Philippus, Feb. 244—Sept. 249.
10. The reign of M. Julius Philippus was interrupted by several insurrections, especially in Pannonia; until at length Decius, whom he himself had sent thither to quell the rebellion, was compelled by the troops to assume the diadem. Philip was soon after defeated by him near Verona, where he perished, together with his son of the same name. In this reign the secular games, ludi sæculares, were celebrated, one thousand years from the foundation of the city.
247.
Sept. 249—Oct. 251.
250.
Gallus.
11. Under the reign of his successor, Trajanus Decius, aged fifty, the Goths for the first time forced their way into the Roman empire by crossing the Danube; and although Decius in the beginning opposed them with success, he was at last slain by them in Thrace, together with his son, Cl. Herennius Decius, already created Cæsar. Upon this the army proclaimed C. Trebonianus Gallus emperor, who created his son, Volusian, Cæsar; and having invited Hostilian, the yet remaining son of Decius, with the ostensible purpose of securing his cooperation, he nevertheless soon contrived to get rid of him. He purchased a peace of the Goths; but, despised by his generals, he became involved in a war with his victorious lieutenant, Æmilianus, May 253. Æmilius Æmilianus, in Mœsia, and was slain, together with his son, by his own army. In three months, however, Æmilianus shared the same fate; Publius Licinius Valerianus, the friend and avenger of Gallus, advancing against him with the legions stationed in Gaul. Both the people and army hoped to see the empire restored under Valerian. Valerian, already sixty years of age; but, although his generals defended the frontiers against the Germans and Goths, he himself had the misfortune to be defeated and taken prisoner by the superior forces of the Persians. Upon this event his son and associate in the empire, P. Licinius Gallienus, 259—968. Gallienus, who knew everything except the art of governing, reigned alone. Under his indolent rule the Roman empire seemed on one hand ready to be split into a number of small states, while on the other it seemed about to fall a prey to the barbarians; for the lieutenants in most of the provinces declared themselves independent of a prince whom they despised, and to which, indeed, they were driven, like Posthumius in Gaul, for their own security.—There were nineteen of these; but as many of them named their sons Cæsars, this period has been very improperly distinguished by the name of the thirty tyrants, although their intolerable oppressions might well justify the latter expression. The Persians at the same time were victorious in the east, and the Germans in the west.
The German nations which were now become so formidable to the Roman empire, were: 1. The great confederation of tribes under the name of Franks, who spread over Gaul along the whole extent of the Lower Rhine. 2. The allied nations of the Alemanni on the Upper Rhine. 3. The Goths, the most powerful of all, who had formed a monarchy upon the banks of the Lower Danube and the northern coasts of the Black sea, which soon extended from the Boristhenes to the Don; and who became formidable, not only by their land forces, but also by their naval power, especially after they had captured the peninsula of Crim Tartary (Chersonesus Taurica); and by means of their fleets they not only kept the Grecian, but likewise the Asiatic provinces in a continual state of alarm.
Trebelli Pollionis Valerianus, Gallieni duo, triginta tyranni, in Script. Hist. Aug.
† Concerning the thirty tyrants under the Roman emperor Gallienus, by J. C. F. Manso; at the end of his Life of Constantine.
Claudius, March, 268—Oct. 270.
12. Gallienus losing his life before Milan, in the war against Aureolus an usurper, had nevertheless recommended M. Aurelius Claudius (aged 45—47) for his successor. The new Augustus reestablished in some degree the tottering empire; not only by taking Aureolus prisoner and defeating the Alemanni, but also by a decisive 269. victory gained at Nissa over the Goths, who had invaded Mœsia. He died, however, soon after, at Sirmium, of a pestilential disease, naming for his successor Aurelian, a hero like himself, who mounted the throne upon the death of Quintillus the late emperor's brother, who had at first proclaimed himself Augustus, but afterwards died by his own hand.
Trebellii Pollionis divus Claudius, in Script. Hist. Aug.