Aurelian

Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus) (ôrē`lēən), c.212–275, Roman emperor (270–75). Rising in the ranks, he became consul under Valerian. He succeeded Claudius II, whose victory over the Goths had begun the territorial rehabilitation of the empire. Aurelian conceded Dacia to the Goths but consolidated the Danubian provinces and held the barbarians beyond the Rhine in check. His most brilliant exploits were in the East—especially in Palmyra, where he captured Zenobia and destroyed her kingdom. Aurelian went to Gaul, where he received the submission of the independent "Emperor" Tetricus. One of Rome's greatest emperors, Aurelian regained Britain, Gaul, Spain, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia and removed for a while the barbarian threat to the eastern provinces. He fortified Rome with a wall some 12 mi (19 km) in circumference, averaging more than 40 ft (12.2 m) in height. Much of it still remains. Aurelian was murdered, and Marcus Claudius Tacitus succeeded him.

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Aurelian

 Latin Lucius Domitius Aurelianus

(born c. 215—died 275, near Byzantium) Roman emperor AD 270–75. Probably from the Balkans, he became emperor after Claudius II's death and the brief reign of Claudius's brother. He reunited the empire and restored Roman power in Europe, turning back invaders and quelling revolts, securing provinces in the east and defeating the Germans to the north, for which he took the title restitutor orbis (“restorer of the world”). He built a new wall around Rome and increased food distribution to the poor, but his monetary and religious reforms failed. While marching to Persia, he was slain by a group of officers who mistakenly believed they had been marked for execution.

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Aurelian

Latin name Lucius Domitius Aurelianus. ?212--275 ad, Roman emperor (270--275), who conquered Palmyra (273) and restored political unity to the Roman Empire

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Aurelian 

(Lucius Domitius Aurelianus). Born 214 or 215; died 275. Roman emperor from 270. Illyrian from an undistinguished family in Pannonia; proclaimed emperor by the Danube Legions.

Aurelian restored the boundaries of the Roman Empire, pushing the Goths beyond the Danube, forcing the Alemanni from Rhaetia and Italy (although he lost Dacia), and rejoining to the empire almost all the regions lost earlier. In 272–273 he annexed Palmyra and defeated the usurper Firmus in Egypt, and in 273 he subdued Gaul. Aurelian tried to consolidate the unlimited power of emperor. He was the first to be officially called lord and god (dominus et deus), and he introduced a universal cult of the sun god—“the unconquerable sun.” In 273 he put down a movement among the workers in the Roman mint. In order to protect Rome from barbarians, Aurelian built most of the so-called Aurelian Wall, which was finished by Probius in 279. Aurelian was assassinated by conspirators during preparations for the Parthian campaign.

L. A. EL’NITSKII