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The Reign of Aurelian

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CHAPTER VI THE REIGN OF AURELIAN 1. SPRING A.D. 270 TO THE END OF 275 The period of nearly a half century from the accession of Alexan­ der Severus to the reign of L. Domitius Aurelianus was one in which the political, religious, and administrative situation in Rome and throughout the Empire underwent a phase of extreme dis­ organization known as the time of the "soldier emperors". This period between the emperors Elagabalus and Aurelian, the two promulgators of the syncretic sun cult, was characterized by instability and disruption. The rapid succession of soldier emperors not only weakened imperial authority but caused great confusion in all quarters, not least in the religious sphere. The impetus towards syncretism associated with Sol Invictus was allowed to fade with little opposition. The cult continued, but its adherents had lost their original fervour. The much-needed reforms were carried out by Aurelian as the crux of his efforts to establish political unification. Aurelian 1 Lucius Domitius Aurelianus was born near Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior on the 5th of September, A.D. 2I+ According to his biography in the Historia Aztgusta, his mother was a priestess of the sun god. Although this has been questioned, it is quite likely 2. The 1 L. Homo, Essai sur le regne de l' empereur A urelien in Bibliotheque des Ecoles franraises d'Athimes et de Rome, fasc. 89, Paris 1904; P. Schnabel, Die Chronologie Aurelians in Klio, XX (1926), pp. 363 f.; A. Stein, Aurelian in Klio, XXI (1927), pp. 78 f.; W. H. Fischer, The Augustan vita Aurelian in journal of Roman Studies (1929), pp. 125 f.; E. Groag, Collegien und Zwanggenossenschaften im 3. jahrhundert, Stuttgart 1904, II, pp. 481 f.; B. Filow, Die Teilung des Aurelianischen Dakien in Klio, XII (1912), pp. 234 f.; A. Piganiol, Histoire de Rome, Paris 19544, with extensive bibliography. 2 Historia Augusta, Vita Aureliani, 4,2: Matrem eius, Callicrates Tyrius Graecorum longe doctissimus scriptor, sacerdotem templi Solis qui in vico eo, in quo habitabant parentes, ... fuisse dicit. Ibid., 5,5: Data est ei praeterea, cum THE REIGN OF AURELIAN I3I numerous sanctuaries of the sun cult show that the worship of the sun god in the provinces of Dacia and Pannonia was for a long time very important. Moreover, the ancient Italian cult of the sun god in Rome was patronised by the gens Aurelia and had become, so to speak, the house cult of the gens 1. It is therefore quite possible that the mother of the man who was to become Emperor Aurelian, the wife of a colonus of Senator Aurelius and perhaps herself a freed­ woman of the Aurelii, held the sun god in special esteem and that she was, for these reasons, chosen in preference to others to be the priestess of Deus Sol in her home district. About Aurelian's youth we know little. When he was still a boy he gave evidence of possessing a keen intelligence, a strong body, and the stamina to undergo exhausting military exercises 2. Shortly after the death of Alexander Severus in A.D. 234 he began his military career. His talents and impressive appearance earned him the increasing regard of his superiors. After the death of Claudius and of Quintillus at Sirmium, he was acclaimed emperor in the spring of A.D. 270, in accordance with the wishes of Claudius 3. Aurelian's main ambition was the unification of the far-flung parts of the Empire and the renewal of their ties with the central authority, as well as the restoration of imperial prestige, which had suffered greatly under the various wars and the rapid suc­ cession of emperors. After first defeating the Iuthungi, he went to Rome to gather up the reins of authority'. His first stay in the capital was brief; he arrived towards the end of the spring of 270 and departed in the autumn to drive the Vandals out of Pannonia. From the close of 27I legatus ad Persas isset, patera, qualis solet imperatoribus dari a Rege Persarum, in qua insculptus erat Sol habitu quo colebatur ab eo templo, in quo mater eius fuerat sacerdos. 1 Sextus Pompeius Festus, De verborttm significatu quae supersunt, 18, p. 22 (ed. W. M. Lindsay, Teubner, 1933): Aureliam familiam ex Sabinis oriundam a Sole dicta m putant, quod ei publice a populo romano datus sit locus, in quo sacra faceret Soli, qui ex hoc A ureli dicebantur, ut Valesii, Papisii pro eo quod est Valerii, PaPirii. (Cited by L. Homo, op. cit., p. 28). 2 Historia A ugusta, Vita A ureliani, 4, I: A prima aetate ingenio vivacissimus viribus clarus, nullum unquam diem praetermisit, quamvis festum, quamvis vacantem, quo non se Pilo et sagittae ceterisque armorum exerceret officiis. 3 Zonaras, XII, 26. 4 The only text mentioning this short visit to Rome is that of Zosimos, I, 48. .
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