| Marius | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augustus of Gaul and Britannia | |||||||||
 Coin featuring Marius. Caption: IMP. C. M. AVR. MARIVS AVG. | |||||||||
| Emperor of the Gallic Empire | |||||||||
| Reign | 269 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Postumus | ||||||||
| Successor | Victorinus | ||||||||
| Died | 269 Augusta Treverorum (Trier) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Marcus Aurelius Marius [1] was emperor of the Gallic Empire in 269 following the assassination of Postumus.
According to later tradition, he was a blacksmith by trade, which earned him the nickname Mamurius Veturius , a legendary metalworker in the time of Numa. [2] He rose through the ranks of the Roman army to become an officer. [3] He was part of the army that revolted at Moguntiacum (Mainz) after the Emperor Postumus refused to allow them to sack the city. [4] They murdered the emperor and in the confusion that followed, the army elected Marius as Postumus' successor. [5]
His first decision was to allow his troops to sack the city of Moguntiacum. [6] He then moved to Augusta Treverorum (Trier) to consolidate his power base. [7] His reign lasted no more than two or three months before Postumus' praetorian prefect Victorinus had Marius killed in mid-269, most likely at Augusta Treverorum. [8]
According to ancient written sources, Marius' reign lasted only two or three days before he was killed by a sword of his own manufacture. [9] This tradition is probably partly or wholly inaccurate. Based on the number of coins he issued, a more accurate length for his reign would be at least two or three months. [10]
Marius is listed as one of the Thirty Tyrants in the Historia Augusta. It is said that he was chosen because his name was reminiscent of two great Romans of the past, Marcus Aurelius and Gaius Marius. [7]
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.
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The Gallic Empire or the Gallic Roman Empire are names used in modern historiography for a breakaway part of the Roman Empire that functioned de facto as a separate state from 260 to 274. It originated during the Crisis of the Third Century, when a series of Roman military leaders and aristocrats declared themselves emperors and took control of Gaul and adjacent provinces without attempting to conquer Italy or otherwise seize the central Roman administrative apparatus.
Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus was a short-lived Roman emperor. He took power after the death of his brother, Emperor Claudius Gothicus, in 270 CE. After reigning for a few weeks Quintillus was overthrown by Aurelian, who had been proclaimed rival emperor by the legions he commanded. The ancient sources variously report him to have killed himself, to have fallen in battle against Aurelian, or to have been murdered by his own soldiers.
Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman commander of Batavian origin, who ruled as emperor of the splinter state of the Roman Empire known to modern historians as the Gallic Empire. The Roman army in Gaul threw off its allegiance to emperor Gallienus around the year 260, and Postumus assumed the title and powers of Emperor in the provinces of Gaul, Germania, Britannia, and Hispania. He ruled for the better part of ten years before he was murdered by his own troops.
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Media related to Marcus Aurelius Marius at Wikimedia Commons