Florianus

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Florianus
46th Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign 276
Predecessor Tacitus
Successor Probus
Died 276
Tarsus, Cilicia[1]
Full name
Marcus Annius Florianus (from birth to accession);
Caesar Marcus Annius Florianus Augustus (as emperor)

Florianus (Latin: Marcus Annius Florianus Augustus;[2] died 276), also known as Florian, was Roman Emperor for a few months in 276.

Biography

Hercules crowning Florianus.[3]

Florian was reported be a maternal half-brother to the Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus.[4] Appointed Praetorian Prefect in Tacitus's army in his campaign against the Goths,[2] according to the available sources, he was chosen by the army in the West to succeed Tacitus in 276, without the Roman Senate consensus.[5] However he minted coins bearing the "SC" legend, thus showing some bonds to the Senate.[6]

Probus' rebellion

Florian was fighting the Heruli when the army in the East elected Probus.[7] Florian had the support of Italia, Gaul, Hispania, Britain, Africa, and Mauretania.[5] The two rival emperors met in battle in Cilicia; Florianus had the larger army, but Probus was a more experienced general and avoided a direct clash.[8] Florian's western army was not accustomed to the hot, dry eastern climate,[9] and Probus likely secured a small victory. Florian was assassinated by his own troops near Tarsus once their confidence was lost.[6] He died in September 276, having been emperor for only eighty-eight days.[1]

A family of the Brandenburg nobility called von Blumenthal claimed descent from Florianus in a fanciful legend which says that after his death his sons fled over the Alps and introduced viticulture to the north Germans.

Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources

  • Mc Mahon, Robin, "Florian (276.D.)"[6] De Imperatoribus Romanis, (2000)
  • Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395, Cambridge University Press, 1971
  • Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001
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  • Gibbon. Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Canduci, pg. 101
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jones, pg. 367
  3. This coin celebrates the AETERNITAS AVG, the eternal life of the emperor. However, Florianus ruled only eighty-eight days.
  4. Historia Augusta, Vita Taciti, 17:4
  5. 5.0 5.1 Southern, pg. 127
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Historia Augusta, Vita Probi, 10:1
  8. Gibbon, Ch. 12
  9. Southern, pg. 128
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External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

Regnal titles
Preceded by Roman Emperor
276
Succeeded by
Probus