Carus - Wikipedia Carus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Roman emperor from 282 to 283 For other uses, see Carus (disambiguation). Augustus Carus Augustus Persicus Maximus Antoninianus of Emperor Carus. Legend: IMPerator CARVS Pius Felix AVGustus Roman emperor Reign c. September 282 – c. July 283 (with Carinus in 283) Predecessor Probus Successor Carinus and Numerian Born c. 222 Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis Died July or August 283 (aged 61) Beyond the River Tigris, Sasanian Empire Issue Carinus Numerian Aurelia Paulina Names Marcus Aurelius Carus[1] Regnal name Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Carus Augustus[2] Marcus Aurelius Carus (c. 222 – July or August 283) was Roman emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success. He died while campaigning against the Sassanid Empire and is believed to have died of unnatural causes. It was reported that he had been struck by lightning.[3] He was succeeded by his sons Carinus and Numerian, creating a dynasty which, though short-lived, provided further stability to the resurgent empire. Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Campaign against the Sassanids and death 2 Legacy 3 Family tree 4 See also 5 Sources 5.1 Primary Sources 5.2 Secondary Sources 6 References Biography[edit] Carus, whose name before the accession may have been Marcus Numerius Carus,[4] was born, according to differing accounts, either in Gaul, Illyricum or Africa.[5] Modern scholarship inclines to the former view, placing his birth at Narbo (modern Narbonne) in Gaul[6][7] though he was educated in Rome.[8] Little can be said with certainty of his life and rule. Due to the decline of literature, the arts, and the want of any good historians of that age, what is known is almost invariably involved in contradiction and doubt.[9] He was apparently a senator[10] and filled various posts, both civil and military, before being appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus in 282.[11] Two traditions surround his accession to the throne in August or September of 282. According to some mostly Latin sources, he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers after the murder of Probus by a mutiny at Sirmium.[12] Greek sources however claim that he rose against Probus in Raetia in a usurpation and had him killed.[13] The often unreliable Historia Augusta is aware of both traditions, although it prefers the former.[14] He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, contenting himself with an announcement to the Senate.[15] This was a marked departure from the constitutionalism of his immediate predecessors, Tacitus and Probus, who at least outwardly respected the authority of the senate, and was the precursor to the even more despotic military autocracy of Diocletian.[16] Campaign against the Sassanids and death[edit] Panels at Naqsh-e Rustam, symbolizing the supposed victories of Bahram II over Carus (top) and Hormizd I Kushanshah (bottom).[17] Bestowing the title of Caesar upon his sons Carinus and Numerian,[18][19] he left Carinus in charge of the western portion of the empire to look after some disturbances in Gaul [20] and took Numerian with him on an expedition against the Persians, which had been contemplated by Probus.[21] Having inflicted a severe defeat on the Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube,[22] for which he was given the title Germanicus Maximus,[23] Carus proceeded through Thrace and Asia Minor, annexed Mesopotamia, pressed on to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and marched his soldiers beyond the Tigris.[24] The Sassanid King Bahram II, limited by internal opposition and his troops occupied with a campaign in modern-day Afghanistan, could not effectively defend his territory.[25] The Sasanians, faced with severe internal problems, could not mount an effective coordinated defense at the time; Carus and his army may have captured the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon.[3] The victories of Carus avenged all the previous defeats suffered by the Romans against the Sassanids, and he received the title of Persicus Maximus.[26] Rome's hopes of further conquest, however, were cut short by his death; Carus died in Sasanian territory, probably of unnatural causes, as he was reportedly struck by lightning.[3] Legacy[edit] Like the conquests of Trajan, 160 years before, Carus' gains were immediately relinquished by his successor. His son Numerian, naturally of an unwarlike disposition, was forced by the army to retreat back over the Tigris.[27] The report of the lightning strike was evidently widely accepted in the camp, and the superstitious awe of the troops inclined them to ascribe Carus' death to the wrath of the Gods. Rumors had been spread of dark oracles, affixing the limits of the Empire on the Tigris, and threatening destruction against the Roman who should presume beyond the river in arms. Persia was abandoned to her rightful possessors, and not till Diocletian, a decade later, was the Persian contest decided in Rome's favor, by that emperor's decisive victory. In the sphere of civil affairs, Carus is remembered principally for the final suppression of the authority of the senate, which had been partially restored under Tacitus and Probus. He declined to accept their ratification of his election, informing them of the fact by a haughty and distant dispatch. He was the last emperor to have united a civil with a military education, in that age when the two were increasingly detached; Diocletian (Imp. 284–305), who succeeded Carus after the brief reign of the latter's sons, was to confirm and formalize the separation of professions, and the autocratic foundation of the imperial rule.[28] Though Carus was known throughout his life for his austere and virtuous manners, the suspicion of his complicity in Probus' death, along with his haughty conduct towards the senate, tarnished his reputation before his death, and Julian, as Gibbon observes, conspicuously places him among the tyrants of Rome, in his catalogue of The Caesars.[29] Family tree[edit] previous Marcus Claudius Tacitus Roman emperor 275–276 Florianus Roman Emperor 276 Probus Roman Emperor 276–282 Carus Roman Emperor 282–283 next Diocletian Roman Emperor 284–305 ∞ Prisca Carinus Roman Emperor 282–284 ∞ Magnia Urbica Numerian co-emperor 282–284 Galeria Valeria See also[edit] Crisis of the Third Century Sources[edit] Primary Sources[edit] Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus Eutropius, Breviarium ab urbe condita Historia Augusta, Life of Carus, Carinus and Numerian Joannes Zonaras, Compendium of History extract: Zonaras: Alexander Severus to Diocletian: 222–284 Secondary Sources[edit] Leadbetter, William, "Carus (282–283 A.D.)", DIR Jones, A.H.M.; J.R. Martindale & J. Morris (1971). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire Volume 1: A.D. 260–395. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07233-6. Potter, David (2013). Constantine the Emperor. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199755868. Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001 Gibbon. Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (1888)  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carus, Marcus Aurelius". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. References[edit] ^ Jones, pg. 183 ^ Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. p. 501. ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2. ^ a b c Potter 2013, p. 26. ^ Jones, pg. 183 ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), ch. XII., p. 292 ^ Victor, 38:1 ^ The tradition that he was one of the so-called "Illyrian Emperors", based on the unreliable vita Cari embedded in the Augustan History, was accepted uncritically by Joseph Scaliger, who assumed the other sources were wrong, and followed by Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (Tom B. Jones, "A Note on Marcus Aurelius Carus" Classical Philology 37.2 (April 1942), pp. 193–194). ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 4:2 ^ Gibbon, ibid; and ch. XIII., p. 340 ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 5:4 ^ Gibbon, ch. XII., p. 292 ^ Jerome, Chron. s. a. 282 ^ Zonaras, 12:29 ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 6:1 ^ Southern, pg. 132 ^ Gibbon, p. 293; and ch. XIII., pp. 328, 329 ^ Encyclopedia Iranica [1] ^ Zonaras, 12:30 ^ Victor 38:2 ^ Gibbon, ch. XII., p. 293 ^ Historia Augusta, "Vita Cari", 7:1 ^ Gibbon, p. 294. Enemy casualties are given at over 36,000. ^ Leadbetter, www.roman-emperors.org/carus.htm ^ Zonaras, 12:30 ^ Leadbetter, www.roman-emperors.org/carus.htm ^ Southern, pg. 133 ^ Gibbon, p. 296 ^ Gibbon, ch. XIII., pp. 328–33. ^ Gibbon, ch. XII., p. 293 and note. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carus. Regnal titles Preceded by Probus Roman emperor 282–283 With: Carinus (283) Succeeded by Carinus Numerian Political offices Preceded by Probus , Victorinus Consul of the Roman Empire 283 with Carinus Succeeded by Carinus, Numerian v t e Roman and Byzantine emperors and ruling empresses Principate 27 BC – AD 235 Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius Vespasian Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Hadrian Antoninus Pius Marcus Aurelius Lucius Verus Commodus Pertinax Didius Julianus (Pescennius Niger) (Clodius Albinus) Septimius Severus Caracalla Geta Macrinus Diadumenian Elagabalus Severus Alexander Crisis 235–285 Maximinus Thrax Gordian I Gordian II Pupienus Balbinus Gordian III Philip the Arab Philip II Decius Herennius Etruscus Hostilian Trebonianus Gallus Volusianus Aemilianus Valerian Gallienus Saloninus Claudius Gothicus Quintillus Aurelian Ulpia Severina Tacitus Florian Probus Carus Carinus Numerian Gallic emperors Postumus (Laelianus) Marius Victorinus (Domitianus II) Tetricus I with Tetricus II as caesar Palmyrene emperors Vaballathus Zenobia Septimius Antiochus Dominate 284–395 Diocletian Maximian Galerius Constantius I Severus Constantine the Great Maxentius Licinius Maximinus Daza (Valerius Valens) (Martinian) Constantine II Constantius II Constans I Magnentius Vetranio Julian Jovian Valentinian I (west) Valens (east) Gratian (west) Valentinian II (west) Theodosius I Magnus Maximus Victor (Eugenius) Western Empire 395–480 Honorius Constantine III with son Constans II Constantius III Joannes Valentinian III Petronius Maximus Avitus Majorian Libius Severus Anthemius Olybrius Glycerius Julius Nepos Romulus Augustulus Eastern/ Byzantine Empire 395–1204 Arcadius Theodosius II Marcian Leo I Leo II Zeno Basiliscus Marcus Anastasius I Dicorus Justin I Justinian I Justin II Tiberius II Constantine Maurice with son Theodosius as co-emperor Phocas Heraclius Constantine III Heraklonas Constans II Constantine IV with brothers Heraclius and Tiberius and then Justinian II as co-emperors Justinian II (first reign) Leontios Tiberius III Justinian II (second reign) with son Tiberius as co-emperor Philippikos Anastasios II Theodosius III Leo III the Isaurian Constantine V Artabasdos Leo IV the Khazar Constantine VI Irene Nikephoros I Staurakios Michael I Rangabe with son Theophylact as co-emperor Leo V the Armenian with Symbatios-Constantine as junior emperor Michael II the Amorian Theophilos Michael III Basil I the Macedonian Leo VI the Wise Alexander Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Romanos I Lekapenos with sons Christopher, Stephen and Constantine as junior co-emperors Romanos II Nikephoros II Phokas John I Tzimiskes Basil II Constantine VIII Zoë (first reign) and Romanos III Argyros Zoë (first reign) and Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael V Kalaphates Zoë (second reign) with Theodora Zoë (second reign) and Constantine IX Monomachos Constantine IX Monomachos (sole emperor) Theodora Michael VI Bringas Isaac I Komnenos Constantine X Doukas Romanos IV Diogenes Michael VII Doukas with brothers Andronikos and Konstantios and son Constantine Nikephoros III Botaneiates Alexios I Komnenos John II Komnenos with Alexios Komnenos as co-emperor Manuel I Komnenos Alexios II Komnenos Andronikos I Komnenos with John Komnenos as co-emperor Isaac II Angelos Alexios III Angelos Alexios IV Angelos Nicholas Kanabos (chosen by the Senate) Alexios V Doukas Empire of Nicaea 1204–1261 Constantine Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris John III Doukas Vatatzes Theodore II Laskaris John IV Laskaris Byzantine Empire 1261–1453 Michael VIII Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos with Michael IX Palaiologos as co-emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos John V Palaiologos John VI Kantakouzenos with John V Palaiologos and Matthew Kantakouzenos as co-emperors John V Palaiologos Andronikos IV Palaiologos John VII Palaiologos Andronikos V Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos Constantine XI Palaiologos Italics indicates a junior co-emperor, while underlining indicates a usurper. Authority control General Integrated Authority File VIAF 1 WorldCat National libraries France (data) United States Netherlands Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carus&oldid=1023312211" Categories: 222 births 283 deaths 3rd-century Roman emperors Imperial Roman consuls Crisis of the Third Century Praetorian prefects Deaths from lightning strikes Aurelii People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Commons link is on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية تۆرکجه Bân-lâm-gú Беларуская Български Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Galego 客家語/Hak-kâ-ngî 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Latina Lombard Magyar Македонски مصرى Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Occitan Polski Português Română Русский Sicilianu Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Yorùbá Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 May 2021, at 18:16 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement