Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla
Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla († around 251) was the wife of the Roman emperor Decius .
Herennia Etruscilla came from an old Etruscan senatorial family . Little is known of her youth except that she married the Illyrian aristocrat Decius before 230. Her eldest son Herennius Etruscus was born around 227, her second son Hostilian after 230.
The emperor Philippus Arabs gave Decius 248 the supreme command of the troops, which were supposed to suppress the revolt of Pacatianus on the Danube border . However, after his arrival in Pannonia, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops; he moved to Italy, defeated Philip near Verona and was able to assert himself as the new ruler.
Probably in the autumn of 249, at the latest in the summer of 250, Etruscilla received the title Augusta . Her two sons received the title Caesar in 250 , in the following year Herennius Etruscus was appointed Augustus (nominally co-ruler of his father with equal rights). Decius and Herennius then embarked on a campaign against the Gothic king Kniva in order to punish him for an attack, while the younger son Hostilian stayed with his mother in Rome.
Jordanes reports that Herennius was killed by an arrow early in the Battle of Abrittus , whereupon Decius exclaimed: “Let us not mourn anyone; the death of a soldier is not a great loss for the republic. ”The Roman army was destroyed in this battle and Decius was slain. The defeat was largely caused by the mistakes of officer Trebonianus Gallus , who attacked too violently. When the army learned of the death of Decius, the soldiers proclaimed Trebonianus Gallus emperor.
In Rome, Decius was very popular in Senate circles. After the news of the downfall of the two emperors had reached the capital, the Senate decided to raise them among the gods. In addition, the Senate insisted on the successor claim of the surviving emperor's son Hostilian. A compromise was reached with Trebonianus Gallus, who was recognized by the Senate as emperor, but had to adopt Hostilian and accept him as an equal co-emperor with the title of Augustus . His own biological son Volusianus , although about ten years older than Hostilian, had to be content with the Caesar title. Gallus' wife, Afinia Gemina Baebiana , had to renounce the title of Augusta in consideration of the older rights of Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla .
Hostilian died of the plague in November 251 in Viminatium . With that his mother disappeared from public life; It is not known whether she also died of the epidemic or lived longer.
literature
- Brigitte Klein: Tranquillina, Otacilia, Etruscilla, Salonina: four empresses of the 3rd century AD . Dissertation, Saarbrücken 1998, pp. 142–177
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Herennia Etruscilla |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wife of the Roman emperor Decius |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 3rd century |
| DATE OF DEATH | at 251 |