Amandus (bagauden leader)

Coin image of Amandus (authenticity uncertain).

Amandus († 286 ?) Was a Bagauden leader in Gaul and usurper at the beginning of Diocletian's reign .

Life

In 285, Emperor Carinus was defeated by Diocletian. The brief power vacuum in the west of the empire was used by dissatisfied peasants (Bagauden) in Gaul and Hispania for an uprising. Amandus, one of their leaders, may have raised himself to the rank of emperor and made Aelianus co-regent. Diocletian responded to the threat by sending Caesar Maximian to Gaul and having the rebels overthrown with the help of Carausius - who shortly afterwards proclaimed himself emperor.

Amandus is mentioned in Eutropius ( Breviarum 9.20) and Aurelius Victor ( Liber de Caesaribus 39.17), both of whom are probably based on the same source (the so-called Enmann Imperial History ), as well as in Orosius (7.25.2) and Johannes Zonaras (12:31). Amandus was allegedly coins suggest that the legends Imp (erator) C (Aesar) C (AIUs) Amandus p (ius) f (elix) August (ustus) and Imp. S. Amandus pf Aug. carry. The coins are now mostly regarded as forgeries from the Renaissance period.

David Woods speculatively identifies Amandus with the fleet commander of the same name of Licinius in the sea battle at Kallipolis (324).

literature

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Amandus 1. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , p. 50.
Dietmar Kienast : Roman imperial table. Basic features of a Roman imperial chronology . 2nd Edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1996, ISBN 3-534-18240-5 , p. 276.
David Woods: Amandus: Rustic Rebel or Pirate Prince? In: Ancient History Bulletin 15 (1), 2001, pp. 44–49 ( online ; PDF; 405 kB).

Web links

Michael DiMaio Jr .: Short biography (English) at De Imperatoribus Romanis (with references).

Remarks

↑ The name Gnaeus Silvius Amandus, which is sometimes ascribed in the literature, is speculative.
↑ Brevarium 9.20
^ The Roman Imperial Coinage . Volume 5b, p. 595.
↑ Woods, Amandus , pp. 48f.

personal data
SURNAME	Amandus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Amandus, Gnaeus Silvius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman usurper in Gaul
DATE OF BIRTH	3rd century
DATE OF DEATH	at 286

[1] The name Gnaeus Silvius Amandus, which is sometimes ascribed in the literature, is speculative.

[2] Brevarium 9.20

[3] The Roman Imperial Coinage . Volume 5b, p. 595.

[4] Woods, Amandus , pp. 48f.