Emperor of Rome Aurelian - Aurelian and the Third Century

Source: Richard Stoneman

Source: courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum

Source: courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum

Source: Richard Stoneman

For too long the mid-third century has suffered from academic neglect. Though perhaps somewhat understandable, in view of the nature of the sources, this neglect is regrettable because of the importance of this period to our understanding of the history of the Roman empire as a whole. Recently, however, new information and new research has made possible a better informed and more balanced appraisal of this period and its overall importance in the development of Roman and indeed European history.

Few individuals more clearly epitomize this age or have a more justifiable claim to have influenced its course than Aurelian. But this book is not, and is not intended to be, a biography of Aurelian in the conventional sense of the term. Such an undertaking would be impossible. The evidence we possess does not permit us to draw a portrait of Aurelian the man, to investigate his personal life, or to get inside his thoughts. The literary sources present us with very little reliable information regarding Aurelian as an individual, and what is said about his character is somewhat suspect. We are told he was married, but all we know about his consort, Ulpia Severina, including even her name, is gleaned from the coins and inscriptions.

Nevertheless, a portrait of Aurelians age, and the central role that he himself played in it, is not only possible, and indeed desirable, but long overdue. At the beginning of the twentieth century two substantial studies of Aurelian appeared, one in German (Groag 1903) and the other in French (Homo 1904). Since that time an ever-growing number of articles and monographs have appeared, each treating one or another aspect of his reign or of the period in general. No satisfactory full-length treatment of Aurelian has yet attempted to collate the information from these disparate secondary sources into an assessment of Aurelians reign and its place in the history of the period. It is the fresh synthesis of this scholarship, together with a critical re-examination of the literary sources, which justifies the new appraisal of Aurelians reign offered in the following chapters. In this way, it is hoped that we may arrive at a better understanding of this fascinating and crucially important period in Roman history.

To achieve this aim, I shall first consider the Roman world in the mid-third century in order to understand the contextpolitical, military, economic, social and culturalin which Aurelian operated. I shall then map out the sequence of events of Aurelians reign so as to demonstrate the enormity of his military achievements. In the final part of the book I shall assess Aurelians policies and his achievements beyond the field of battle.

While I accept responsibility for what follows, I am extremely grateful to all those who have helped me to realize this project or who have given me advice along the way. In particular, I wish to thank Averil Cameron for all the encouragement and input she has given me over the years, Richard Stoneman for his advice and his patience, and Roger Bland, Cathy King and Stephane Estiot for their assistance and for making available to me numismatic information and material. Finally, I would also like to thank my parents for their invaluable help and my wife for her patient encouragement.

Alaric Watson