Editing Licinius (section)

== Early reign ==
Born to a [[Dacians|Dacian]]<ref name=Jones509>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=A.H.M. |last2=Martindale |first2=J.R. |title=The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD 260–395 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1971 |page=509}}</ref><ref name=DiMaio>{{cite web |url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/licinius.htm |last=DiMaio |first=Michael Jr. |title=Licinius (308–324 A.D.) |work=De Imperatoribus Romanis |date=23 February 1997}}</ref> peasant family in [[Moesia]] Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend and future emperor [[Galerius]], on the Persian expedition in 298.<ref name=Jones509 /> He was trusted enough by Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to [[Roman Italy|Italy]], to attempt to reach some sort of agreement with the usurper [[Maxentius]].<ref name=Jones509 /> When Galerius went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death of [[Severus II]], he left the eastern provinces in Licinius' care.<ref name=Gibbon>{{cite book |last=Gibbon |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Gibbon |title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |volume=II |year=1776 |chapter=Chapter XIV}}</ref>

Upon his return to the east Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of ''[[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]'' in the West on 11 November 308, and under his immediate command were the Balkan provinces of [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], [[Thrace]] and [[Pannonia]].<ref name=DiMaio /> In 310 he took command of the war against the [[Sarmatians]], inflicting a severe defeat on them.<ref name=Lendering>{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/li-ln/licinius/licinius.html |last=Lendering |first=Jona |title=Licinius |work=Livius.org |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=11 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911024239/http://www.livius.org/li-ln/licinius/licinius.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> On the death of Galerius in May 311,<ref name="EB"/> Licinius entered into an agreement with [[Maximinus Daza]] to share the eastern provinces between them. By this point, not only was Licinius the official ''Augustus'' of the west but he also possessed part of the eastern provinces as well, as the [[Hellespont]] and the [[Bosporus]] became the dividing line, with Licinius taking the European provinces and Maximinus taking the Asian.<ref name=DiMaio />

An alliance between Maximinus and Maxentius forced the two remaining emperors to enter into a formal agreement with each other.<ref name=Gibbon /> So, in March of 313, Licinius married [[Flavia Julia Constantia]], half-sister of [[Constantine I]],{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} at [[Mediolanum]] (now Milan); they had a son, [[Licinius II|Licinius the Younger]], in 315. Their marriage was the occasion for the jointly-issued "[[Edict of Milan]]" that reissued Galerius' previous edict allowing [[Christianity]] (and any religion one might choose) to be professed in the Empire,<ref name=DiMaio/> with additional dispositions that restored confiscated properties to Christian congregations and exempted Christian clergy from municipal civic duties.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carrié |first1=Jean-Michel |last2=Rousselle |first2=Aline |title=L'Empire Romain en mutation: des Sévères à Constantin, 192–337 |year=1999 |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |location=Paris |isbn=2-02-025819-6 |page=228}}</ref> The redaction of the edict as reproduced by [[Lactantius]] – who follows the text affixed by Licinius in [[Nicomedia]] on 14 June 313, after Maximinus' defeat – uses neutral language, expressing a will to propitiate "any Divinity whatsoever in the seat of the heavens".<ref>Lactantius, ''De Mort. Pers''., ch. 48, cf. Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/edict-milan.asp]. Accessed 31 July 2012</ref>

[[File:Liciniuscng780671obverse.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Brown coin depicting Licinius with laurel wreath facing right|[[Follis]] minted at [[Londinium]], c. 311. Legend: {{smallcaps|{{Abbreviation|imp|IMPERATOR}} licinius {{Abbreviation|p f |PIUS FELIX}} {{Abbreviation|aug|AUGUSTUS}}}}.]]
[[File:Cammeo “Trionfo di Licinio”.jpg|thumb|Triumph of Licinius on a cameo in the [[BnF Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duruy |first=Victor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AU4yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA462 |title=History of Rome: And of the Roman People, from Its Origin to the Invasion of the Barbarians |date=1886 |publisher=Dana, Estes & Company |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oeuvre : Précisions – camée, "Triomphe de Licinius" (camée.308) {{!}} catalogue |url=https://medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr/ws/catalogue/app/collection/record/ark:/12148/c33gbqrg2 |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques {{!}} BnF – Site institutionnel |language=fr}}</ref>]]
[[File:Licinius I. - Münzkabinett, Berlin - 5532283.jpg|thumb|alt=Gold coin depicting Licinius with laurel wreath facing right|[[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]] minted at [[Trier]], c. 310–313. Obverse legend: {{smallcaps|licini-us {{Abbreviation|p f |PIUS FELIX}} {{Abbreviation|aug|AUGUSTUS}}}}.]]
Daza in the meantime decided to attack Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000 men, he reached [[Bithynia]], although the harsh weather he encountered along the way had gravely weakened his army. In April 313, he crossed the [[Bosporus]] and went to [[Byzantium]], which was held by Licinius' troops. Undeterred, he took the town after an eleven-day siege. He moved to Heraclea, which he captured after a short siege, before moving his forces to the first posting station. With a much smaller body of men, possibly around 30,000,<ref>Kohn, George Childs, ''Dictionary Of Wars, Revised Edition'', p. 398.</ref> Licinius arrived at [[Adrianople]] while Daza was still besieging [[Heraclea Sintica|Heraclea]]. Before the decisive engagement, Licinius allegedly had a vision in which an angel recited him a generic prayer that could be adopted by all cults which Licinius then repeated to his soldiers.<ref>Carrié & Rousselle, ''L'Empire Romain en Mutation'', p. 229</ref> On 30 April 313, the two armies clashed at the [[Battle of Tzirallum]], and Daza's forces were crushed. Daza escaped, disguised as a slave, and fled to [[Nicomedia]],<ref name=Gibbon /> where he fortified the area around the [[Cilician Gates]]. Licinius' army broke through and Daza retreated to [[Tarsus in Cilicia|Tarsus]], where Licinius continued to press him on land and sea. The war between them ended only with Daza's death in August 313.<ref name=DiMaio />

Licinius sought out and killed multiple relatives of the Tetrarchs - Daza's wife and two children, Severus' son [[Flavius Severianus]], Galerius' son [[Candidianus (son of Galerius)|Candidianus]], Diocletian's wife [[Prisca (empress)|Prisca]], and [[Galeria Valeria]], daughter of Diocletian and wife of Galerius.{{sfn|Barnes|1981|p=64}}

Given that Constantine had already crushed his rival Maxentius in 312, the two men decided to divide the Roman world between them. As a result of this settlement, the [[Tetrarchy]] was replaced by a system of two emperors, called ''Augusti'': Licinius became ''Augustus'' of the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, became ''Augustus'' of the West.<ref name="EB"/>

After making the pact, Licinius rushed immediately to the East to deal with another threat, an invasion by the Persian [[Sassanid Empire]].<ref name=Gibbon />