#aurelian

[boomer-mythology-destroyer]

[midnightcrows]

Ocs. The Montagnet siblings. Aurelian, Séraphin, Evangeline

[illustratus]

Queen Zenobia's last look upon Palmyra by Herbert Gustave Schmalz

[whencyclopedia]

Zenobia's Rebellion in the Historia Augusta

The Historia Augusta (Great History) is a Latin work of the 4th century CE that chronicles the lives of Roman emperors from 117-285 CE. Among the many stories related is the history of Zenobia of Palmyra and her challenge to Roman authority which was crushed by the emperor Aurelian in 273 CE.

Zenobia (b. 240 CE, death date unknown) was the wife of the Syrian governor and founder of the Palmyrene Kingdom, Odaenathus (r. 263-267 CE) who was killed (or intentionally assassinated) on a hunting trip in 267 CE, leaving his young son Vaballathus (b. 259 CE, d. c. 273 CE) as successor. As Vaballathus was too young to reign at the time, Zenobia became regent for their son and expanded the kingdom of Palmyra into an empire.

Her rise to power took place during the chaotic period known as the Crisis of the Third Century (235- 284 CE, also known as the Imperial Crisis) when the central government was weak and various Barracks Emperors succeeded each other rapidly in rule. In this climate, no one noticed - or had the power to deal with - Zenobia's steady expansion of power until Aurelian (r. 270 - 275 CE) came to power and ended her ambitions, drawing the Palmyrene Empire back under the control of Rome. The story of Zenobia's rise and fall is given in a number of ancient works and, among them, is the Historia Augusta.

Historicity of Historia Augusta

While today the Historia Augusta is recognized as largely fictional (some scholars even giving it the label of "historical fiction"), it was considered reliable history in its time and for many centuries afterwards. The famous historian Edward Gibbon (l. 1737-1794 CE) accepted it as an authentic record of the ancient Roman history and relied on it extensively in his six-volume work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which, like the Historia Augusta, is largely viewed as inaccurate in the modern day. Both of these works, however, had significant impact on the audiences who read them or heard them read.

Rather than regard Historia Augusta as largely fictional, it would perhaps be better to consider it in the same light as one would the genre of ancient Mesopotamian naru literature. Naru literature began appearing around the second millennium BCE in Mesopotamia and is characterized by stories featuring a well-known figure from the past (usually a king) as the main character in a quasi-historical tale, which either extolled the king's military prowess, told the tale of his life and reign, or, more often, used the king to exemplify the proper relationship between human beings and the gods. The main character (king) was always an actual historical figure, but the story was either fictional or slanted in a particular way in order to achieve a desired impression.

While the Historia Augusta is not as concerned with the gods as it is with the Roman emperors, the same paradigm applies in that the tales of the Roman rulers are given as "teaching moments" through which one learns what it means to be a good monarch or a poor one, a great man or a failure. The work is certainly biased in its presentation but is understood to have drawn on reliable historical sources for its narratives. The focus of these narratives, however, is always on how effective - or paltry - a given emperor's reign was understood to have been. This model applies not only to the Roman emperors, however, but also to their adversaries and, most notably, to the Queen Zenobia of Palmyra.

Continue reading...

[moshypants]

My Rough interpretation of the three main dragon breeds from the Aurelian Cycle Trilogy. I might mess with the designs more in sketches later as I reread the series. I feel like I especially struggled to nail down a color I was happy with for the Aurelian in the middle. For a first go at their designs without roughing out thumbnail ideas first I'm pretty happy with them. I gave up a little on coloring towards the end 😅. I need help finding a way to increase my love for the coloring process. I like to sketch and line and then I start to lose interest.

[from-the-rift]

This world does not have the magic that we do back home, but there are different types of magic here... I will have to study this so I can bring it back home. Does this magic or, as I heave heard people call it, "elec-tric-ity" come from one of your gods? Or is it a source that you control and share with the world?

[baylardian-1]

wish i could do this irl

[blueiscoool]

Coin reveals little-known Roman ruler

Treasure hunters have unearthed a coin bearing the head of a virtually unknown Roman ruler who briefly held power in Gaul around A.D. 270 as the empire teetered.

It is only the second coin ever found showing the head of Domitianus, who seized power — and the mint — in the breakaway Gallic Empire, which included modern England, France and parts of Germany and lasted for 15 turbulent years.

“We know next to nothing about Domitianus, except that he was ‘punished’ by the Roman Emperor Aurelian for treason,” Richard Abdy, curator of Roman coins at the British Museum, told Reuters. “But at least now we know what he looked like.”

Studied by coin experts

The first coin bearing Domitianus’ head was found in the Loire area of France in 1900, dismissed as a fake because his name was unknown and then lost from sight in a small museum in Nantes until very recently.

“It is now being studied by numismatists. When I showed our coin to the woman who has been working on it she jumped for joy because it bore out everything she had said about hers,” Abdy said, noting the French coin had been dated to A.D. 271.

The Gallic Empire was established in 260, when rule from Rome was weakening, by Postumus. He was succeeded nine years later by Marius, who held the throne for a matter of weeks before being strangled and in turn replaced by Victorinus, who ruled until 271 when he too was murdered.

Domitianus is believed to have murdered Victorinus, who had a habit of raping the wives of his subordinates, before himself being ousted by Tetricus. Tetricus ruled from 271 to 274, when he was defeated by Aurelian and the empire was restored.

Found on farmland

The British coin, which goes on show at the British Museum starting Wednesday, was found on farmland near Oxford just under a year ago as part of a hoard of 5,000 Roman coins fused together in an earthenware pot.

“It is a type of coin we know as a ‘radiant’ because there are rays radiating from his head. It is a two-denarii piece, which at that time, when they were coining money as fast as they could, would have been worth a couple of hours’ work,” Abdy said.

The base metal coin, which originally had a surface coating of silver, is now conservatively estimated to be worth a five-figure sum, Abdy said.

At the time it was minted, the once-mighty Roman Empire was undergoing a period of intense flux.

The years between 270 and 285 were marked by chaos in the empire, with more than 20 different emperors and 30 different pretenders fighting for power. Only one of these leaders died a natural death.

By Jeremy Lovell.

Original posted Feb. 24, 2004.

The Coin Hoard

Until this discovery was made some scholars doubted the historical significance of Domitianus who is named just twice in the historical sources. The Oxfordshire coin provides archaeological evidence suggesting that he successfully proclaimed himself emperor of a breakaway part of the Roman Empire during the reign of Aurelian (AD 270-5).

Richard Abdy (Curator of Roman coins at the British Museum) said that ‘during the 270s AD the fabric of the Roman Empire had become strained. Breakaway empires, like the so-called ‘Gallic Empire’ that included Britain, were established and ruled by a succession of rebel emperors. Finding a coin produced in the name of Domitianus means that he should now be recognised as one such rebel emperor.’

The failure of Roman writers to identify him as a rebel emperor even led the only other coin of Domitianus – found in France in 1900 – to be dismissed as a modern fake. The new discovery was struck from the same dies that were used to produce this earlier find and has therefore put its authenticity beyond any doubt.

Ian Leins (Finds Adviser, Iron Age and Roman coins, Portable Antiquities Scheme) said ‘the portrait on the new coin very closely resembles that of the rebel emperors Victorinus and Tetricus. It is highly possible that other coins of Domitianus exist in the collections of museums and individuals but have escaped detection. It is important that people start to pay more attention to these often neglected finds and record them with their local Finds Liaison Officer.’

[omg-snakes]

Kitty Junior produced 12 gorgeous eggs with Aurelian after taking last year off from breeding to focus on snake stuff. The eggs are in the incubator and Kitty Junior is resting comfortably in her lay box.

Sneggwatch 2023 continues!

[suburbanbeatnik]

I have a bunch of favorite Roman/Byzantine couples, ranging from Factual to Probable to Crackship. Which do you like best? (There’s no other option. You Must Choose)

[abyssalaquarist00]

Portraits for strawbelbadude's Star Trek Adventures cast!

[twofielder]

Coin of the Day #11 (5/15/2024)

Here’s one from a breakaway state of the 3rd century crisis…

Roman Breakaway State - Palmyrene Empire

BI Antoninianus - 20mm 2.92g

Vaballathus + Aurelian 270-272 AD

Antioch Mint

Obverse VABALATHVS V C R IM D R

Bust of Vaballathus right, laureate, draped, cuirassed

Reverse IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG

Bust of Aurelian right, radiate, cuirassed, Z below

RIC V 381

[midnightcrows]

Aurelian the eldest and Evangeline the youngest of the Montagnet siblings, Seraphin being the middle kid

[illustratus]

Queen Zenobia before Emperor Aurelian by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

[lionofchaeronea]

Aureus of the Roman emperor Aurelian, minted at Antioch between November 270 CE and March 272 CE. On the obverse, the laureate bust of Aurelian himself; on the reverse, the laureate bust of Septimius Vaballathus, son of Zenobia of Palmyra. At the time this coin was minted, Palmyra had broken away from Rome and established an empire, with Vaballathus nominally its ruler under the title Augustus (though in fact it was Zenobia who ruled). Aurelian initially accepted this arrangement, being busy fighting usurpers in Gaul, but within months of the minting of this coin, he would forcibly reconquer the erstwhile Palmyrene Empire and take Zenobia and Vaballathus captive. What subsequently became of them is unknown. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com

[moshypants]

The Aurelian Cycle, Flamefall, pages 430-432

Power's Character arch is my favorite in this series. And this is one (of many) of my favorite power moments.

This is also good practice for me because I hate drawing people 🙃 so trying to draw the same person over and over was interesting.