Aurelian
Aurelian
Although Domitian, two centuries earlier, was the first emperor who had demanded to be officially hailed as dominus et deus ('master and god'), these titles never occurred in written form on official documents until the reign of Aurelian. His successes were instrumental in ending the crisis.
Early life
Many details about Aurelian's early life come from the Historia Augusta and are considered unreliable. Comparative research with other sources from his era has rendered some details more secure than others. Aurelian was born on 9 September, a date recorded in the Chronograph of 354. The 6th-century chronicler John Malalas wrote that he died at the age of 61, implying a birth in 214. However, Malalas' chronicle is often described as "frequently unreliable", and so any date thence inferred must—absent corroborating evidence from more credible sources—remain tentative.
Early life
The Historia Augusta describes him both as a Pannonian from Sirmium and as a native of Dacia Ripensis "which he founded so that he would have been a Moesian". Pseudo-Victor and John Xiphilinus) place his birthplace in an area between Dacia Ripensis and Macedonia (overlapping with Dacia Mediterranea). Modern research considers Dacia Ripensis as the more likely region. When he was born this region was part of Moesia Superior. Aurelian was an Illyrian like several other emperors of the late 3rd century (Illyrian emperors) all of whom shared a common military background. Pseudo-Victor describes his father as a colonus) (tenant farmer) who worked the lands of a senator named Aurelius. Aurelian's father was probably a veteran of the Roman army. He married the daughter of Aurelius from whom Aurelian received his name via his mother. The Historia Augusta describes her as "priestess of Sol)", whose worship Aurelian promoted as Emperor (Sol Invictus). These two propositions, together with the tradition that the clan Aurelius had been entrusted with the maintenance of that deity's cult in Rome, inspired the notion that this could explain the devotion to the sun-god that Aurelian was to manifest as emperor. However, it seems that this extrapolation of unverifiable facts is now generally accepted as being no more than just that.
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