Tetricus I

• Tetricus I (271-274 CE) was an Emperor of the breakaway Gallic Empire (260-274 CE).

1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

• NAME:
  • Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus.
• TETRICUS I’ DATES OF REIGN AS EMPEROR:
  • 271-274 CE.
• TETRICUS I’ DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
  • Date of birth unknown.
• PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
  • Born in Gaul. Died in Italia.
• TETRICUS I’ PREDECESSOR:
  • Domitianus II
• TETRICUS I’ SUCCESSOR:
  • Tetricus II his son.
  • Aurelian
• HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
  • He executed the usurper Domitianus II.
• DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
  • Died peacefully in Italia.
• WHERE BURIED:
  • possibly Lucania, Italia.

2. BRIEF SYNOPSIS

Rise to Power:

• In 271 CE, Tetricus was the Governor of Gallia Aquitania when Victorinus was executed. He was chosen by Victorinus‘ mother as his successor, and elected Emperor of the Gallic Empire in Bordeaux. He then moved the capital of the Gallic Empire to Trier from Cologne.
• In 273 CE, he had his son, Tetricus II, named as heir to the throne.
• Only Strasbourg and Spain, refused to accept him, preferring Aurelian instead. The rest of Gaul, Germania and Britannia accepted Tetricus I and not Aurelian.

Germanic Invasions:

• The German Tribes continued to invade, with Tetricus I fighting them in the first two years, but later his policy was to withdraw and abandon the forts. One such Germanic incursion reached the Loire.

Revolt of Faustinus (273-4 CE)

• In 273 or 274 CE, Faustinus, the Governor of Gallia Belgica rebelled against Tetricus I, from the capital at Trier. Tetricus I defeated Faustinus.

Aurelian returns from the East (273 CE)

• Having defeated the Palmyrene Empire in 273 CE, Aurelian brought his legions to Gaul to defeat the Gallic Empire.

Battle of Chalons (274 CE)

• In 274 CE Aurelian‘s army defeated the army of Tetricus with great bloodshed at the Battle of Chalons, near Chalons-sur-Marne. The Gallic Empire was finally defeated. After March 274 CE, all the Gallic mints change to produce coins for Aurelian.

Tetricus I made Prisoner in Rome then a Senator

• Tetricus 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.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

• CLASSICAL SOURCES:
  • Historia Augusta The Thirty Tyrants.
  • Zosimus, Historia Nova.