![]() Aurelian invaded with his usual determination and reconquered the region while chasing the Goths back over the Danube. Nonetheless, these are the great walls of Rome that still remain largely intact today.Īurelian then turned his attention to Thrace, which had been invaded by the Goths. Aurelian thus commissioned new defense walls (the Aurelian Walls) to encircle Rome itself, although they were not fully completed until the reign of Probus. ![]() It was the first time they saw their city as being vulnerable. The barbarian invasions had made a profound impact upon Rome. ![]() Thereafter, Aurelian then introduced mintmarks to identify if any mint was cheating the silver content. In the rebellion, as many as 7,000 soldiers died when Aurelian was forced to trap and execute them and their allies, some of the senatorial rank, in a terrible battle on the Caelian Hills. Obviously, any reform to the monetary system that called for an increase in silver content would have been unprofitable for those running the mint for personal gain. It appears that those who had been running the mint were embezzling the intended silver and issuing the debased coinage at least in part on their own authority. He ordered that all the debased currency be purchased back and replaced with a new currency of higher content in silver. The controller of the mint in Rome began a rebellion over the monetary reforms laid out by Aurelian. He immediately halted the rioting and restored order to the capital. He marched against the Germans a second time and this time virtually exterminated them all.Īurelian returned to Rome in 271 AD, where he had to pacify a terrified city. However, the Germans were too disorganized to follow up on their victory, and Aurelian used the time to rebuild his defenses on the north. The tribes ambushed Aurelian near Placentia, defeating him and forcing a retreat into northern Italy. Once again, the German Juthungi threatened Rome but this time they allied themselves with the Alamanni and the Marcomanni. ![]() Aurelian responded quickly by crushing them in 270 – 271 AD. Shortly thereafter, Aurelian received an urgent request from the province of Pannonia, where the Vandals were on the attack. Aurelian then headed for Rome, where he received the imperial powers from a rather reluctant Senate. The Juthungi sued for peace, and Aurelian allowed them to return home. Aurelian forced the barbarians into a retreat and routed them on the Danube. It would be his determination alone that would postpone the collapse of the Roman Empire and win for him in the process, the title Restitutor Orbis, the “ Restorer of the World.”Īurelian began his restoration of the Empire by marching first against the Germanic Juthungi, who had invaded the province of Baetia and thus threatened Italy. The Empire, he concluded, had to be strengthened and reunified. The usurpers had virtually divided the Roman world with Tetricus on the Rhine at the head of a Gaulish Empire begun under Postumus and Zenobia, the Queen of Palmyra, stood in the East with various generals and pretenders in her camp.Īurelian, faced with enormous political and economic difficulties, took the only offensive course of action that was open to him. The barbarian hoards were threatening the frontiers across much of the north. The state of the Roman Empire was deplorable at the time when Aurelian came to power. His brother Quintillus aspired to the throne, but Aurelian gained the support of the army and was elevated to the throne over Quintillus, who later killed himself. A series of campaigns against the Goths followed, but in January 270 AD, Claudius died of the plague in Sirmium. ![]() Gallienus was murdered, and Claudius Gothicus became Emperor, with Aurelian serving as Master of the Horse. Aurelian’s reputation as a commander of the cavalry was perhaps his greatest strength.ĭuring the siege of Mediolanum (Milan), Aurelian became embroiled with Marcus Claudius (Claudius Gothicus) in an imperial intrigue. Aurelian adopted a military career, and by his skill, courage, and bodily strength he ultimately became one of the Empire’s greatest generals of the 3rd century. Lucius Domitius Aurelianus was born of humble parents at Sirmium sometime between 207 and 215 AD most likely on September 9th, 214 AD. ![]()
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