Diary for my daughter 28.02.2022 - Florianus/Probus/Carus/Carinus/Numerian

Hello My little penguin 🐧! Tata here!

Hope you're well and listen to your mummy!

Tata is quite fine today ! Just a bit of muscular pain as I raise the weight level at gym last night and until I will get used will take a while :) . Today is a cloudy day , but the advantage is not to cold . Last night was premier of the last season of Peaky Blinders on BBC ... of course I didn't see it yet 😅 ... is not a hard day at work today so maybe I will have time to see it tonight:) . Now is time for your stories.....

Florianus 

Marcus Annius Florianus (died 276), also known as Florian, was Roman emperor from the death of his half-brother, Emperor Tacitus, in July 276 until his own murder in September of that year.

Florianus was the maternal half-brother of Tacitus, who was proclaimed emperor in late 275 after the unexpected death of Emperor Aurelian. After Tacitus died the following year, allegedly assassinated as a consequence of a military plot, Florianus proclaimed himself emperor, with the recognition of the Roman Senate and much of the empire. However, the new emperor soon had to deal with the revolt of Probus, who rose up shortly after Florianus ascended the throne, with the backing of the provinces of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia. Probus took advantage of the terrain of the Cilician Gates, and the hot climate of the area, to which Florianus' army was unaccustomed, to chip away at their morale. Florianus' army rose up against him and killed him.

History

In late 275, Florianus' maternal half-brother, Tacitus, was proclaimed Roman Emperor after the unexpected death of Emperor Aurelian. Soon after, Tacitus appointed Florianus as praetorian prefect. Tacitus then ordered Florianus to lead troops to Pannonia, in order to repel raids into Roman territory by the Goths. After Tacitus died suddenly in July 276, allegedly as a consequence of a military plot, Florianus swiftly proclaimed himself emperor, and was recognized as such by the Roman Senate, and the western provinces. Florianus then continued to campaign against the Goths, winning a major victory before the news reached him of the revolt of Probus, who had served successfully as a commander under both Aurelian and Tacitus. Probus' revolt was supported by the provinces of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia.

Probus took advantage of his control of Egyptian grain, which he used to swiftly cut off the supply of grain to the rest of the empire. Probus led his troops to Asia Minor, in order to defend the Cilician Gates, allowing him to utilize guerrilla warfare to wage a war of attrition rather than a straightforward confrontation. Florianus led his troops to Cilicia, and billeted his forces in Tarsus. However many of his troops, who were unaccustomed to the hot climate of the area, fell ill due to a summer heat wave. Upon learning of this, Probus launched raids around the city, in order to weaken the morale of Florianus' forces. This strategy was successful, and Florianus lost control of his army, which in September rose up against him and killed him. Florianus' reign lasted less than three months, 88 days according to the Chronograph of 354 and 80 days according to Eutropius.

Probus

Marcus Aurelius Probus (/ˈproʊbəs/; 19 August 232 – September 282) was Roman emperor from 276 to 282. Probus was an active and successful general as well as a conscientious administrator, and in his reign of six years he secured prosperity for the inner provinces while withstanding repeated invasions of barbarian tribes on almost every sector of the frontier.

After repelling the foreign enemies of the empire Probus was forced to handle several internal revolts, but demonstrated leniency and moderation to the vanquished wherever possible. In his reign the constitutional authority of the Roman Senate was fastidiously maintained, and the victorious Emperor, who had carried his army to victory over the Rhine, professed himself dependent on the sanction of the Senate.

Upon defeating the Germans, Probus re-erected the ancient fortifications of emperor Hadrian between the Rhine and Danube rivers, protecting the Agri Decumates, and exacted from the vanquished a tribute of manpower to resettle depopulated provinces within the empire and provide for adequate defense of the frontiers. Despite his widespread popularity, Probus was killed in a mutiny of the soldiers while in the middle of preparations for the Persian war, which would be carried out under his successor Carus.

Early life

Probus was born between 230 and 235 (exact date of birth unknown) in Sirmium (modern day Sremska Mitrovica), Pannonia Inferior, the son of Dalmatius. According to the Alexandrian Chronicle, he was born sometime in the year 232.

Military career

Probus entered the army around 250 upon reaching adulthood. He rose rapidly through the ranks, repeatedly earning high military decorations. Appointed as a military tribune by the emperor Valerian, at a very young age, in recognition of his latent ability, [citation needed] he justified the choice by a distinguished victory over the Sarmatians on the Illyrian frontier. During the chaotic years of the reign of Valerian, Illyria was the only province, generaled by such officers as Claudius, Aurelian and Probus, where the barbarians were kept at bay, while Gaul was overrun by the Franks, Rhaetia by the Alemans, Thrace and the Mediterranean by the Goths, and the east by Shapur I. Probus became amongst the highest placed lieutenants of Aurelian, reconquering Egypt from Zenobia in 273 A.D. Emperor Tacitus, upon his accession in 275, appointed Probus supreme chief of the east, granting him extraordinary powers in order to secure a dangerous frontier. Though the details are not specified, he is said to have fought with success on almost every frontier of the empire, before his election as emperor by the troops upon Tacitus' death of old age in 276, in his camp in Asia Minor.

As emperor

Florian, the half-brother of Tacitus, also proclaimed himself emperor, and took control of Tacitus' army in Asia Minor, but was killed by his own soldiers after an indecisive campaign against Probus in the mountains of Cilicia. In contrast to Florian, who ignored the wishes of the senate, Probus referred his claim to Rome in a respectful dispatch. The senate enthusiastically ratified his pretensions. Probus next travelled west, defeating the Goths along the lower Danube in 277, and acquiring the title of Gothicus. However, the Goths came to respect his ability and implored a treaty with the empire.

In 278, Probus campaigned successfully in Gaul against the Alamanni and Longiones; both tribes had advanced through the Neckar valley and across the Rhine into Roman territory. Meanwhile, his generals defeated the Franks and these operations were directed to clearing Gaul of Germanic invaders (Franks and Burgundians), allowing Probus to adopt the titles of Gothicus Maximus and Germanicus Maximus. Reportedly, 400,000 barbarians were killed during Probus' campaign, and the entire nation of the Lugii were extirpated.

After the defeat of the Germanic invaders in Gaul, Probus crossed the Rhine to campaign successfully against the Barbarians in their homeland, forcing them to pay homage. In the aftermath of the campaign, Probus repaired the ancient fortifications erected by Hadrian in the vulnerable space between the Rhine and Danube, in the territory of Swabia. More significantly, Probus, by forcing from the vanquished tribes a tribute of manpower, established the precedent of settling barbarians within the empire as auxiliaries on a large scale. The provinces were depopulated by war, disease and the chaotic administration, heavy taxation, and extensive army recruitment, during the crisis of the Third century, and the barbarian colonies, at least in the short term, helped to restore frontier defense and the practice of agriculture.

The army discipline which Aurelian had repaired was cultivated and extended under Probus, who was however more shy in the practice of cruelty. One of his principles was never to allow the soldiers to be idle, and to employ them in time of peace on useful works, such as the planting of vineyards in Gaul, Pannonia and other districts, in order to restart the economy in these devastated lands.

In 279–280, Probus was, according to Zosimus, in Raetia, Illyricum and Lycia, where he fought the Vandals. In the same years, Probus' generals defeated the Blemmyes in Egypt. Either then, or during his previous command in Egypt, he ordered the reconstruction of bridges and canals along the Nile, where the production of grain for the Empire was centered.

In 280–281, Probus put down three usurpers, Julius Saturninus, Proculus and Bonosus. The extent of these revolts is not clear, but there are clues that they were not just local problems (an inscription with the name of Probus erased has been found as far as Spain). Following this, Probus then put down a revolt by an unnamed rebel in Britain with the assistance of a certain Victorinus, who was later made consul in 282. During the winter of 281, the emperor was in Rome, where he celebrated his well-deserved triumph.

Probus was eager to start his eastern campaign, delayed by the revolts in the west. He left Rome in 282, travelling first towards Sirmium, his birth city.

Assassination

Different accounts of Probus's death exist. According to Joannes Zonaras, the commander of the Praetorian Guard Marcus Aurelius Carus had been proclaimed, more or less unwillingly, emperor by his troops.

Probus sent some troops against the new usurper, but when those troops changed sides and supported Carus, Probus' remaining soldiers assassinated him at Sirmium (September/October 282). According to other sources, however, Probus was killed by disgruntled soldiers, who rebelled against his orders to be employed for civic purposes, like draining marshes. Allegedly, the soldiers were provoked when they overheard him lamenting the necessity of a standing army. Carus was proclaimed emperor after Probus' death and avenged the murder of his predecessor.

Legacy

According to the favorable treatment of Gibbon (whose account is largely derived from the Augustan History), Probus was the last of the benevolent constitutional emperors of Rome. While his successor Carus (Imp. 282–284) simply disdained to seek the senate's confirmation of his title, the latter's successor Diocletian (Imp. 284–305) took active measures to undermine its authority, and established the autocratic nature and divine derivation of the Imperial power. Never again, after Diocletian's reforms, would the Roman senate play an active role in the management of the empire. On the military sphere, Probus' victories continued the succession of martial Illyrian emperors begun by Claudius Gothicus, which restored the military supremacy of Rome after defeats sustained during the crisis of the third century.

Carus 

Marcus Aurelius Carus (c. 222 – July or August 283) was Roman emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success.

He died while campaigning against the Sassanid Empire and is believed to have died of unnatural causes. It was reported that he had been struck by lightning. He was succeeded by his sons Carinus and Numerian, creating a dynasty which, though short-lived, provided further stability to the resurgent empire.[citation needed]

Biography

Carus, whose name before the accession may have been Marcus Numerius Carus, was born, according to differing accounts, either in Gaul, Illyricum or Africa. Modern scholarship inclines to the former view, placing his birth at Narbo (modern Narbonne) in Gallia Narbonensis, though he was educated in Rome. Little can be said with certainty of his life and rule. Due to the decline of literature, the arts, and the want of any good historians of that age, what is known is almost invariably involved in contradiction and doubt. He was apparently a senator and filled various posts, both civil and military, before being appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus in 282.

Two traditions surround his accession to the throne in August or September of 282. According to some mostly Latin sources, he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers after the murder of Probus by a mutiny at Sirmium. Greek sources however claim that he rose against Probus in Raetia in a usurpation and had him killed. The often unreliable Historia Augusta is aware of both traditions, although it prefers the former. He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, contenting himself with an announcement to the Senate. This was a marked departure from the constitutionalism of his immediate predecessors, Tacitus and Probus, who at least outwardly respected the authority of the senate, and was the precursor to the even more despotic military autocracy of Diocletian.

Campaign against the Sassanids and death

Bestowing the title of Caesar upon his sons Carinus and Numerian, he left Carinus in charge of the western portion of the empire to look after some disturbances in Gaul and took Numerian with him on an expedition against the Persians, which had been contemplated by Probus. Having inflicted a severe defeat on the Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube, for which he was given the title Germanicus Maximus, Carus proceeded through Thrace and Asia Minor, annexed Mesopotamia, pressed on to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and marched his soldiers beyond the Tigris.

The Sassanid King Bahram II, limited by internal opposition and his troops occupied with a campaign in modern-day Afghanistan, could not effectively defend his territory. The Sasanians, faced with severe internal problems, could not mount an effective coordinated defense at the time; Carus and his army may have captured the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon. The victories of Carus avenged all the previous defeats suffered by the Romans against the Sassanids, and he received the title of Persicus Maximus. Rome's hopes of further conquest, however, were cut short by his death; Carus died in Sasanian territory, probably of unnatural causes, as he was reportedly struck by lightning.

Legacy

Like the conquests of Trajan, 160 years before, Carus' gains were immediately relinquished by his successor. His son Numerian, naturally of an unwarlike disposition, was forced by the army to retreat back over the Tigris. The report of the lightning strike was evidently widely accepted in the camp, and the superstitious awe of the troops inclined them to ascribe Carus' death to the wrath of the Gods. Rumors had been spread of dark oracles, affixing the limits of the Empire on the Tigris, and threatening destruction against the Roman who should presume beyond the river in arms. Persia was abandoned to her rightful possessors, and not till Diocletian, a decade later, was the Persian contest decided in Rome's favor, by that emperor's decisive victory.

In the sphere of civil affairs, Carus is remembered principally for the final suppression of the authority of the senate, which had been partially restored under Tacitus and Probus. He declined to accept their ratification of his election, informing them of the fact by a haughty and distant dispatch. He was the last emperor to have united a civil with a military education, in that age when the two were increasingly detached; Diocletian (Imp. 284–305), who succeeded Carus after the brief reign of the latter's sons, was to confirm and formalize the separation of professions, and the autocratic foundation of the imperial rule.

Though Carus was known throughout his life for his austere and virtuous manners, the suspicion of his complicity in Probus' death, along with his haughty conduct towards the senate, tarnished his reputation before his death, and Julian, as Gibbon observes, conspicuously places him among the tyrants of Rome, in his catalogue of The Caesars.

Carinus 

Marcus Aurelius Carinus (died 285) was Roman emperor from 283 to 285. The elder son of emperor Carus, he was first appointed Caesar and in the beginning of 283 co-emperor of the western portion of the empire by his father. Official accounts of his character and career, which portray him as debauched and incapable, have been filtered through the propaganda of his successful opponent, Diocletian.

Reign

After the death of Emperor Probus in a spontaneous mutiny of the army in 282, his praetorian prefect, Carus, ascended to the throne. The latter, upon his departure for the Persian war, elevated his two sons to the title of Caesar. Carinus, the elder, was left to handle the affairs of the west in his absence, while the younger, Numerian, accompanied his father to the east.

Carinus at least initially acquitted himself ably of his commission, displaying some merit in the suppression of disturbances in Gaul and against the Quadi, but the young emperor soon left the defence of the Upper Rhine to his legates and returned to Rome, where the surviving accounts, which demonize him, assert that he abandoned himself to all kinds of profligacy and excess. Reportedly, he managed to wed and divorce nine separate women during his short rule in Rome, and made the infamy of his private life notorious. He is supposed to have initiated persecution against many whom he considered to have treated him with insufficient respect before his elevation; to have alienated the senate by his open aversion and contempt; and to have prostituted the imperial dignity with the various low entertainments which he introduced into the court.

Carus, when he heard of his son's deportment in the capital, declared his intention of degrading him from his station, and substituting Constantius Chlorus, then already marked for ability and virtue, in his place. However, Carus died soon thereafter in the middle of the Persian war, and the two young Caesars jointly succeeded him.

Carinus back in Rome in the aftermath of his accession organized the celebration of the annual games, the ludi Romani, on a scale of unexampled magnificence. At the same time Numerian was forced by the soldiers to abandon their father's ambitious campaign in the east, due to their superstitions at Carus' death, which occurred allegedly by a bolt of lightning.

Numerian headed with his army for Rome, where a triumph was awaiting him, leaving the Persians astonished by the inexplicable retirement of a victorious army. However, Numerian's health was broken by the climate, and being unable to bear the heat of the sun, was borne on the march in a covered litter. Arrius Aper, the Praetorian prefect, assumed the conduct of affairs in his name, but his ambitious temper excited the suspicion of the troops. At Heraclea in Thrace they broke into the Imperial tent, and Numerian was found dead. Diocletian, commander of the body-guards, affirmed that Numerian had been assassinated by the praefect, and after executing the latter he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers.

Carinus left Rome at once and set out for the east to meet Diocletian. On his way through Pannonia he put down the usurper Sabinus Julianus and in July 285 he encountered the army of Diocletian at the Battle of the Margus River (the modern Morava River) in Moesia.

Death in 285

Historians differ on what then ensued. At the Battle of the Margus, according to one account, the valour of his troops had gained the day, but Carinus was assassinated by a tribune whose wife he had seduced. Another account represents the battle as resulting in a complete victory for Diocletian, and claims that Carinus' army deserted him. This account may be confirmed by the fact that Diocletian kept in service Carinus' Praetorian Guard commander, Titus Claudius Aurelius Aristobulus.

Character

Carinus has a reputation as one of the worst Roman emperors. This infamy may have been supported by Diocletian himself. For example, the (unreliable) Historia Augusta, as previously mentioned, has Carinus marrying nine wives, while neglecting to mention his only real wife, Magnia Urbica, by whom he had a son, Marcus Aurelius Nigrinianus.

After his death, Carinus' memory was officially condemned in the Roman proceeding known as damnatio memoriae. His name, along with that of his wife, was erased from inscriptions.

Numerian 

Numerian (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus; died November 284) was Roman emperor from 283 to 284 with his older brother Carinus. They were sons of Carus, a general raised to the office of praetorian prefect under Emperor Probus in 282.

Early life and Carus' reign

Numerian was the younger son of Carus. In 282, the legions of the upper Danube in Raetia and Noricum proclaimed as emperor Numerian's father, the praetorian prefect Marcus Aurelius Carus, after a mutiny against the emperor Probus, in which the latter was killed. By one account, Carus had himself rebelled against the emperor, and Probus' army, stationed in Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), decided they did not wish to fight Carus and assassinated their emperor instead. According to the Historia Augusta and the view accepted by Gibbon, whose opinion is primarily dependent on the Historia Augustaas a source, Carus was not responsible for Probus's death, and inflicted severe punishment upon the murderers. Carus, already sixty, wished to establish a dynasty and immediately elevated Carinus and Numerian to the rank of Caesar.

In 283, Carus left Carinus in charge of the West and moved with Numerian and his praetorian prefect Arrius Aper to the East to wage war against the Sassanid Empire. The Sassanids had been embroiled in a succession dispute since the death of Shapur and were in no position to oppose Carus' advance.

According to Zonaras, Eutropius, and Festus, Carus won a major victory against the Persians, taking Seleucia and the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon (near modern Al-Mada'in, Iraq), cities on opposite banks of the Tigris. In celebration, Numerian, Carus, and Carinus all took the title Persici maximi. Carus died in July or early August of 283, allegedly due to a strike of lightning.

Numerian and Carinus as Augusti

The death of Carus left Numerian and Carinus as the new Augusti. Carinus quickly made his way to Rome from Gaul, arriving in January 284, while Numerian lingered in the East. The Roman retreat from Persia was orderly and unopposed, for the Persian King, Bahram II, was still struggling to establish his authority.

By March 284, Numerian had only reached Emesa (Homs) in Syria; by November, only Asia Minor. In Emesa he was apparently still alive and in good health, as he issued the only extant rescript in his name there. Coins were issued in his name in Cyzicus at some time before the end of 284, but it is impossible to know whether he was still in the public eye by that point.

After Emesa, Numerian's staff, including the prefect Aper, reported that Numerian suffered from an inflammation of the eyes and had to travel in a closed coach. When the army reached Bithynia, or Thrace, some of Numerian's soldiers smelled an odor reminiscent of a decaying corpse emanating from the coach. They opened its curtains and found Numerian dead. Gibbon, however, dismisses with derision the report of the stench of Numerian's decay: "Could no aromatics be found in the Imperial household?"

After Numerian's death

Aper officially broke the news of Numerian's death in Nicomedia (İzmit) in November 284, though Gibbon represents the occurrence of this event at Heraclea, in Thrace, and the discovery, which the prefect attempted to conceal, as due to the forwardness of the soldiery, who forced open the Imperial tent to investigate for themselves the situation of their invisible monarch. Numerian's generals and tribunes called a council for the succession, which met at Chalcedon across the Bosphorus, where they chose as emperor Diocletian, commander of the cavalry arm of the imperial bodyguard, despite Aper's attempts to garner support. The army of the east unanimously saluted their new Augustus. Diocletian accepted the purple imperial vestments and raised his sword to the light of the sun, swearing an oath denying responsibility for Numerian's death. He asserted that Aper had killed Numerian and concealed the deed. In full view of the army, Diocletian then turned and killed Aper, who had been hauled bound before the assembly.

Character

According to the Historia Augusta, Numerian was a man of considerable literary attainments, remarkably amiable, and known as a great orator and poet. Allegedly, the senate raised him a statue, inscribed To the most powerful of orators.

And that's the stories of today. Tomorrow we will learn about Diocletian, Maximian , Constantius Chlorus, Galerius and Severus II . Until tomorrow....

Be nice and listen to your mummy!

I'm so sorry because another day was passed and I didn't hug you! Please forgive me!

I miss you a lot my little penguin 🐧!

I love you infinite ♾️!