Thirty tyrants in the Historia Augusta

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When the Thirty Tyrants ( tyranni triginta ) are in the Kaiserviten the late antique Historia Augusta (more specifically: 32) 30 Roman usurpers (in late antique language: tyranni ) indicates that during the reign of Emperor Gallienus had raised (260-268) or should have.

In the (non-chronological) text sequence, these are: Cyriades , Postumus , Postumus the Younger , Lollianus , Victorinus , Victorinus the Younger , Marius , Ingenuus , Regalianus , Aureolus , Macrianus , Macrianus the Younger , Quietus , Odaenathus , Herodes , Maeon , Ballista , Valens , Valens the Elder (?), Piso , Aemilianus , Saturninus , Tetricus the Elder , Tetricus the Younger , Trebellianus , Herennianus (?), Timolaus (?), Celsus , Zenobia , Victoria , Titus and Censorinus .

The aforementioned Historia Augusta is a very problematic source, especially with regard to the imperial servants for the imperial crisis of the 3rd century , into which numerous fictional elements were woven. The truth of many statements cannot therefore always be determined with absolute certainty for the period mentioned. Modern research has been able to show that most of the lives of the so-called "thirty tyrants" (like those of the alleged counter-emperor Censorinus) or at least for the most part are invented, and sometimes not only the curriculum vitae but also the names are pure fiction.

The anonymous author of the Historia Augusta apparently tried to portray the rule of Gallienus as darkly as possible. The term thirty tyrants probably alludes to the rule of the thirty in Athens in the late 5th century BC. Chr. With his negative portrayal of Gallienus, he was in line with other Latin senatorial historians , who probably drew their information from Enmann's imperial history ; In contrast, the emperor did better with the Greek historians. The anonymous author of the Historia Augusta was very generous and also counted counter-emperors among the thirty tyrants who seized power shortly before or after Gallienus.

literature

  • Hartwin Brandt : Facts and Fictions - the Historia Augusta and the 3rd Century. In: Klaus-Peter Johne and others (editor): Deleto paene imperio Romano. Transformation processes of the Roman Empire and their reception in modern times. Stuttgart 2006, pp. 11-23.
  • Klaus-Peter Johne : The biography of the counter-emperor Censorinus. A contribution to the social origin of the Historia Augusta . In: Bonner Historia-Augusta-Colloquium 1972/1974. Edited by Andreas Alföldi and Johannes Straub , Bonn 1976, pp. 131–142.
  • Giuseppe Zecchini: I Tyranni Triginta. In: Atti dei Convegni Internazionali sulla "Historia Augusta" 1994 . Bari 1997, p. 265ff.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ comparisons Joachim Szidat : usurper tanti nominis. Emperor and usurper in late antiquity (337-476 AD). Stuttgart 2010, p. 27ff.
  2. ↑ Figures in italics are certain or very likely to be fictitious. A question mark indicates figures whose identification is uncertain or who have mixed up vitae or mixed up.