Valens Junior (usurper)
Encyclopedia
Valens Thessalonicus was a Roman usurper
against Roman Emperor
Gallienus
.
Valens was the proconsul
of Achaea
under Gallienus. When Macrianus
rebelled to Gallienus, he met the opposition of Valens, so he sent Piso to put him to death.
It is not clear if Valens seized the imperial power to protect himself by this threat, or if the purple was imposed on him by his soldiers, but Historia Augusta reports his rise to the rank of Augustus
(261). Valens defeated and killed Piso, but he was soon slain by his soldiers.
Valens is included among Trebellius Pollio's Thirty Tyrants
.
Roman usurper
Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule.The...
against Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with 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...
.
Valens was the proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of Achaea
Achaea (Roman province)
Achaea, or Achaia, was a province of the Roman Empire, consisting of the Peloponnese, eastern Central Greece and parts of Thessaly. It bordered on the north by the provinces of Epirus vetus and Macedonia...
under Gallienus. When 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...
rebelled to Gallienus, he met the opposition of Valens, so he sent Piso to put him to death.
It is not clear if Valens seized the imperial power to protect himself by this threat, or if the purple was imposed on him by his soldiers, but Historia Augusta reports his rise to the rank of Augustus
Augustus (honorific)
Augustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...
(261). Valens defeated and killed Piso, but he was soon slain by his soldiers.
Valens is included among Trebellius Pollio's Thirty Tyrants
Thirty Tyrants (Roman)
The Thirty Tyrants were a series of thirty rulers that appear in the Historia Augusta as having ostensibly been pretenders to the throne of the Roman Empire during the reign of the emperor Gallienus....
.