Aurelius Theodotus

Last updated

Aurelius Theodotus was a Roman eques and general who flourished during the earlier part of the third century AD. He was assigned by the emperor Gallienus to suppress the rebellion of Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, after which he served as praefectus or governor of Roman Egypt; Guido Bastianini dates his tenure from 262 to 263. [1]

The Historia Augusta tells that Theodotus was of Egyptian origin and that he had a brother named Causisoleus. [2]

During the 260s the Roman Empire was subjected to the pressure of various enemies from without and within. One of these was Aemilianus, who was proclaimed emperor by the army in Egypt in 261. [2] Because Egypt was the granary for the city of Rome, in 262 Theodotus was sent against him. Theodotus defeated and captured Aemilianus near Thebes, and sent him to Gallienus who had him executed.

While praefectus, Theodotus also suppressed the revolt of Memor, who had been one of Aemilianus' supporters. Following this, some magistrates complained to the emperor about how Theodotus had suppressed the revolt; however, Gallienus decided in favor of Theodotus and closed the case. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallienus</span> Roman emperor from 253 to 268

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerian (emperor)</span> Roman emperor from 253 to 260

Valerian was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. He persecuted Christians and was later taken captive by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the first Roman emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war, causing shock and instability throughout the Roman Empire. The unprecedented event and the unknown fate of the captured emperor generated a variety of different reactions and "new narratives about the Roman Empire in diverse contexts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petronia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Petronia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. This gens claimed an ancient lineage, as a Petronius Sabinus is mentioned in the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Roman kings, but few Petronii are mentioned in the time of the Republic. They are frequently encountered under the Empire, holding numerous consulships, and eventually obtaining the Empire itself during the brief reign of Petronius Maximus in AD 455.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Egypt</span> Roman province that encompassed most of modern-day Egypt

Egypt was a subdivision of the Roman Empire from Rome's invasion of the Ptolemaic Egyptian Kingdom after the battle of Alexandria in 30 BC to its loss by the Byzantine Empire to the Islamic conquests in AD 641. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai, and was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judea, later Arabia Petraea, to the East. Egypt came to serve as a major producer of grain for the empire and had a highly developed urban economy. Aegyptus was by far the wealthiest Eastern Roman province, and by far the wealthiest Roman province outside of Italy. The population of Roman Egypt is unknown, although estimates vary from 4 to 8 million. In Alexandria, its capital, it possessed the largest port, and was the second largest city of the Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Mussius Aemilianus</span> Usurper of throne of Roman Empire (died 261/262)

Lucius Mussius AemilianussignoAegippius who held a number of military and civilian positions during the middle of the third century. He is best known as a Roman usurper during the reign of Gallienus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trebellianus</span> Fictional ancient Roman usurper

Trebellianus was a Roman usurper listed among the thirty tyrants in the Historia Augusta. Modern historians consider this figure a character invented by the author of Historia, whose traditional name was Trebellius Pollio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valens Thessalonicus</span> 3rd century Roman imperial usurper

Valens Thessalonicus was a Roman usurper during the reign of Emperor Gallienus.

The Gallienus usurpers were the usurpers who claimed imperial power during the reign of Gallienus. The existence of usurpers during the Crisis of the Third Century was very common, and the high number of usurpers fought by Gallienus is due to his long rule; fifteen years was a long reign by the standards of the 3rd century Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piso (general under Macrianus)</span> Roman general

Piso was probably a Roman general whom the imperial pretender Macrianus Major sent to suppress the governor of Achaia, Valens Thessalonicus. His existence is attested only by the unreliable Historia Augusta, which labels Piso as one of several usurpers who plagued the reign of Emperor Gallienus. While some historians grudgingly regard Piso as a historical figure, many reported details of his life, including his usurpation, are dismissed as fabrications.

Lucius Petronius Taurus Volusianus was a Roman citizen, apparently of equestrian origins, whose career in the Imperial Service in the mid-Third Century AD carried him from a relatively modest station in life to the highest public offices and senatorial status in a very few years. He may have secured his first appointments before the Licinian Dynasty – – acceded to the Empire in 253 AD, but it was in the course of their reign that his upward progress achieved an almost unprecedented momentum and the second factor seems to have been a consequence of the first. The nature of his relationship to the Licinii is uncertain, but it seems likely that a common origin in the Etruscan region of central Italy at least predisposed Gallienus in his favour and he seems to have been that emperor's most trusted servant and adviser during the period of his sole reign - 260(?)-268 AD.

Julius Placidianus was a Roman general of the 3rd century. He was a professional soldier who advanced his career under Gallienus and survived into the age of Claudius II and Aurelian. Placidianus was consul in the year 273 as the posterior colleague of Marcus Claudius Tacitus, the future emperor. His life presented here is largely derived from L.L. Howe's history of the Praetorian Prefecture.

Theodotus is the name of:

Publius Aelianus Aelianus was a senior officer in the Imperial Roman army in the mid-Third Century AD who rose from relatively lowly origins to become the prefect of a legion under the Emperor Gallienus He was one of the earliest beneficiaries of Gallienus's policy that effectively excluded senators from army commands in favour of career-soldiers of equestrian rank. His later life is obscure.

Aurelius/Iulius Marcellinus was a Roman soldier and Imperial functionary who had a brilliant equestrian career and was elevated to the Senate when he was chosen by the Emperor Aurelian as his consular colleague. His appointment as Consul is thought to have been a reward for his loyalty and steadfastness in 273 when, as Aurelian's deputy in charge of the eastern provinces of the Empire where the authority of the Imperial Government had only recently been restored, he resisted attempts to suborn him by a rebellious faction in the city of Palmyra.

Marcus Aurelius Papirius Dionysius was a Roman eques and jurist who held a number of military and civilian positions during the reign of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, including praefectus annonae, or overseer of the grain rations for Rome.

Gaius Valerius Paulinus was a Roman eques who flourished during the reign of the emperors Nero, and Vespasian. He was appointed to a series of imperial offices, including praefectus or governor of Roman Egypt. Ronald Syme has strongly suggested that Paulinus is the father of the identically named Gaius Valerius Paullinus, suffect consul in 107.

Gaius Vitrasius Pollio was a Roman eques who flourished during the reign of the emperor Claudius. He was appointed to the important office of praefectus or governor of Roman Egypt from AD 38 to 41.

Juvenius Genialis was a Roman eques who is known to have held imperial appointments during the reign of the Emperor Gallienus. He is known from surviving documents written on papyrus.

References

  1. Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , 17 (1975), p. 315
  2. 1 2 John Jefferson Bray, Gallienus: A Study in Reformist and Sexual Politics (Wakefield Press, 1997), p. 147
  3. Bray, Gallienus, pp. 333-334

Further reading

Political offices
Preceded by Prefect of Egypt
262263
Succeeded by