Editing Hostilian

{{Short description|Roman emperor in 251}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Sestertius Hostilian-s2771 (obverse).jpg
| image_size   = 250px
| alt          = White marble bust
| caption      = [[Sestertius]] of Hostilian as emperor
| succession   = [[Roman emperor]]
| reign        = {{circa}} June – {{circa}} July 251
| predecessor  = [[Decius]] and<br />[[Herennius Etruscus]]
| successor    = [[Trebonianus Gallus]] and [[Volusianus]]
| regent       = Trebonianus Gallus
| reg-type     = {{nowrap|Co-emperor}}
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = {{circa}} July 251
| death_place  = 
| burial_place = 
| spouse       = 
| issue        = 
| full name    = Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus
| regnal name  = Imperator Caesar Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus Augustus
| father       = [[Decius]]
| mother       = [[Herennia Etruscilla]]
}}

'''Hostilian''' ({{langx|la|Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus}}; died {{circa}} July 251) was briefly [[Roman emperor]] in 251. Hostilian was born to [[Decius]] and [[Herennia Etruscilla]] at an unknown date and elevated to [[Caesar (title)|''caesar'']] in 250 by Decius. After Decius and [[Herennius Etruscus]], Hostilian's brother, were killed at the [[Battle of Abritus]], an ambush by the Goths, [[Trebonianus Gallus]] was proclaimed emperor by the legions. Almost immediately, he elevated Hostilian to co-emperor and his own son, [[Volusianus]], to ''caesar''. Hostilian died soon after, either due to plague or being murdered by Trebonianus Gallus.

==History==
[[File:INC-2038-a Ауреус. Гостилиан. Ок. 251 г. (аверс).png|left|thumb|[[Aureus]] of Hostilian as ''[[Caesar (title)|caesar]]'']]
Hostilian was born at an unknown date, to [[Decius]], a Roman general who later became Emperor, and his wife [[Herennia Etruscilla]]. He had a brother, [[Herennius Etruscus]], and one sister. His full name based on coinage and inscriptions was Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus, but to this the historian [[Aurelius Victor]] adds Perpenna or Perperna, a name of [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] origin.{{sfn|Benson|2004|p=243}}

In September 249 the army of Decius declared him emperor, in opposition to [[Philip the Arab]]. He defeated and killed Philip in a battle near [[Battle of Verona (249)|Verona]], after which the [[Roman Senate]] confirmed Decius's appointment and honoured him with the name ''Traianus'', a reference to Emperor [[Trajan]].{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=28}}{{sfn|Chrystal|2015|p=193}}{{sfn|Varner|2004|p=207}}

In or around September 250,{{sfn|Peachin|1990|pp=33-34}}{{sfn|Kienast|Eck|Heil|p=198}} Decius appointed both his sons ''[[Caesar (title)|caesars]]''{{sfn|Salisbury|Mattingly|1924|p=15}} and in May 251 Herennius Etruscus was elevated to the rank of ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]'', which made Decius and Etruscus co-emperors, with Hostilian as the heir of either or both of them.{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=28}}{{sfn|Salisbury|Mattingly|1924|p=15}}{{sfn|Bunson|2014|p=265}} In June 251, Decius and Herennius Etruscus were killed by the [[Goths]] at the [[Battle of Abritus]], and [[Trebonianus Gallus]] was declared emperor. To placate the public after this abrupt change of rulers, Gallus elevated Hostilian to ''augustus''.{{sfn|Bunson|2014|pp=255–256}}{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=28}}{{sfn|Salisbury|Mattingly|1924|p=16}} After a short period as co-emperor, Hostilian died in circumstances which are still disputed.{{sfn|Salisbury|Mattingly|1924|p=16}} His death is sometimes dated to November,{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=28}} but contemporary sources indicate that he died in or before August, probably in July.{{sfn|Peachin|1990|pp=33-34}}{{sfn|Kienast|Eck|Heil|p=198}} [[Aurelius Victor]] and the author of the ''[[Epitome de Caesaribus]]'' say that Hostilian died of a plague. [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] claims that he was killed by Trebonianus Gallus.{{sfn|Manders|2012|p=18}} Gallus's son [[Volusianus]] became the new co-emperor.{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1998|p=28}}

Some historians identify Hostilian as the Roman general depicted in the ''[[Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus]]'', but this is unlikely given that all of his coins depict him as a beardless young boy.{{sfn|Wood|1987|p=126}} It's possible that both Hostilian and Herennius Etruscus were still children or teenagers at the time of their death.{{sfn|Wood|1987|p=126}}

== Numismatics ==
The ''[[Aureus|aurei]]'' of Hostilian fall into four types bearing the bust of Hostilian on the [[obverse]], with the [[Reverse (coin)|reverse]] showing: [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] walking to the right; priestly implements; [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] standing; and [[Roma (mythology)|Roma]] seated, holding [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]].{{sfn|Friedberg|Friedberg|Friedberg|2017|p=48}}

==References==
{{Commons}}

===Primary sources===
{{refbegin|20em}}
* ''De Caesaribus'' (30.2) by [[Aurelius Victor]].{{sfn|Haas|1983|p=134}}
* ''[[Epitome de Caesaribus]]'' (30.2) by Anonymous.{{sfn|Haas|1983|p=134}}
* ''Historia Nova'' (1.25.1) by [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]].{{sfn|Manders|2012|p=18}}
{{Refend}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|20em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last1=Adkins|first1=Lesley|last2=Adkins|first2=Roy A.|title=Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195123326}}
*{{Cite book |title=Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work |last=Benson |first=Edward White|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=9781592449569 |edition=illustrated, new}}
* {{cite book|last1=Bunson|first1=Matthew|title=Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire|date=2014|publisher=Facts On File|isbn=9781438110271}}
* {{cite book|last1=Chrystal|first1=Paul|title=Roman Women: The Women who influenced the History of Rome|date=2015|publisher=Fonthill Media|isbn=978-1781552872}}
* {{cite book|last1=Friedberg|first1=Arthur L.|last2=Friedberg|first2=Ira S.|last3=Friedberg|first3=Robert|title=Gold Coins of the World - 9th edition: From Ancient Times to the Present. An Illustrated Standard Catlaog with Valuations|date=2017|publisher=Coin & Currency Institute|isbn=9780871840097}}
* {{cite book|last=Kienast|first=Dietmar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYRorgEACAAJ|title=Römische Kaisertabelle: Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie|author2=Werner Eck|author3=Matthäus Heil|publisher=[[Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft|WBG]]|year=2017|isbn=978-3-534-26724-8|edition=6th|place=Darmstadt|page=198|ref={{sfnref|Kienast|Eck|Heil}}|author-link2=Werner Eck|orig-date=1990|name-list-style=amp|lang=de}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Haas|first1=Christopher J.|title=Imperial Religious Policy and Valerian's Persecution of the Church, A.D. 257-260|journal=Church History|date=1983|volume=52|issue=2|pages=133–144 |doi=10.2307/3166947 |jstor=3166947|s2cid=159885531 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Manders|first1=Erika|title=Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193 - 284|date=2012|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004189706}}
*{{cite book|last=Peachin|first=Michael|url=https://archive.org/details/ritac235/page/n29/mode/1up?view=theater|title=Roman Imperial Titulature and Chronology, A.D. 235–284|publisher=Gieben|year=1990|isbn=90-5063-034-0|place=Amsterdam}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Salisbury|first1=F. S.|last2=Mattingly|first2=H.|title=The Reign of Trajan Decius|journal=The Journal of Roman Studies|date=1924|volume=14|pages=1–23 |doi=10.2307/296323|jstor=296323|s2cid=163083500 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Varner|first1=Eric R.|title=Mutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial Portraiture|date=2004|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004135772}}
*{{cite book|last1=Wood|first1=Susan|chapter=Child-Emperors and Heirs to Power in Third-Century Portraiture|title=Ancient Portraits in the J. Paul Getty Museum: Volume 1|date=1987|publisher=Getty|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YN41AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126|isbn=9780892360710}}
{{Refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Decius]]''' and '''[[Herennius Etruscus]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Roman emperor]]
| years = 251
| alongside = [[Trebonianus Gallus]]
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Trebonianus Gallus]]''' and '''[[Volusianus]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman emperors}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:230s births]]
[[Category:251 deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century Roman emperors]]
[[Category:Decian dynasty]]
[[Category:Deaths from smallpox]]
[[Category:Messii]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Sons of Roman emperors]]
[[Category:Illyrian emperors]]
[[Category:Damnatio memoriae]]
[[Category:Romans from Pannonia]]