Avidius Cassius

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Gaius Avidius Cassius (* around 130 in Kyrrhos ; † July 175 ) was a Roman usurper who ruled Egypt and Syria for a short time in 175.

Life

Avidius Cassius was the son of Gaius Avidius Heliodorus , who traced his descent to the Seleucids and brought it to the praefectus Aegypti . Cassius, admitted to the Roman Senate under Antoninus Pius , made an excellent military career - in 162 he was responsible for the operational management of the Parthian War that had broken out . The exact stages of his career are unknown. In 166 he became governor of Syria. In 172 at the latest, the other provinces of the east also joined. In this position he got to know Emperor Lucius Verus and his wife Lucilla better. In 172 he ended the uprising of the Bucoles in Egypt.

175 Cassius was after a false report of the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius the Roman emperor proclaimed. When he stuck to the proclamation after being informed that Marcus Aurelius was alive, the latter prepared the war, but hoped that Cassius would not be killed or commit suicide because he intended to pardon him.

Although Cassius gained control of one of the essential parts of the Roman Empire - Egypt was one of the main suppliers of grain to the city of Rome - he did not succeed in gaining broad support for his rebellion. The governor of Cappadocia , Martius Verus , remained loyal to Marcus Aurelius. After three months, Cassius was murdered by a centurion .

swell

Avidius Cassius is best known from the Roman history of Cassius Dio , who reports on the rise and fall of his namesake in 71, 22, as well as from the (not too reliable) biography of the Historia Augusta . Usurper's coins have not been found.

literature

  • Falko von Saldern: Studies on the politics of Commodus (= historical studies of the University of Würzburg. Volume 1). Leidorf, Rahden 2003, ISBN 3-89646-833-2 , pp. 13-23.
  • Jürgen Spieß : Avidius Cassius and the uprising of 175. Dissertation Munich 1975.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cassius Dio 71, 4.
  2. ↑ Historia Augusta , Avidius Cassius ; Lucius Verus 7.1; Marcus Aurelius 21.1; 24.5.
personal data
SURNAME Avidius Cassius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avidius Cassius, Gaius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman military and member of the Roman Senate
DATE OF BIRTH at 130
DATE OF DEATH July 175