296
Gallienus—postumus.
name which has long been exploded. We must not be too
severe in judging of the occurrences which now took place in
various parts of the empire ; for Gallienus himself was an un-
worthy prince, who lived only to satisfy his lusts, and spent
his time in the pursuit of pleasure, while the empire was suffer-
ing under the greatest misfortunes. He always remained in
undisturbed possession of Italy, Raetia, and Noricum; all
Greece, with scarcely any exception, likewise remained obedi-
ent to him, and in Africa his authority was thrown off only
for a time in Egypt. Syria and the eastern provinces of Asia
Minor recognised the dominion of Odenathus, and afterwards
that of his great widow Zenobia. These sovereigns were in
some measure recognised by Gallienus, who even triumphed
for the victories of Odenathus. Gallienus reigned alone from
A. D. 256 or 260 until A. D. 268.
M. Cassianus10 Latinius Postumus, after having defeated the
Franks, was master of the north-western parts of the empire
and of Spain, as early as A. D. 257 ; and he remained in posses-
sion of Gaul, Spain, and Britain that is of the whole bof the
subsequent Praefectura Gallica. That great extent of country
was torn away from the empire by Postumus, and was governed
by independent and able sovereigns, who may be called
emperors as well as Gallienus, although it may be contrary to
Roman orthodoxy to do so. If we do not follow the writers
of the fourth century with implicit faith, we may infer from the
coins of Postumus that he was Augustus of that extensive empire.
He maintained himself in it for upwards of nine years, and
unless we consider his coins as a series of inconceivable fictions,
we must also believe that he gained a number of brilliant
victories over the Franks and Alemannians. There is no
doubt that the latter had at that time made a predatory expe-
dition, in which they penetrated even into Spain, but whether
they were engaged in the service of any of the emperors, who
then disputed the empire with one another, I cannot say.
Postumus left behind him a brilliant reputation ; but still the
misfortunes of Gaul undoubtedly began in his time, for Autun
was then destroyed, and lay in ruins till the reign of Diocle-
tian. Spain also was ravaged by the barbarians as in the time
of the Cimbrians. Postumus was at last murdered by his
,0 In some MS notes the name is Cassianius, which Eckhel considers the
correct form.
DIVISIONS OF THE EMPIRE.
297
soldiers, because after tlιe defeat of the rebel Laelianus11 at
Mainz, he refused to give that town up to them for plunder.
He was succeeded by Victorinus, a Gaul, whom I mention on
account of his full name, M. Piauvonius Victorinus.12 He was
a brave general, but a dissolute man, and was murdered by a
person whose wife he had seduced.13 After him one Marius,
a blacksmith, reigned for three days, and was then succeeded
by a man of rank, C. Pesuvius Tetricus, a Gaul whose full
name is found only on coins. He ruled over the whole of
what was afterwards called the praefecture of Gaul14, and was
recognised as its sovereign.15 He reigned till the time of
Aurelian, when he voluntarily brought about the re-union of
Gaul with the Eoman empire.
Eckhel, I believe, is right in his opinion that the empire of
Palmyra did not extend so far as is supposed by Tillemont
and Gibbon, according to whom it embraced all western Asia
and Egypt; but if it ever did extend so far, it can only have
been at a later time, under Claudius Gothicus, and then with
the consent of Eome. Our information concerning those
times is principally derived from coins; they contain many
things which are extremely puzzling and cannot be cleared
up; but they are sufficient to shew how little reliance can
be placed on the books which pretend to give a history of
that period.
Usurpers rose at that time also in Illyricum, Egypt, Africa,
Greece which was otherwise peaceful, Thessaly, and the East
where Macrianus, the prefect of Valerian, usurped the purple,
and took his two sons as his colleagues. But none of those
usurpers were able to maintain themselves, and their power
was of short duration. The empire was in reality divided
into three great masses. The Gallic empire was the result of
the tendency which had been manifested in Gaul ever since
the time of Augustus and Tiberius, and which we do not
11 Other MS. have Aelianus ; both forms of the name actually occur.
'2 Eckhel, Doetr. Num. Vet. vii. p. 450.
*’ TrebclLPollio, Trigint. Tyr. 5.
“ The division into praefectures is not an arbitrary thing, but an arrangement
suggested by the nature of circumstances, for the Gauls were Latinised Celts
and Iberians. They had assumed the Latin character with great modifications,
and differed from the Italians, whom they therefore considered аз strangers.
The praefecture of the East naturally comprised the countries in which Greek
was spoken.—N. 15 Treb. Pollio, Trigint. Tyr. 23.