden chains for a Roman Triumph, and held under house arrest in a villa at Tivoli, near Rome.
Palmyra later rebelled again, and this time Aurelian sacked the city. The Ruins of Palmyra can be visited today.

In 273 or 274 CE, Faustinus, the Governor of Gallia Belgica rebelled against the Emperor of the Gallic Empire, Tetricus I who had based himself in Trier to better oppose the Germanic invasions.
Tetricus I was able to defeat Faustinus, reconquer other parts of Gaul and remain Emperor of the Gallic Empire.
Having defeated the Palmyrene Empire in 273 CE, Aurelian now brought his legions to defeat the Gallic Empire.

In 274 CE Aurelian‘s army met the army of Tetricus I at the Battle of Chalons, near Chalons-sur-Marne, with great loss of life.
The Gallic Empire was finally defeated. After March 274 CE, all the Gallic mints changed to produce coins for Aurelian.
Tetricus I was then taken back to Rome with his son, Tetricus II, and paraded with the other defeated Empress, Queen Zenobia. Both were then pardoned by Aurelian and allowed to live in Italia. Tetricus became a Senator and a Corrector (Governor) of Lucania et Bruttii.

Aurelian positioned Sol Invictus as the chief God in the Roman Pantheon of Gods. Aurelian wanted to absorb all the Empire’s religions under one all encompassing religion.
He built a Temple dedicated to Sol Invictus in the Campus Agrippae in Rome, which was accompanied by great festivities, paid for from the booty of the defeated Palmyrene Empire.
The Temple was dedicated on 25 December 274 CE.
On some of his coins, Aurelian put the title ‘Deus et Dominus Natus’, which means ‘God and born Ruler’. A few years later, Diocletian would adopt the same title.

After the death of Shapur I, his heirs appeared weak and Aurelian decided the opportunity was right for an attack on Persia.
First however, he was forced to divert into Gaul to suppress a Revolt. Then he routed a Germanic Invasion in Vindelicia.

Whilst waiting to cross from Thrace into Asia Minor, he was assassinated in a plot by the Praetorian Guard, who had been fed a false rumour. He died in Caenophrurium, Thrace.

Without the achievements of Aurelian, Diocletian would not have been able to rebuild and consolidate the Roman Empire. Had Aurelian not been assassinated, he might have gone on to rebuild and consolidate the Empire himself.