Editing Trebonianus Gallus

{{short description|Roman emperor from 251 to 253}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Bronze statue of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus (detail).jpg
| alt          = Bronze statue of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus
| caption      = Detail of a statue of a mid 3rd-century emperor, most likely Trebonianus Gallus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bronze statue of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/247117 |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zanker |first=Paul |url= |title=Roman Portraits |date=2016 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |isbn=978-1-58839-599-3 |pages=94–98 |chapter=30. Over-Lifesize Statue of Trebonianus Gallus(?) |quote=None of the identifications of specific emperors proposed to date are truly convincing... The highly divergent coinage of the emperors of this period lends credibility to the possibility that the subject is in fact Trebonianus Gallus. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OPN2DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA97}}</ref><ref>The statue is not compatible with depictions of other bearded emperors such as [[Philip the Arab]], [[Gallienus]], [[Claudius II]] or [[Aurelian]].</ref>
| succession   = [[Roman emperor]]
| reign        = {{circa}} June 251 – {{circa}} August 253<ref name=Kienast/>
| predecessor  = [[Decius]]
| successor    = [[Aemilianus]]
| regent       = [[Hostilianus]] (251)<br/>[[Volusianus]] (251–253)
| reg-type     = {{nowrap|Co-emperors}}
| birth_date   = {{circa}} 206
| birth_place  = [[Roman Italy|Italy]]
| death_date   = {{circa}} August 253 (aged ~47)
| death_place  = [[Terni|Interamna]], Italy
| burial_place = 
| spouse       = [[Afinia Gemina Baebiana]]
| issue        = [[Volusianus]] and Vibia Galla
| full name    = Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus
| regnal name  = Imperator Caesar Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus Augustus
}}

'''Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus'''<ref>{{cite book |last=Cooley |year=2012 |first=Alison E. |title=The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=498 |isbn=978-0-521-84026-2 |url={{googlebooks|VlghAwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} |author-link=Alison E. Cooley |ref={{sfnref|Cooley}} }}</ref> ({{circa}} 206 – {{circa}} August 253)<ref name=Kienast>{{cite book|last=Kienast|first=Dietmar|title=Römische Kaisertabelle|author2=Werner Eck|author3=Matthäus Heil|publisher=[[Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft|WBG]]|year=2017|isbn=978-3-534-26724-8|pages=200–201|name-list-style=amp|orig-date=1990|author-link2=Werner Eck|url=https://archive.org/details/romische-kaisertabelle}}</ref> was [[Roman emperor]] from June 251 to August 253, in a joint rule with his son [[Volusianus]].

==Early life==
Gallus was born in [[Roman Italy|Italy]], in a respected [[Roman senate|senatorial]] family with [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] ancestry, certainly a relation to [[Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus (consul 108)|Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus]]. He had two children in his marriage with [[Afinia Gemina Baebiana]]: Gaius Vibius Volusianus, later co-emperor, and a daughter, Vibia Galla. His early career was a typical ''[[cursus honorum]]'', with several appointments, both political and military. He was [[Roman consul|suffect consul]] and in 250 was made governor of the [[Roman province]] of [[Moesia|Moesia Superior]], an appointment that showed the confidence of Emperor [[Decius]] in him.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Edwards |first=Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen |url= |title=The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 |last2=Bowman |first2=Alan |last3=Garnsey |first3=Peter |last4=Cameron |first4=Averil |date=1970 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-30199-2 |pages=38 |language=en}}</ref>

==Rise to power==
In June 251, Decius and his co-emperor and son [[Herennius Etruscus]] died in the [[Battle of Abrittus]] at the hands of the [[Goths]] they were supposed to punish for raids into the empire. According to rumours supported by [[Dexippus]] (a contemporary Greek historian) and the thirteenth [[Sibylline oracles|Sibylline Oracle]], Decius' failure was largely owing to Gallus, who had conspired with the invaders. In any case, when the army heard the news, the soldiers proclaimed Gallus emperor, despite [[Hostilianus]], Decius' surviving son, ascending the imperial throne in Rome.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Parker |first=Philip |url= |title=The Empire Stops Here: A Journey Along the Frontiers of the Roman World |date=2010 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-1-84595-003-3 |pages=204 |language=en}}</ref> This action of the army, and the fact that Gallus seems to have been on good terms with Decius' family, makes Dexippus' allegation improbable.{{sfn|Potter|2004|pp=247–248}} Gallus did not back down from his intention to become emperor, but accepted Hostilian as co-emperor, perhaps to avoid the damage of another civil war. This gesture aimed to present a united front and quell dissent within the ranks of the military and the Senate.<ref name=":0" />

Anxious to secure his position at Rome and stabilize the situation on the Danube frontier, Gallus made peace with the Goths.<ref name=":0" /> Peace terms allowed the Goths to leave Roman territory while keeping their captives and plunder. In addition, it was agreed that they would be paid an annual subsidy.{{sfn|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|pp=39–40}} Reaching Rome, Gallus' proclamation was formally confirmed by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], with his son [[Volusian]] being appointed Caesar. On 24 June 251, Decius was deified, but by November Hostilian disappears from history—he may have died in an outbreak of [[Bubonic plague|plague]].{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=248}}

Gallus may have also ordered a localized and uncoordinated persecution of [[Christianity|Christians]].{{sfn|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=40}} However, only two incidents are known to us: the exile of [[Pope Cornelius]] to [[Civitavecchia|Centumcellae]], where he died in 253, and the exile of his successor, [[Pope Lucius I|Pope Lucius]], right after his election. The latter was recalled to Rome during the reign of [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]].{{sfn|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=636}}

Like his predecessors, Gallus did not have an easy reign. In the East, an Antiochene nobleman, [[Mariades]], revolted and began ravaging [[Roman Syria|Syria]] and [[Cappadocia (Roman province)|Cappadocia]], then fled to the Persians. Gallus ordered his troops to attack the Persians, but Persian Emperor [[Shapur I]] invaded [[Armenia]] and destroyed a large Roman army, taking it by surprise at [[Battle of Barbalissos|Barbalissos]] in 253. Shapur I then invaded the defenseless Syrian provinces, capturing all of their legionary posts and ravaging their cities, including [[Antioch]], without any response.{{sfn|Potter|2004|pp=248–249}} Persian invasions were repeated in the following year, but now [[Uranius]] Antoninus (a priest originally called [[Royal family of Emesa|Sampsiceramus]]), a descendant of the royal house of [[Emesa]], confronted Shapur and forced him to retreat. Uranius proclaimed himself emperor,{{sfn|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=40}} however, and minted coins with his image upon them.{{sfn|Potter|2004|pp=249–250}} On the Danube, [[Scythian]] tribes were once again on the loose, despite the peace treaty signed in 251. They invaded Asia Minor by sea, burned the great [[Temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]], and returned home with plunder. [[Lower Moesia]] was also invaded in early 253.{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=252}} [[Aemilian]], governor of Moesia Superior and Pannonia, took the initiative and defeated the invaders.

==Death==
Since the army was no longer pleased with the Emperor, the soldiers proclaimed Aemilian emperor. With an [[Roman usurpers|usurper]], supported by Pauloctus, threatening the throne, Gallus prepared for a fight. He recalled several [[Roman legion|legions]] and ordered reinforcements to return to Rome from [[Gaul]] under the command of the future emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Publius Licinius Valerianus]]. Despite these dispositions, Aemilian marched onto Italy ready to fight for his claim and caught Gallus at [[Terni|Interamna (modern Terni)]] before the arrival of Valerian. What exactly happened there is not clear, as sources do not agree with each other.{{sfn|Bray|1997|p=38}} Later sources claim that after an initial defeat, Gallus and [[Volusian]] were murdered by their own troops;{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=252}} or Gallus did not have the chance to face Aemilian at all because his army went over to the usurper.{{sfn|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=41}} In any case, both Gallus and Volusian were killed in August 253.{{sfn|Bray|1997|p=38}} Gallus's ascension and the subsequent events underscore the delicate balance of power in the third century Roman Empire, where the survival of an emperor depended not only on alliances and military might but also on the ability to navigate the complexities of political legitimacy and public perception.<ref name=":0" />

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Rare aureus of Trebonianus Gallus (obverse).jpg|[[Aureus]] of Gallus.
File:Sestertius of Trebonianus Gallus, 251 (obverse).jpg|[[Sestertius]] of Gallus.
File:MMA bronze 03.jpg|Statue traditionally identified as Gallus, the only near-complete, full-size Roman bronze to survive from the 3rd century ([[Metropolitan Museum of Art|Metropolitan Museum]])
File:Bronze statue of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus (side) (head).jpg|Profile of the Gallus statue
File:Antakya Archaeology Museum Emperor Trebonianus Gallus bust sept 2019 6079.jpg|Bust in [[Hatay Archaeology Museum|Antakya museum]] sometimes identified as Gallus<ref>J. Lenaghan (2012). "[http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/discussion.php?id=626 Portrait bust of man in armour made from disparate elements. Antioch on the Orontes (Syria). Late third to early fourth century]." ''Last Statues of Antiquity''. LSA-254.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Koçak |first=Mustafa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7WbEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 |title=Sculptures from Roman Syria II |last2=Kreikenbom |first2=Detlev |date=2022|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-071152-3 |pages=60 |quote=As had been stipulated by other scientists, the head does not compare to any other imperial portrait proposed. Moreover, the denomination of other heads kept in Rome, supposedly representing this Emperor, remains questionable...}}</ref>
File:Medaglione di treboniano gallo e volusiano, 261-253, recto con loro busti laurati, corazzati e affrontati.JPG|Medallion of Trebonianus Gallus and his co-emperor and son [[Volusianus]], depicted laureate with drapery on their shoulders, facing one another.
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
*{{cite book |last1=Bray |first1=John|title=Gallienus: A study in reformist and sexual politics |date=1997 |publisher=Wakefield Press |location=Kent Town, S. Australia |page=20 |isbn=1-86254-337-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVwtnOBCiCwC}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Bowman|editor-first1=Alan K.|editor-last2=Garnsey|editor-first2=Peter|editor-last3=Cameron|editor-first3=Averil|editor-link1=Alan Bowman (classicist)|editor-link2=Peter Garnsey|editor-link3=Averil Cameron|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-521-30199-8 |title=[[The Cambridge Ancient History]]|volume=XII: ''The Crisis of Empire, A.D. 193–337''}}
* {{cite book |first=David S. |last=Potter |author-link=David Stone Potter|title=The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180–395|publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-10058-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Da6U4NaBMZAC}}.
{{Commons category|Trebonianus Gallus}}{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Decius]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[List of Roman emperors|Roman Emperor]]
| years = 251–253
| alongside = [[Hostilian]] (251)<br/>and [[Volusian]] (251–253)
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Aemilian]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Decius]],<br />with [[Herennius Etruscus]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Roman consul]]
| years = 252
| regent1 = [[Volusianus]]
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Volusianus]],<br/> [[Lucius Valerius Poplicola Balbinus Maximus|L. Valerius Poplicola Balbinus Maximus]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman Emperors}}
{{Pharaohs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallus, Trebonianus}}
[[Category:200s births]]
[[Category:253 deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century Roman emperors]]
[[Category:3rd-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:3rd-century Roman consuls]]
[[Category:Crisis of the Third Century]]
[[Category:Vibii|Trebonianus Gallus, Gaius]]
[[Category:Murdered Roman emperors]]
[[Category:Romans from Moesia]]
[[Category:Roman pharaohs]]
[[Category:Temple of Artemis]]