Martinian ( la, Martinianus; died in 325) was
Roman emperor from July to September 324. He was raised to the purple by the emperor
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 ...
, whom he had hitherto served as a senior bureaucrat, during Licinius's civil war against the 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 ...
. Constantine defeated both emperors and forced them to abdicate, and executed them after initially showing leniency.
Name
Martinian's full name is ultimately unattested, as it is given in abbreviated form on his coins. The name Mar(...), which precedes his common name, probably stands for the ''nomen'' "Marcius", or possibly the ''cognomen'' Martinus. The letter S in one collection of coins has been interpreted as the forename "Sextus", but some modern authors think it's simply, along with the letter C, an abbreviation of the imperial title "Caesar".
Elevation
In 324, as the second civil war between Licinius and
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 ...
was at its height, the situation for Licinius was not promising. Following his defeat at the
Battle of Adrianople
The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic A ...
, he decided to replace Constantine (in name only) as western ''
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
''. As his replacement he named Martinian co-emperor, as he had previously appointed
Valens
Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...
during his earlier war with Constantine. Prior to his elevation, which took place some time after the battle of Adrianople, Martinian was serving as ''
magister officiorum
The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early cent ...
'' at Licinius' court. Licinius lacked the aid of a loyal deputy that Constantine possessed in the person of his eldest son
Crispus
Flavius Julius Crispus (; 300 – 326) was the eldest son of the Roman emperor Constantine I, as well as his junior colleague ( ''caesar'') from March 317 until his execution by his father in 326. The grandson of the ''augustus'' Constantius I ...
; Licinius appointed Martinian, though not a relative, to make up this deficiency.
Military activities
In the wake of his defeat at
Adrianople Licinius sent Martinian, with an army including
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
auxiliaries, to
Lampsacus
Lampsacus (; grc, Λάμψακος, translit=Lampsakos) was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitt ...
(on the Asiatic shore of the
Hellespont or
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
) to prevent Constantine from using his fleet to effect a crossing from
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
into
Mysia
Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on th ...
and
Bithynia
Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Pa ...
in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. A naval battle in the
Hellespont resulted in the destruction of Licinius' navy by Constantine's son Crispus. Following this defeat, Licinius withdrew his forces from
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, which was being besieged by Constantine, to
Chalcedon
Chalcedon ( or ; , sometimes transliterated as ''Chalkedon'') was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the cit ...
on the Asiatic shore of the
Bosphoros
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
. Constantine then crossed the Bosphoros to Asia Minor, using a flotilla of light transports he had built independently from his main fleet on the Hellespont, in order to evade the forces of Martinian. Licinius recalled Martinian from Lampsacus to reinforce his main army. It is not clear whether Martinian's forces reached Licinius before September 18 when Licinius was defeated for the last time at the
Battle of Chrysopolis
The Battle of Chrysopolis was fought on 18 September 324 at Chrysopolis (modern Üsküdar), near Chalcedon (modern Kadıköy), between the two Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius. The battle was the final encounter between the two emp ...
.
Fate
Due to the intervention of
Flavia Julia Constantia
Flavia Julia Constantia (after 293 – c. 330) was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife, Flavia Maximiana Theodora.
In 313, Emperor Constantine the Great, who was the half-brother of Constantia, gave her in ...
, Constantine's sister and also Licinius' wife, both Licinius and Martinian were initially spared, Licinius being imprisoned in
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, Martinian in
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
; however, Constantine seems to have soon regretted his leniency as both former emperors were subsequently executed. Martinian was probably executed in the spring of 325, in Cappadocia.
[Grant (1993), pp. 47–48]
Notes
References
DiMaio, Michael, "Licinius (308 – 324 A.D.)", ''DIR'' (1997).*Grant, Michael (1985), The Roman Emperors: A biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome 31 BC-AD 476, London.
*Grant, Michael (1993), The Emperor Constantine, London.
* Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395'', Cambridge University Press, 1971
*Lenski, Noel E. (2011) ''The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine'', Cambridge University Press.
*Odahl, C.M., (2004) ''Constantine and the Christian Empire,'' Routledge 2004.
{{Authority control
325 deaths
4th-century executions
4th-century murdered monarchs
4th-century Roman emperors
Executed Roman emperors
Magistri officiorum
People executed by the Roman Empire
Tetrarchy
Year of birth unknown