Calocaerus (–334 AD) was a
Roman usurper
Roman usurpers were individuals or groups of individuals who obtained or tried to obtain power by force and without legitimate legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during the Roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century ...
against Emperor
Constantine I
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
, who, in 334 AD, staged a short lived revolt in Cyprus. His revolt was quickly put down, and he was executed along with his commanders, by being burned alive.
History
Before the revolt, Calocaerus had served in the role of ''
Magister pecoris camelorum'' ("Master of the Flock and Camels") in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
according to the historian
Aurelius Victor
Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 – c. 390) was a historian and politician of the Roman Empire. Victor was the author of a short history of imperial Rome, entitled ''De Caesaribus'' and covering the period from Augustus to Constantius II. The work w ...
. Whether his unusual title implies some military command ("captain of the camel corps") or merely a servile position ("leading shepherd slave") is uncertain, though in any event there were no camels in Cyprus in that era.
[Hill 1940, p. 244] He had been assigned to this position by Emperor
Constantine I
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
in 330 AD. During the time period of the revolt, imperial power and legitimacy was based almost entirely upon military power. In order to become and remain emperor, a usurper needed a large and loyal army. Due to this, there were a large number of ephemeral revolts, which were either rapidly put down by the incumbent emperor, or else had their usurper killed by his own troops.
Calocaerus revolted in Cyprus in 334 AD, proclaiming himself emperor. He was swiftly defeated by
Flavius Dalmatius
:''This article deals with the censor. For the Caesar (335-337) Flavius Dalmatius, son of the censor, see Dalmatius.
Flavius Dalmatius (died 337), also known as Dalmatius the Censor, was a censor (333), and a member of the Constantinian dynasty, ...
, the half-brother of Emperor Constantine I. After being defeated, he was taken to
Tarsus in
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
, and burned alive, along with his commanders. It is likely that Calocaerus' low status (that of a ''Magister pecoris camelorum''), had an influence in the low amount of support he received, leading to his quick demise. Dalmatius gathered evidence that a bastard son of
Licinius
Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...
, who had been emperor before Constantine I, was involved. This son had been legitimized by edict, and survived the downfall of his father, and still held a high, although unrecorded, rank in the Roman Empire. Dalmatius used this evidence to either execute or enslave the bastard son.
References
Ancient sources
*
Theophanes 43B.
*
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
Chron. 334.
Citations
Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
Arnold Hugh Martin Jones
Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.
Biography
Jones's best-known wor ...
, J. (EDT) Morris, J. R. (John Robert) Martindale, ''
The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...
'', Cambridge University Press, 1971, {{ISBN, 0-521-07233-6.
DiMaio, Michael, "Calocaerus (333/334 A.D.)", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''
334 deaths
4th-century Roman usurpers
Year of birth unknown
Byzantine usurpers
Executed ancient Roman people
People executed by the Roman Empire
Roman Cyprus
People executed by burning