| Macrianus Minor | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usurper of the Roman Empire | |||||||||
 Macrianus on a coin celebrating Eternal Rome. [1] | |||||||||
| Reign | 260-1 (with Quietus) | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Gallienus | ||||||||
| Successor | Gallienus | ||||||||
| Died | 261 Illyricum | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Father | Macrianus Major | ||||||||
| Mother | ? (of senatorial descent) | ||||||||
Titus Fulvius Iunius Macrianus (died 261), also known as Macrianus Minor, was a Roman usurper. He was the son of Fulvius Macrianus, also known as Macrianus Major. [2]
Although his father was from an equestrian family,[ citation needed ] Macrianus Minor's mother was of noble birth and her name, possibly, was Iunia. According to the often unreliable Historia Augusta, he had served as military tribune under Valerian. [2]
Macrianus, his father and his brother Quietus, were in Mesopotamia in 260, for the Sassanid campaign of Emperor Valerian, when the Roman army was defeated, and the emperor was captured. [3] With help from his father, who kept the imperial treasure, and by the influence of Balista, Valerian's praefect, Macrianus gained the imperial office together with his brother Quietus, [3] through the election by the army, in contrast with the lawful Emperor Gallienus, son and co-emperor with Valerian, who was far in the West. The two emperors and brothers were recognized in the eastern part of the Empire, having a stronghold in Egypt, the grain supplying province for the city of Rome.
After having temporarily secured the Persian frontier, Macrianus Major and Macrianus Minor moved to the West to attack and eliminate their rival Gallienus.[ citation needed ] They were however defeated in autumn 261 by Aureolus, [2] and later killed by their own soldiers at the father's request.[ citation needed ]
Macrianus appears in Harry Sidebottom's historical fiction novel series as one of the series' antagonists.[ citation needed ].
Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He won numerous military victories against usurpers and Germanic tribes, but was unable to prevent the secession of important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest in half a century.
The 250s was a decade that ran from January 1, 250, to December 31, 259.
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Fulvius Macrianus, also called Macrianus Major, was a Roman usurper. He was one of Valerian's fiscal officers. More precisely, sources refer to him as being in charge of the whole state accounts or, in the language of a later age, as Count of the Treasury and the person in charge of markets and provisions. It seems almost certain that he was an Equestrian. The Historia Augusta claims that he was the foremost of Valerian's military commanders, but that is most likely a gross exaggeration, if not entirely fictitious. He followed Valerian during his ultimately catastrophic campaign against the Persians in 259 or 260; however, he remained at Samosata during the fatal battle of Edessa and his role in the events before and after the battle is questionable. After Valerian's capture by Sassanid Emperor Shapur I, Valerian's son Gallienus became sole emperor, but was occupied with his own problems in the West. Macrianus grabbed the opportunity. With the support of Balista, one of Valerian's military commanders, and with the influence that possession of the treasury of Valerian brought, Macrianus managed to have his two sons Macrianus Minor and Quietus elevated to the throne. He himself was not able to assume the purple because he was deformed in one of his legs.
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Macriani is the name of three Roman usurpers - a father and two sons - who tried to gain the Roman throne from Emperor Gallienus. All three died in 261 A.D. They were:
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