Middle Roman Empire (193-284), Military Anarchy (235-284): Decius, Herennius Etruscus, Persecution of Christians, Decius’ Gothic War [1/6]

36 *DECIUS (c.50; r.249-251)

37 *HERENNIUS ETRUSCUS (c.25; r.251)

Decius, a Pannonian, had been governor of Moesia Inferior (234) and Hispania Tarraconensis (238), and prefect of Rome during the early reign of Philip-I the Arab.

Persecution of Christians

In late 249, Decius issued an imperial edict that demanded all citizens (except the Jews) of the Empire to sacrifice to the traditional Roman gods. Although there is no direct evidence that Decius was specifically targeting the Christians, the edict resulted in a systematic persecution of Christians. Those who complied were given certificates (libelli) as evidence they had obeyed the order; those who refused (and those unable to obtain false libelli from corrupt officials) faced death. An unknown number of Christians were imprisoned or executed, among them the bishops of Rome, Antioch and Jerusalem.

In 251 a plague (‘Cyprian’, after Saint Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage in 248/9), possibly smallpox, broke out that killed over five million people in Europe between then and 266. 

Decius’ Gothic War (249-251) [1/6]

In 249 the Goths under their two leaders Guntheric and Argaith sacked the east Balkan city of Marcianopolis. In spring 250, three columns of barbarians from north of the lower Danube thrust into Roman territory. After crossing the river the Carpi marched upstream into Dacia; the Goths, led by their king Cniva, moved eastwards towards Novae, where the future emperor Vibius Afinius Trebonianus Gallus, the governor of Moesia Inferior, blocked his advance; and a third group besieged the Thracian city Philippopolis (=Plovdiv), which Titus ⁴¹Julius Priscus, the governor of Thracia and Macedonia, was defending.

Decius hastened eastwards with his eldest son Herennius Etruscus (c.24; fl.248-251), leaving his youngest son Valens Hostilianus (c.21; fl.251) in Rome together with the respected senator and future emperor ²¹Licinius Valerianus (c.65; fl.251-260), in charge of civil administration.

Decius drove the Carpi out of Dacia and moved on to where the Goths were besieging Nicopolis ad Istrum. Cniva abandoned the siege and headed for Philippopolis. Decius followed but was attacked and defeated by them at the town of Beroe (=Stara Zagora). The emperor, with a few soldiers that had escaped, crossed to Moesia, where Trebonianus Gallus was stationed with his force protecting the frontier.

Learning of Decius’ defeat, the Thracian troops in Philippopolis declared Priscus emperor so that he could come to terms with the united Goths. However, after handing the city over Cniva, the Goths went on a bloody rampage: nothing more is heard of the usurper. In Rome, the senator ⁴²Julius Valens Licinianus seized power in March 251, but his usurpation only lasted a few days. (The story of the usurper ⁰²Valens Senior in Illyria is probably fictional.)  In 251 Decius named his elder son Herennius Etruscus as augustus, and his other son Hostilianus as princeps juventutis (‘prince of youth’). He reformed his army at Oescus in Moesia and in the spring marched to intercept Cniva and the Goths who were heading for home. In June Decius fell into a trap in a marshy area at Abritus (=Forum Terebronii), where both he and his son were killed in battle. Trebonianus Gallus, the general left in command, saved what was left of the Roman army, which subsequently proclaimed him emperor. He made peace with the Goths, agreed to resume their subsidy payments, and let them leave taking their booty and prisoners with them.