Titus Fulvius Junius Quietus (died 261) 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 Roman Emperor

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...

History

Quietus was the son of

Fulvius Macrianus Fulvius Macrianus (died 261), also called Macrianus Major, was a Roman usurper. He was one of Valerian's fiscal officers.J. Bray (1997), p.95 More precisely, sources refer to him as being in charge of the whole state accounts ('' A rationibus'') ...

and a noblewoman, possibly named Junia. According to ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'', he was a military

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

under Valerian, but this information is challenged by historians. He gained the imperial office with his brother

Macrianus Minor Titus Fulvius Iunius Macrianus (died 261), also known as Macrianus Minor, was a Roman usurper. He was the son of Fulvius Macrianus, also known as Macrianus Major.Jones, pg. 528 Career Although his father was from an equestrian family, Macrian ...

, after the capture of Emperor Valerian in the Sassanid campaign of 260. With the lawful heir,

, being far away in the West, the soldiers elected the two emperors. The support of his father, controller of the imperial treasure, and the influence of Balista,

Praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

of the late Emperor Valerian, proved instrumental in his promotion. Quietus and Macrianus, elected

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

s, had to face the Emperor Gallienus, at the time in the West. Quietus and Balista stayed in the eastern provinces, while his brother and father marched their army to Europe to seize control of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. After the defeat and deaths of his brother and father in

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 ...

in 261, Quietus lost the control of the provinces in favour of Septimus

Odaenathus Septimius Odaenathus ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; ar, أذينة, translit=Uḏaina; 220 – 267) was the founder king ( ''Mlk'') of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a r ...

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

, a loyal client king of the Romans who had helped push the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

out of the eastern provinces and recovered

Roman Mesopotamia Mesopotamia was the name of a Roman province, initially a short-lived creation of the Roman emperor Trajan in 116–117 and then re-established by Emperor Septimius Severus in c. 198. Control of the province was subsequently fought over betwe ...

in 260. Forced to flee to the city of

Emesa Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

, he was besieged there by Odaenathus, during the course of which he was killed by its inhabitants, possibly instigated by Balista.(

Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...

xii.24)

Cultural depictions

Quietus appears in

Harry Sidebottom Harry Sidebottom is a British author and historian, best known for his two series of historical novels the ''Warrior of Rome'', and ''Throne of the Caesars''. He is Quondam Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford, and l ...

's historical fiction novel series as one of the series' antagonists.

References

Sources

Körner, Christian, "Usurpers in the east: The Macriani and Ballista", s.v. "Usurpers under Gallienus", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''
* Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395'', Cambridge University Press, 1971

External links

{{Authority control 261 deaths Gallienus usurpers Thirty Tyrants (Roman) Imperial Roman consuls Year of birth unknown Quietus, Titus Junius Quietus, Titus Fulvius People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Generals of Valerian Roman pharaohs