A Short History of the Gallic Empire
260: The Break with Rome
The Gallic Empire was a breakaway empire during the Roman Empire's third-century economic and political crisis. In 260 C.E., the emperor Valerian was captured in battle with the Persians. Valerian's co-regent son, Gallienus, was left to rule alone. Enter Postumus, a military commander in the West, perhaps the governor of Lower Germany. After Valerian's capture, Postumus made a break with Gallienus and established the Gallic Empire, an independent state composed of Gaul, Britain, and Spain (see map at right).
Postumus seems to have been a very successful military commander up to the establishment of the Gallic Empire (Drinkwater 24).There is some debate over the nature of Postumus' rebellion. It apparently stems from a conflict between the generals of the western provinces. Drinkwater holds that Postumus revolted over interference by Silvanus (another general in the west) with Postumus' command (26). It appears that Postumus did not have designs on the imperial throne, but remained content to have dominion over the Roman west.
Why did the Gallic Empire become the Gallic Empire? Why was Postumus content to set up a rogue empire on the periphery of the Roman world? The traditional theory is that the Gallic provinces broke with Rome frustrated by Gallienus' inability to protect the provinces from barbarian invasions (Sinnigen and Boak 392). Trebellius Pollio writes of Postumus:
For seven years he ruled so beneficially that he restored Gaul to its former position, while Gallienus was wasting his time... all the people of Gaul were greatly attached to Postumus, because he had driven back all the German tribes and restored to the Roman empire its former security. (in Webb 1)Some have conjectured that the northwestern provinces' held an economic independence from the rest of the empire that allowed for an easy political break from Rome (Drinkwater 20). It seems that the northwest provinces formed a distinct economic bloc within the Roman Empire and were more prosperous than the rest of the empire. Gaul, Britain, and Iberia may have already been economically insulated from the rest of the Empire for some time before 260. Perhaps Postumus sought to preserve the region's economic status in addition to protection from Germanic tribes.
However, this does not explain why Postumus did not try to take the Imperial throne. Pollio provides evidence of an indigenous rebellion against imperial authority where Postumus was appointed:
Gallienus entrusted his son Saloninus, then in Gaul, to [Postumus'] care, charging him to watch over his life and behavior and to instruct him in the management of imperial affairs. Subsequently... (although it is inconsistent with his character), he broke faith and, having murdered Saloninus, assumed the purple. But many others with greater credibility report that the Gauls, who had a violent hatred of Gallienus, and could not endure that a mere boy should rule over them, had themselves proclaimed empror the man who virtually exercised the imperial functions, and dispatched some soldiers to put the young prince to death. (in Webb 1)It is possible that this was a provincial rebellion by Gauls seeking effective administration. If this were the case, then it could be conceivably argued that economic forces were at work in the establishment of the Gallic Empire.
Postumus quickly established an administration based on Roman government,
with Roman titles and offices (Drinkwater 28). He and his successors presented
themselves as Roman emperors in name and in propaganda. This is illustrated
by the coin evidence. The coin at left presents
Postumus as just another Roman Emperor. It makes no mention of the Gallic Empire.
While the portrait is quite individualistic for the period, he is presented
with the legend IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG (Imperator Gaius Postumus Pius Felix
Augustus). This title presupposes that he is emperor of the Roman empire, yet
he was not. One can easily conclude that Postumus was trying to present himself
in Roman terms.
Postumus spent some of the next few years shoring up the German border. In 263 or 264 (the historical record is unclear), Gallienus proceeded against Postumus in an attempt to recover the Gallic provinces and to avenge his son's death (Sinnigen and Boak 392; Drinkwater 30). Twice Postumus was on the verge of defeat and twice he escaped. The second time Gallienus was shot in the back with an arrow while laying siege to a Gallic town in which Postumus had taken refuge. This wound forced Gallienus to withdraw his forces and the Gallic Empire remained unhasselled by the central empire for the rest of Postumus' reign.
There was an economic crisis in 267-268 when the Gallic coinage was suddenly debased. This was probably brought on by a dramatic increase in Postumus' spending, perhaps to buy the loyalty of his troops (Drinkwater 32-33). This also probably dovetailed with a drop in the silver supply. The evidence, however, points to a large increase in the number of Gallic coins minted in 268. Drinkwater (ibid.) connects this increase in spending with a concurrent revolt by the general Aureolus. He was a military governor of Northern Italy who defected to Postumus in late 267. It is likely that Aureolus rebelled on his own initiative, as he later declared himself emperor of Rome and was abandoned by Postumus to be murdered by the new Roman emperor Claudius II. It is in this context that Postumus greatly increased his spending, debased the coinage, and caused inflation and widespread hoarding.
269: The Year of the Four Gallic Emperors
In 269, four men attempted to take control of the Gallic throne in a complicated course of events. First, Laelianus attempted to spur an army revolt in Germany (Drinkwater 34-35). His rebellion lasted only a few months, but he managed to issue coinage. Postumus defeated Laelianus at Mainz and then refused to let his troops sack the city. The troops then mutinied against Postumus and killed him. Marius, a common soldier, was made emperor and reigned for less than a few month. In the middle of 269, he was killed by Postumus' lieutenant Victorinus, who then took the throne. During this year, the political turmoil within the Gallic Empire served as a signal to the central emperor, Claudius II, that the breakaway empire was falling apart. Claudius was able to bring Spain and parts of southern Gaul back into the central empire (Drinkwater 37).
270-274: The Tetrici and Reunion with Rome
Victorinus reigned for a little more than a year. He had to deal with clashes with the central empire and the rebellious Aedui (Drinkwater 38). Victorinus died in unclear circumstances in early 271. Victoria, his mother, arranged for Tetricus, a civilian from the Gallic senate, to become emperor. Tetricus's reign was rather uneventful until 273 when he started to come under pressure. Early in the year a fiscal crisis led him to debase the antoninianus even further to less than 1% silver, below the value of the Roman antoninianus (Drinkwater 40-41). Later in the year he took his son, Tetricus II, as co-regent. These two events point at an increasing stress on his reign. In early 274, Aurelian, the central emperor invaded the Gallic Empire (Drinkwater 43). Tetricus was defeated but allowed to live. Gaul remained a part of the Roman Empire for several centuries more, while Britain broke away again for a short period of time in the 290s.
Created by Michael Freedman-Schnapp
A project for ARTH 491: Roman Art
University of Virginia;
Charlottesville, Virginia.
Last updated April 25, 2001.