Editing Gallienus (section)

=== Historiography ===
Gallienus was not treated favorably by ancient historians.<ref>Southern, Pat. ''The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine'', Routledge, London and New York, 2001, p. 2.</ref> The biased and largely fictional{{sfn|Bray|1997|pp=3–4}} account of that reign in the [[Historia Augusta]] describes him as a lover of luxury, who dressed in purple, sprinkled gold dust in his hair, and built castles of apples.<ref>Historia Augusta, ''The two Gallieni'', XVI</ref> [[Julian (emperor)|Emperor Julian's]] ''The Caesars'' presents Gallienus "with the dress and languishing gait of a woman",<ref>Caes. 313b–c ([http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html available at Attalus.org])</ref> which is possibly connected with coins portraying the emperor with unusual iconography and bearing the legend ''Gallienae Augustae''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A lustrous and exceptional aureus of Gallienus |url=https://leunumismatik.com/de/lot/8/276/%5B8%5D |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=Leu Numismatik}}</ref> This animosity within the sources was partly due to the secession of Gaul and [[Palmyrene Empire|Palmyra]] and his inability to win them back; at the time of Gallienus's death, Palmyra was still nominally loyal to Rome, but, under the leadership of [[Odaenathus]], was independent in nearly every other respect. Palmyra would formally secede after Odaenathus's death and the ascension of his widow [[Zenobia]]. It was not until the reign of [[Aurelian]] several years later that the breakaway provinces were truly brought back into the Roman fold. According to modern scholar Pat Southern, some historians now see Gallienus in a more positive light.<ref>Southern, p. 3.</ref> Gallienus produced some useful reforms.