Candidianus

Candidianus (also Germanized Candian , with full name possibly Gaius Valerius Candidianus ; * around 297 in Thessaloniki , † 313 in Nicomedia ) was a son and possibly a short-term co-regent of the Roman emperor Galerius .

Life

Candidianus was born the illegitimate son of Galerius and a concubine and was therefore formally excluded from the line of succession (but see Constantine I ). He was adopted by Galerius' wife Galeria Valeria , a daughter of Diocletian , and thus received the legitimation to be able to take over the successor after the emperor's abdication in the 20th year of the reign (312). When it became apparent towards the end of the emperor's life that the system of government of the Tetrarchy would not assert itself against the dynastic principle, Galerius is said to have considered succession in the eastern part of the empire, bypassing the claims of his nephew Maximinus Daia , who rose to Augustus in 310 had to settle in favor of his biological son. It is uncertain whether Candidianus was formally elevated to Caesar or co-regent before the death of Galerius in 311 .

Candidianus fled with his stepmother before Licinius into the sphere of influence of Maximinus Daia, to whose daughter he was engaged. A little later, Valeria was exiled to the Syrian desert - allegedly because she had rejected a marriage proposal from Maximinus, but political motives are more likely.

After his victory over Maximinus in April 313, Licinius summoned the Candidianus to the imperial court in Nicomedia, possibly again promising him the Caesar title. However, Candidianus was soon afterwards killed along with other members of the Tetrarchs, including Severianus .

No coins are known from Candidianus.

swell

• Lactantius , De mortibus persecutorum , 20 , 50 (German)

literature

• Roger S. Bagnall , Klaas A. Worp: Three Regnal Dates assigned to 310/311 . In: Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar. Volume 1, 1979, pp. 11-13.
• Nenad Cambi: Tetrarchic Practice in Name Giving. In: Alexander Demandt , Andreas Goltz , Heinrich Schlange-Schöningen (eds.): Diokletian and the tetrarchy. Aspects of a turning point . Berlin et al. 2004, ISBN 3-11-018230-0 , pp. 38-46.
• André Chastagnol : La datation par années régnales égyptiennes à l'époque Constantinienne . In: Raymond Chevallier (ed.): Aión. Le temps chez les Romains (= Caesarodunum. Volume 10b). Paris 1976, pp. 221-238.
• Dietmar Kienast : The bellum Cibalense and the murders of Licinius . In: Michael Wissemann (Ed.): Roma renascens. Contributions to late antiquity and reception history. Festschrift for Ilona Opelt . Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-8204-0979-3 , pp. 149-171.
• Christopher S. MacKay: Lactantius and the Succession to Diocletian . In: Classical Philology. Volume 94, 1999, pp. 198-209.
• Alfons Städele: The death of Diocletian and the murders of Licinius. In: Markus Janka (Ed.): Enkyklion Kēpion. On poetry, history and specialist literature from antiquity. Munich / Leipzig 2004, ISBN 978-3-598-73017-7 , pp. 223-244.

Remarks

1. ↑ Cambi, Tetrarchic Practice , p. 41 f.
2. ↑ Chastagnol indicates the years "1" and "8-6-4-2" (= 311/312) in the government years "19-7-5-3-1" (= 310/311) and "8-6-4-2" (= 311/312) given in an Egyptian papyrus "2" to the Candidianus (next to the four or three ruling tetrarchs Galerius, Maximinus, Konstantin and Licinius). This would mean that Candidianus was formally raised to co-regent by Galerius and was recognized for a short time at least in Egypt even after his death. Chastagnol, La datation , p. 238, quoted from Bagnall / Worp, Three Regnal Dates , p. 11.
3. ↑ For this reason and because of the youth of Candidianus, Lactantius' account would also be understandable, according to which Galerius had planned his son in the succession plans not as an immediate heir to the throne, but as Caesar under Maximinus Daia (or Licinius) at least until 310 .
4. ↑ Städele, The Death of Diocletian , p. 231 ff.
5. ↑ See Kienast, Bellum Cibalense , p. 158.