(8) SALONINUS –

NON-DYNASTIC / CRISIS OF THE THIRD CENTURY

(260 AD: 1 MONTH)

 

Somewhat similar to the emperors in my previous entry, Saloninus was briefly co-emperor as son of the reigning emperor Gallienus but was more notable than the previous entry in his brief reign. Gallienus had appointed him, not as co-emperor but as caesar – effectively crown prince or imperial heir – and sent him to Gaul to help shore up imperial authority there, under the protection of the praetorian prefect Silvanus.

 

The political intuition of Gallienus that his imperial authority needed shoring up in Gaul was spot on, his timing less so. Poor Saloninus and Silvanus walked pretty much straight into a simmering revolt by legions hostile to a distant emperor who seemed to be failing in his duty to protect the Gallic provinces from Germanic barbarian invasion. That revolt went from simmering to full boil, as the legions proclaimed their commander Postumus as emperor, who then led the western third of the empire to break away or secede as what history has called the Gallic Empire.

 

Silvanus and Saloninus had fled with what few loyal troops they had to the Roman city at Cologne (in the German marches), where they were besieged by the army of Postumus. It was during that siege that Saloninus’ soldiers desperately proclaimed him emperor, perhaps hoping to sway Postumus’ army to defect or desert to their side – if so, it didn’t work as the citizens of the city surrendered Saloninus and Silvanus to Postumus’ army after a month of siege. No prizes for guessing what happened to them at that point.

 

DID DOVAHHATTY DO RIGHT?

 

Like father, like son

 

RATING: 2 STARS**

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(7) HOSTILIAN & HERENNIUS ETRUSCUS –

NON-DYNASTIC / CRISIS OF THE THIRD CENTURY

(EACH – 251 AD: 1 MONTH OR LESS)

 

Somewhat similar to my previous dishonorable mentions for child co-emperors (but apparently older in age), these two emperors were also co-emperors as sons of the emperor Decius but actually did something of note in their brief reigns. .

Well, at least Herennius did something. Hostilian was the surviving son of Decius, whom Decius’ successor Trebonianus Gallus proclaimed as his co-emperor to lend some legitimacy and continuity to his reign, only for Hostilian to die of disease shortly afterwards. Gallus then proclaimed his own son Volusianus as co-emperor – and we’ve already seen how both of them were equally useless, embodying the Crisis of the Third Century.

In fairness, the thing of note Herennius did in his short reign was similarly to die, but at least to die in battle – the same Battle of Arbritus against the Goths in which his father Decius was killed, except that he was killed first, which would technically make him rather than his father the first Roman emperor to be killed in battle by a foreign enemy.

It was his death for which Decius exhorted the troops in battle – “Let no one mourn, the death of one soldier is no great loss to the Republic”.

 

DID DOVAHHATTY DO RIGHT?

 

Hostilian a wojak dying pathetically from disease and Herennius a chad dying in battle – I’d say Dovahhatty got it right. Also, I love the humor in Trebonianus Gallus’ double take when Hostilian up and dies on him.

 

RATING: 2 STARS**

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