[00:04] At the height of Rome’s period of anarchy
during the third century, with the empire
[00:10] on the very brink of total collapse, a group
of tough soldier emperors took the throne
[00:15] for themselves and set about restoring what
had been lost.
[00:20] One of these formidable men, Aurelian, took
the Roman Empire with an iron grip, glued
[00:25] together its crumbling domain, and set the
stage for another two centuries of dominance.
[00:31] Welcome to our video on the Restorer of the
World.
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[01:56] One evening in early September of the year
268, Emperor Gallienus ate supper in his army’s
[02:02] camp near Mediolanum, which was under siege.
[02:05] He was there to deal with a treacherous general
named Aureolus, but that would not have been
[02:10] all on his mind.
[02:12] Rome was in total crisis.
[02:15] Almost a decade earlier, the empire had been
ripped into three pieces by Postumus’ revolt
[02:20] in the west, and a withering Sassanian assault
in the east.
[02:25] Moreover, barbarian attacks from across the
northern frontier were steadily getting worse.
[02:31] In the midst of his meal, Cecropius - one
of Gallienus’ commanders - brought word
[02:36] that their besieged enemy was readying a sortie.
[02:39] The emperor immediately got to his feet and
rushed off to deal with them.
[02:43] Suspecting nothing, Gallienus departed without
his personal guard and was quickly beset and
[02:49] killed by assassins from within his own ranks,
Cecropius among them.
[02:54] The perpetrators were a group of military
commanders from Illyria who had seen considerable
[02:59] advancement under the now-dead emperor and
his father Valerian.
[03:04] One of them was raised to the throne as Claudius
II.
[03:08] Also among the conspirators was the subject
of our video - Lucius Domitius Aurelianus.
[03:14] He had been born near Serdica on September
9th of either 214 or 215.
[03:20] After joining the army at about the age of
20, he rose through the ranks with astounding
[03:25] success.
[03:27] By 268 Aurelian was in his early fifties and
had risen to be a high ranking officer who
[03:33] was incredibly popular with the troops.
[03:36] He had earned so much renown for bravery and
talent that the nickname of manu ad ferrum
[03:41] - ‘hand on sword’ - became his.
[03:44] Upon taking the Roman throne, Claudius immediately
granted Aurelian a high cavalry command and
[03:50] effectively made him his right hand man.
[03:53] Together, they took up where Gallienus left
off.
[03:57] After quickly executing Aureolus, Claudius
II, with manu ad ferrum at his side, marched
[04:03] to Northern Italy and smashed an Alamanni
invasion at Lake Garda.
[04:08] The Romans then turned southeast and advanced
into the Balkans, where they managed to defeat
[04:13] a Gothic incursion into the Balkans at Naissus
in 269.
[04:18] In both of these triumphs and whilst mopping
up afterwards, Aurelian is said to have played
[04:22] a decisive role.
[04:25] Before Claudius Gothicus Maximus had a chance
to celebrate these victories, he died of plague
[04:30] in early 270, triggering yet another power
struggle.
[04:35] Quintilius - the late emperor’s brother
and commander of the troops in Italy - claimed
[04:39] the throne.
[04:41] However Aurelian, by far the most respected
and feared figure in the empire, was simultaneously
[04:47] acclaimed emperor by the legions who were
with him.
[04:50] Though Quintilius marshalled his forces at
Aquileia, it was not enough.
[04:55] By the time Aurelian and his legions neared
Italy, Quintilius’ troops had faltered,
[05:01] killed their commander, and confirmed the
ascension of Aurelian in September of 270.
[05:07] After deifying his short-lived predecessor,
Aurelian marched back to Pannonia, which was
[05:12] being threatened by a Vandal horde.
[05:15] The emperor first waged a war of attrition
against them, denying them food and supplies,
[05:20] then smashed the weakened barbarians in battle.
[05:24] As soon as Aurelian had repelled that Vandal
threat, he received word that a united Juthungi-Alamanni
[05:31] army had cut through Raetia and was making
a beeline for Italy.
[05:36] Rushing to protect the home province, Aurelian’s
forces caught up with the Germans near Placentia.
[05:41] However, the emperor had not been careful
enough, and his exhausted forces were ambushed
[05:47] near the city, resulting in a terrible defeat.
[05:50] Rumours of the humiliation sent Rome itself
into a panic, but Aurelian continued on as
[05:56] though nothing had happened, recovering from
a setback that would have been the end of
[06:01] lesser leaders.
[06:02] The emperor regrouped his army, pursued the
invaders south for a second time, and managed
[06:08] to defeat them by pinning their army against
the Metaurus river.
[06:12] Despite its losses, the Juthungi-Alamanni
coalition was still strong, but Aurelian was
[06:17] not willing to allow the enemy to retreat
with any Roman spoils.
[06:22] After hard, uncompromising negotiations, and
without any further fighting, the barbarians
[06:28] eventually departed empty-handed.
[06:31] Having dealt with all of this external pressure
in a mere nine months, Aurelian was also keen
[06:36] to deal with corruption at home.
[06:39] When the corrupt rationalis - or chief financial
minister of the Roman mint - was confronted
[06:44] about his own underhanded operations, he incited
his workers, who feared Aurelian’s retribution,
[06:51] to riot.
[06:53] Quintilius-sympathising senators, disruption
of the grain supply from now Palmyrene-controlled
[06:57] Egypt and the prior months’ invasion scare
ratcheted up the tension to the point that
[07:03] the riot turned into small-scale pitched battles.
[07:07] Up to 7,000 were dead by the time Aurelian
subdued the city with an iron fist.
[07:12] Ringleaders, including senators, were summarily
rounded up and executed.
[07:17] However, along with this punitive solution,
the emperor also took measures to prevent
[07:22] future unrest.
[07:24] Beginning in 271 and continuing throughout
the rest of his reign, Aurelian attempted
[07:29] to stabilise the coinage and harshly deal
with corruption.
[07:34] Most notable of his financial reforms however,
was the strategic relocation of mints away
[07:40] from Rome, instead favouring strategic locations,
such as Milan and Siscia, where pay could
[07:46] more easily be transported to the armies.
[07:49] It was also clear to Aurelian that Rome’s
legions and age-old frontier defences were
[07:55] no longer sufficient to protect the empire’s
heartland; individual cities now needed their
[08:01] own fortifications.
[08:02] So, the construction of a series of practical,
non-aesthetic defensive walls began around
[08:08] Rome, which still remain in the modern day
- the Aurelian walls.
[08:14] Having done this, Aurelian marshaled the legions
and moved to meet a Gothic raid in the Balkans.
[08:20] He arrived during the autumn of 271 and quickly
pushed them back across the river Danube.
[08:26] Not content to let the barbarians off so easily,
the emperor crossed the river into enemy territory,
[08:32] defeated the Goths decisively, and killed
their king - Cannabaudes.
[08:37] It is possible that this Gothic ruler was
the same individual as Cniva, the raider who
[08:42] had defeated Decius at Abritus two decades
earlier.
[08:47] In the wake of this last conflict, Aurelian
acknowledged that the province of Dacia, which
[08:52] was beyond the Danube frontier, was a pointless
exertion of imperial resources and a vulnerable
[08:58] gateway into the empire.
[09:01] To remedy this, Aurelian ordered that all
legionary forces and citizens withdraw from
[09:06] the region, effectively abandoning the province.
[09:10] The border was consolidated and shortened
on the near side of the river, and a deal
[09:15] was negotiated with a tribe of friendly Germans
to settle in the abandoned area as a buffer.
[09:21] It must have been a big step for the conservative
Romans to voluntarily and pragmatically admit
[09:26] to this, and it is a sign of Aurelian’s
adaptable and charismatic nature.
[09:32] With his central section of the empire safe
for the time being, Aurelian set about mustering
[09:37] one of the greatest armies of the third century
throughout the winter months of 271.
[09:43] It was made up of some of the most veteran
military units in the empire, including a
[09:48] core of legions from Pannonia, Raetia, Noricum
and Moesia.
[09:52] To supplement that, Aurelian also brought
along some loyal, elite vexillationes which
[09:57] had been with him since the beginning, along
with contingents of Dalmatian and Mauritanian
[10:02] cavalry who had proven their worth in the
Gothic war.
[10:07] When spring of 272 was near, the emperor ferried
his great invading force across the Hellespont
[10:13] and began a steady march across Asia Minor.
[10:17] His ultimate aim was an ambitious one - to
reclaim the eastern empire from the de facto
[10:22] Palmyrene ruler, Zenobia, who ruled on behalf
of her young son Vaballathus.
[10:28] As Aurelian rode at the head of the main field
army, he also sent a naval taskforce to reclaim
[10:34] Egypt in May.
[10:36] It was possibly, but not certainly, under
the command of future emperor Probus.
[10:42] Very little detail is known of the campaign,
but the recently captured Palmyrene possession
[10:46] was weakly held, and the Romans recaptured
it by midsummer.
[10:52] Meanwhile to the north, Aurelian’s advance
was almost totally unopposed until he reached
[10:57] the Cappadocian city of Tyana, which refused
to admit the emperor.
[11:02] He was so infuriated by this defiance that
he pledged not to leave even a dog alive once
[11:08] the city fell to his armies.
[11:10] However, the relatively short siege cooled
Aurelian’s temper and he came to realise
[11:15] that leniency would be a more prudent course
of action in the long term.
[11:20] To that end, he ordered that his triumphant
army spare the citizens rather than slaying
[11:25] them.
[11:26] He was to be a liberator of these Roman lands,
rather than a vicious foreign conqueror.
[11:31] News of this angered the soldiers, who were
denied their opportunity to sack Tyana.
[11:36] They reminded Aurelian of the pledge he had
made, but the emperor was not intimidated,
[11:42] replying that “I did indeed decree that
no dog should be allowed to live.
[11:46] Well then, kill all the dogs!”
[11:49] The angry soldiers were pleased with the joke
and set about carrying out their ruler’s
[11:54] orders with calmed tempers.
[11:57] Such clemency proved to be a wise strategy.
[12:00] After Tyana no city in Asia Minor resisted
Aurelian’s march, and he emerged from the
[12:05] Cilician gates into Syria, ready to confront
the Palmyrenes in their home territory.
[12:11] Zenobia’s greatest general Zabdas placed
his army in between Aurelian and Antioch.
[12:17] Instead of attacking the great city from the
north, where the tactical incentive lay with
[12:22] Zabdas, Aurelian instead shifted his forces
to outflank him from the east.
[12:27] Worrying that this would move the clash into
unfavourable terrain and onto his own line
[12:32] of retreat, the Palmyrene general sent most
of his cavalry to intercept Aurelian on the
[12:38] eastern shores of Lake Antioch.
[12:41] Rather than risking his infantry against Zabdas’
cataphracts, the Roman emperor sent out his
[12:46] horsemen to bait the enemy into a trap.
[12:49] When the Palmyrene heavy cavalry charged,
the lighter armoured and armed Roman units
[12:54] fled at the first contact, fleeing several
kilometres towards the town of Immae.
[13:00] When the overburdened cataphracts and their
horses began to slow down from exhaustion,
[13:05] Aurelian’s cavalry turned and countercharged
them, scattering the Palmyrene forces, winning
[13:10] a decisive victory and allowing the emperor
to sit on the enemy’s line of retreat.
[13:16] Zenobia and Zabdas’ defeat led them to abandon
Antioch and retreat south to Emesa, where
[13:22] it is said that 60,000 of Aurelian’s men
faced 70,000 of Zenobia and Zabdas.
[13:29] Aurelian once again tried to lure the Palmyrene
cataphractarii into a similar trap.
[13:34] But this time the maneuver went wrong and
the emperor’s cavalry caught the brunt of
[13:39] the enemy’s charge, resulting in massive
losses and a near-rout.
[13:44] The veteran legions of Aurelian were still
fighting however, and they managed to break
[13:49] the Palmyrene infantry in front of them.
[13:52] On the flanks, Zenobia’s cataphracts charged
too far, and were themselves cut to pieces
[13:57] when the Roman infantry pivoted to the wings
and smashed into them.
[14:02] The queen fled Emesa to Palmyra, leaving so
quickly that there was not even enough time
[14:06] to transport the treasury away from danger.
[14:10] As the sweltering high summer approached,
Aurelian wasted no time and embarked on a
[14:15] grueling march east through the desert, putting
the enemy capital under siege whilst also
[14:21] securing a deal with local bedouins to receive
food.
[14:26] Realising that her only hope for aid now was
a personal appeal to the Sassanian king, Zenobia
[14:31] snuck through the Roman siege lines and attempted
to flee into Persian territory on a camel.
[14:37] However when the alarm was quickly raised,
the Palmyrene ruler was captured by Aurelian’s
[14:43] outriders and brought to the emperor.
[14:46] The besieged oasis’ population was divided,
but the emperor ended any uncertainty by ordering
[14:52] those who wished for peace to come out and
surrender.
[14:55] At first people were slow to do so, but when
they witnessed Aurelian’s mercy to the initial
[15:01] few, more and more came and submitted, giving
him gifts and tribute in return for pardon.
[15:08] Without any further shedding of blood, Aurelian
entered the city of Palmyra in total victory.
[15:13] Whilst present there, he trialed and executed
some of the main enemy leaders, including
[15:19] Zabdas, imposed a garrison upon the city,
and distributed much of its wealth to the
[15:25] soldiers.
[15:26] He also received an ambassador from the Sassanian
Empire who brought the shah’s congratulations
[15:31] on the great victory.
[15:33] His own realm was riven by internal strife
and could not risk a war against Aurelian’s
[15:38] power, even if the prize was such a great
one as Palmyra.
[15:43] The emperor’s most treasured prize was Zenobia
herself.
[15:46] She was spared, but suffered the indignity
of being paraded through Syria’s cities
[15:51] chained to a camel.
[15:52] This, and rumours of her cowardice in the
face of defeat, were designed to snuff out
[15:58] any lingering support the queen may have had.
[16:02] As he marched back to the city of Byzantium,
Aurelian assumed the title for which he is
[16:06] most well-known, restitutor orbis - ‘restorer
of the world’.
[16:11] Still, he had much to do.
[16:14] Upon his arrival in Europe, Aurelian crushed
yet another barbarian incursion into Moesia,
[16:19] but was then forced to return to Palmyra in
early 273 upon receiving intelligence from
[16:25] a loyal subordinate in the area that the city’s
leaders intended to betray him.
[16:30] For the second time in less than a year, the
presumably furious emperor approached Palmyra
[16:36] after a lightning quick march which took the
rebel leaders totally by surprise.
[16:41] There was no time to prepare proper defences,
and Aurelian took the city swiftly.
[16:47] Again he showed remarkable restraint in his
vengeance.
[16:50] The ringleaders were immediately slain, but
the citizens were permitted to leave.
[16:55] The city of Palmyra itself was not so lucky.
[16:58] Aurelian allowed his troops to ravage the
troublesome enemy capital; much of its wealth
[17:03] was plundered and many of its great structures
razed.
[17:07] After this second siege, Palmyra never again
regained its once-held importance and grandeur,
[17:13] becoming yet another irrelevant provincial
town on the Roman frontier.
[17:19] Before he returned to the west, Aurelian had
to march on Egypt and subdue a revolt there,
[17:24] securing Rome’s grain supplies.
[17:26] With all business in the east taken care of,
the emperor and his field army returned to
[17:31] the capital and set about preparing an expedition
to finally put an end to the Gallic Empire,
[17:38] which was at that point under the control
of Tetricus.
[17:41] By the time campaigning of 274 began, all
preparations were complete.
[17:47] Aurelian marched across the Alps to his foothold
in Gallia Narbonensis, then quickly took Lugdunum.
[17:52] The Gallic Empire was weak, but Tetricus nevertheless
rallied his Rhine legions and met Aurelian
[18:00] near Chalons in late February.
[18:03] Historians debate what truly happened, but
the contest was decided before the first pila
[18:08] was thrown.
[18:10] Either Aurelian’s superior generalship quickly
gained him mastery of the battlefield, or
[18:15] Tetricus made a deal with the emperor to submit
before any fighting was necessary.
[18:20] Whatever the case, the splinter empire in
Gaul and Britannia was extinguished, its military
[18:26] units were reintegrated into the Roman army,
and the empire was whole once again for the
[18:31] first time in fourteen years.
[18:34] With his victory now total, Aurelian went
back to the capital with his spoils in tow
[18:39] and hosted what might have been one of the
greatest triumphs in all of Roman history.
[18:45] Coming up first in the procession were vast
eastern treasures gained from the conquest
[18:49] of Palmyra, most prominent among the hoard
being three ornate royal chariots arrayed
[18:55] one behind the other.
[18:57] First among them was a fabulously crafted
vehicle, ordained with silver, gold, and jewels
[19:03] which had belonged to Odenathus before his
own death years before.
[19:08] The second was an equally masterful creation
- a Persian chariot which had been granted
[19:13] to Aurelian as a gift from the Sassanian king.
[19:17] Finally came the true prize, the Palmyrene
queen Zenobia herself, riding in a grand chariot
[19:23] that it is said she herself constructed.
[19:27] After this glorious display, vast amounts
of exotic animals were exhibited before the
[19:31] awestruck population of Rome, such as elephants,
tigers, giraffes, and elks.
[19:37] After them came rank upon rank of bound prisoners,
prominent men from Palmyra and barbarian tribes
[19:43] in the region - including representations
of the mythical amazons, who had been captured
[19:49] during the campaign.
[19:51] From his western conquest Aurelian’s highlight
was Tetricus, self proclaimed ‘emperor’,
[19:56] clad in a scarlet imperial cloak, yellow tunic
and Gallic trousers.
[20:01] Along with the western usurper was his son
whom the former had acclaimed co-emperor the
[20:06] year before his defeat.
[20:09] When the grand procession came to an end,
vast entertainments were held for days afterwards,
[20:14] including theatrical plays, chariot races
in the circus, wild beast hunts, gladiator
[20:20] fights, and even a naval battle reenactment.
[20:24] After all of the celebrations were over, Aurelian
still could not or would not rest on his laurels.
[20:30] As the fifth year of his reign dawned, the
emperor went west to deal with a minor Alamanni
[20:36] invasion, and then marched east into Thrace
in the summer.
[20:41] Because third century sources can be somewhat
unreliable, it is not agreed as to why Aurelian
[20:46] moved east.
[20:48] However, most historians either believe that
the emperor was in the Balkans to deal with
[20:52] a barbarian invasion, or to prepare for a
great offensive against the civil war-ridden
[20:57] Sassanian Empire, whose capture and humiliation
of Valerian had not been forgotten.
[21:04] Whatever the case, at some point in the middle
of 275 Aurelian encamped at a waystation on
[21:10] the road to Byzantium called Caenophurium,
which was next to the Sea of Marmara.
[21:15] It was to be his final resting place.
[21:18] While he was there, one of Aurelian’s administrators
of secretaries - a slave or freedman known
[21:24] as Eros - did an unknown deed which would
both be inevitably discovered and would inevitably
[21:30] bring the emperor’s notorious wrath upon
him when it was discovered.
[21:35] To save himself, Eros came up with a desperate
solution.
[21:39] Since the bureaucrat was able to imitate Aurelian’s
writing style, he forged a series of documents
[21:45] accusing many senior army officers of crimes
and misdeeds, and condemning those same men
[21:51] to death.
[21:52] When Eros showed the men this list, they were
terrified and reacted too quickly, without
[21:58] thought.
[21:59] A group of desperate conspirators, led by
a general known as Mucapor, waited until Aurelian
[22:05] dismissed his bodyguard, and then stabbed
their emperor to death.
[22:09] Yet, the assassination was not a crime of
hatred.
[22:13] When the reality of Eros’ deceit came to
light, the officers who had murdered the emperor
[22:18] were filled with a combination of guilt, grief,
and fury.
[22:22] It was all directed at the desperate secretary,
who the Historia Augusta tells us was tied
[22:27] to a stake and savaged by ravenous wild beasts.
[22:32] Just like that, with a crude act of deception,
the life of Aurelian came to an end in the
[22:37] middle of 275, only five years after he took
the throne.
[22:42] Grief struck the entire empire when it learned
of their great emperor’s passing.
[22:47] To indicate just what a significant occasion
it really was, the senate and the army did
[22:51] not jostle to install the new emperor.
[22:54] Conversely, they even bestowed that right
on the other party, aiming to push away the
[22:59] accusation of guilt.
[23:01] Eventually, Aurelian’s second in command
Probus came to the throne, and after a few
[23:06] more tentative years, Diocletian inherited
the Roman Empire and ended the crisis years.
[23:14] We will talk about Roman history more in the
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