Macrianus
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MACRIANUS (Marcus Fulvius) the elder, one of the many usurpers who took advantage of the distracted state of the empire, during the reign of Gallienus. The friend of Valerianus, he excited him against the Christians, and then betrayed his cause. Elected Emperor in A.D.261, he appointed Balista his general, and defeated the Persians. However, soon afterwards, in the following year (A.D.262), while marching into Illyria against Aureolus, another tyrant, he was himself defeated, and fell a victim to the treachery of his own soldiers. Beauvais, in his History, quotes coins of the elder Macrianus; but according to the opinion of Vaillant, confirmed by later writers, there are no Latin coins of his extant and those which remain belong to the younger Macrianus. Those, in potin, struck at Alexandria, are of extreme rarity.
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Macrianus
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MACRIANUS (Fulvius Junius), one of the many usurpers who took advantage of the distracted state of the empire during the reign of Gallienus. Following the capture of Valerian by the Persians, Ballista, the Praetorian Prefect and Titus Fulvius Macrianus, one of Valerian's generals rallied the Roman army and it was decided to proclaim the two sons of the latter, namely Fulvius Junius Quietus and Fulvius Junius Macrianus, emperors. The new emperors took vigorous action against the advancing Persians and, led by Ballista, the army achieved a great victory over Sapor at Corycus, not only halting the Persians but causing them to retreat back to the Euphrates. After this success, full of confidence, Macrianus and his father set out for Europe to challenge Gallienus. However, soon afterwards, while marching into Illyricum, they were met by the army of Aureolus, one of Gallienus' generals and in the ensuing battle the Eastern army was utterly defeated and Macrianus and his father were both killed. This ruler is often referred to as Macrianus II or Macrianus the younger, but it is almost certain that the elder Macrianus was never proclaimed emperor himself, being content with the elevation of his two sons.
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