The Thirty Tyrants (Latin: Tyranni Triginta) were a series of thirty rulers that appear in the Historia Augusta as having ostensibly been pretenders to the throne of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 during the reign of the emperor Gallienus

Gallienus

Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...

.

Given the notorious unreliability of the Historia Augusta, the veracity of this list is debatable; there is a scholarly consensus that the author deliberately inflated the number of pretenders in order to parallel the Thirty Tyrants of Athens

Thirty Tyrants

The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. Contemporary Athenians referred to them simply as "the oligarchy" or "the Thirty" ; the expression "Thirty Tyrants" is due to later historians...

.

The source actually gives 32 names but as the author, writing under the name of one Trebellius Pollio, places the last two under the reign of Maximinus Thrax

Maximinus Thrax

Maximinus Thrax , also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome...

 and Claudius II

Claudius II

Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...

 respectively, this leaves thirty pretenders supposedly under the reign of Gallienus.

The following list gives the Thirty Tyrants as depicted by the Historia Augusta, along with notes contrasting the Historia Augusta's claims with their actual historical position:

Chapter in Historia Augusta	Name	Notes about historicity
2	Cyriades Cyriades Cyriades stands first in the list of the Thirty Tyrants enumerated by the Historia Augusta Cyriades stands first in the list of the Thirty Tyrants enumerated by the Historia Augusta Cyriades stands first in the list of the Thirty Tyrants enumerated by the Historia Augusta (writing under the name of...	never claimed Imperial dignity
3	Postumus Postumus Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus in 260 and formed the so-called Gallic Empire...	accurate placement
4	Postumus Junior Postumus Junior Postumus Iunior was an usurper against Roman Emperor Gallienus, according to the Historia Augusta. He is included in the list of the Thirty Tyrants....	youth
5	Laelianus Laelianus Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus was a usurper against Postumus, the emperor of the Gallic Empire. His revolt lasted from approximately late February to early June 269.-Origins:...	accurate placement
6	Victorinus Victorinus Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor of the secessionist Gallic Empire from 269 to 271, following the brief reign of Marius. He was murdered by a jealous husband whose wife he tried to seduce.-Reign:...	contemporary not with Gallienus Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...  but Claudius II Claudius II Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...  and Aurelian Aurelian Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
7	Victorinus Junior Victorinus Junior Victorinus iunior was an usurper against Roman Emperor Aurelian, according to the Historia Augusta. He is included in the list of the Thirty Tyrants....	youth, contemporary not with Gallienus Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...  but Claudius II Claudius II Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...  and Aurelian Aurelian Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
8	Marius Marcus Aurelius Marius Marcus Aurelius Marius was emperor of the Gallic Empire in 269 following the assassination of Postumus.-Reign:According to later tradition, he was a blacksmith by trade who rose through the ranks of the Roman army to become an officer. He was present with the army that revolted at Moguntiacum...	accurate placement
9	Ingenuus Ingenuus Ingenuus was a Roman military commander, the imperial legate in Pannonia, who became a usurper to the throne of the emperor Gallienus when he led a brief and unsuccessful revolt in the year 260. Appointed by Gallienus himself, Ingenuus served him well by repulsing a Sarmatian invasion and securing...	accurate placement
10	Regalianus Regalianus P. C Regalianus was a Dacian general who turned against the Roman Empire and became himself emperor for a brief period, being murdered by the hands who raised him to power.-Career:...	accurate placement
11	Aureolus Aureolus For the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon.Manius Acilius Aureolus was a Roman military commander and would-be usurper. He was one of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus...	accurate placement
12	Macrianus Macrianus Major Fulvius Macrianus , also called Macrianus Major, was a Roman usurper. He was one of Valerian's fiscal officers. More precisely, sources refer to him as being in charge of the whole state accounts or, in the language of a later age, as Count of the Treasury and the person in charge of markets and...	accurate placement
13	Macrianus Junior Macrianus Minor Titus Fulvius Iunius Macrianus , also known as Macrianus Minor, was a Roman usurper. He was the son of Fulvius Macrianus, also known as Macrianus Major.- Career :...	accurate placement
14	Quietus Quietus Titus Fulvius Iunius Quietus was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Gallienus.Quietus was the son of Fulvius Macrianus and a noblewoman, possibly named Iunia...	accurate placement
15	Odaenathus Odaenathus Lucius Septimius Odaenathus, Odenathus or Odenatus , the Latinized form of the Syriac Odainath, was a ruler of Palmyra, Syria and later of the short lived Palmyrene Empire, in the second half of the 3rd century, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the...	never claimed Imperial dignity
16	Herodes	youth, never claimed Imperial dignity
17	Maeonius Maeonius Maeonius , or Maconius, was a short-lived Roman usurper. He is also known with the names of Odaenathus and Rufinus Maeonius (d. 266/267), or Maconius, was a short-lived Roman usurper. He is also known with the names of Odaenathus (Syncellus I p717) and Rufinus Maeonius (d. 266/267), or Maconius,...	never claimed Imperial dignity
18	Balista Balista Balista or Ballista , also known in the sources with the probably wrong name of "Callistus", was one of the Thirty Tyrants of the Historia Augusta, and supported the rebellion of the Macriani against Emperor Gallienus....	never claimed Imperial dignity
19	Valens	probably never claimed Imperial dignity
20	Valens Superior Valens (usurper) Valens is one of the Thirty Tyrants, a list of Roman usurpers compiled by the author of the Historia Augusta.According to Historia, this Valens was the uncle or great-uncle of another usurper, Valens Thessalonicus, who revolted against Emperor Gallienus...	contemporary of Decius Decius Trajan Decius , was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:... , not Valerianus
21	Piso	probably never claimed Imperial dignity
22	Aemilianus Mussius Aemilianus Lucius Mussius Aemilianus was a Roman usurper.Mussius Aemilianus probably was of Italian stock. He was an officer in the Roman army under Philip the Arab and Valerian. Under the latter he became praefect of Egypt. He supported the rebellion of the Macriani against Gallienus...	probably never claimed Imperial dignity
23	Saturninus Saturninus (253-268) Saturninus is mentioned in the Historia Augusta as a Roman usurper during the reign of emperor Gallienus . It is very probably a fictional construction by the author of the Historia Augusta....	probably fictitious
24	Tetricus Senior Tetricus I Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was Emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274, following the murder of Victorinus. Tetricus, who ruled with his son, Tetricus II, was the last of the Gallic emperors following his surrender to the Roman emperor Aurelian.-Reign:Tetricus was a senator born to a noble...	contemporary not with Gallienus Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...  but Claudius II Claudius II Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...  and Aurelian Aurelian Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
25	Tetricus Junior Tetricus II Caius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was the son of Tetricus I, Emperor of the Gallic Empire ....	youth, contemporary not with Gallienus Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...  but Claudius II Claudius II Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...  and Aurelian Aurelian Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
26	Trebellianus Trebellianus Trebellianus , also Trebatius Priscus or Trebatius Testa, was a Roman usurper listed among the thirty tyrants in the Historia Augusta...	probably fictitious
27	Herennianus	youth, never claimed Imperial dignity, possibly fictitious
28	Timolaus	youth, never claimed Imperial dignity, possibly fictitious
29	Celsus Celsus (usurper) Titus Cornelius Celsus, Roman usurper under Gallienus, one of the Thirty Tyrants enumerated by Trebellius Pollio.In the twelfth year of Gallienus' reign , when usurpers were springing up in every quarter of the Roman world, a certain Celsus, who had never risen higher in the service of the state...	probably fictitious
30	Zenobia Zenobia Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...	female, never claimed Imperial dignity,
31	Victoria Victoria (Roman usurper) Victoria, also known as Vitruvia, was a leader in the roman breakaway realm Gallic Empire in the late 3rd century. She was the mother of Victorinus, who ruled as Gallic Emperor until his assassination in 271...  (or Vitruvia)	female, never claimed Imperial dignity,
32	Titus Titus (usurper) Titus is one of the Thirty Tyrants, a list of Roman usurpers compiled by the author of the often unreliable Historia Augusta. Titus was said to have revolted against Maximinus Thrax, a Roman Emperor who ruled 235-238, after the revolt of Magnus....	admittedly not contemporary with Gallienus Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...  but Maximinus Thrax Maximinus Thrax Maximinus Thrax , also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome...
33	Censorinus Censorinus (usurper) Censorinus was an usurper against Roman Emperor Claudius II, according to the Historia Augusta. He is included in the list of the Thirty Tyrants.The revolt of Censorinus is questionable. He should have revolted in 269–270... .	admittedly not contemporary with Gallienus Gallienus Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...  but Claudius II Claudius II Claudius II , commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of...

Notwithstanding the author's pretensions regarding the time during which these persons aspired to the throne, this list includes:

• two women and six youths who never claimed imperial dignity
• seven men who either certainly or probably never claimed imperial dignity
• three probably and two possibly fictitious persons
• two pretenders admittedly not contemporary with Gallienus
• three pretenders not contemporary with Gallienus

Leaving nine pretenders roughly contemporary with Gallienus. According to David Magie (the editor of the Loeb Classical Library edition of the Historia Augusta), at least some of these men issued coins.

See also

• Crisis of the Third Century
  Crisis of the Third Century
  The Crisis of the Third Century was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression...
  
  
• Roman Emperor (Crisis of the Third Century)
  Roman Emperor (Crisis of the Third Century)
  The role of the Roman Emperor changed during the Crisis of the Third Century , which marked the end of the Principate...
  
  
• List of Roman usurpers
• Gallienus usurpers
  Gallienus usurpers
  The Gallienus usurpers were the usurpers who claimed imperial power during the reign of Gallienus...
  
  
• Augustan History
  Augustan History
  The Augustan History is a late Roman collection of biographies, in Latin, of the Roman Emperors, their junior colleagues and usurpers of the period 117 to 284...
  
  
• Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte
  Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte
  The Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte is a modern term for a hypothesized Latin historical work, written in the 4th century but now lost....
  
  

External links

• Historia Augusta: the Thirty Tyrants (Latin text and English translation)