Lucius Aurelius Marcianus was a Roman soldier whose military career coincided with the period of crisis that characterized the middle decades of the Third Century AD – see Crisis of the Third Century. Probably of humble origins in one of the Illyrician provinces of the Empire he was one of the group of men from this region who chose a military career – or had it chosen for them – whose professional capabilities brought them to the fore of public life in those troubled times. Marcianus rose to the highest levels of the military hierarchy. The evidence suggests that he earned the trust of the Emperors Gallienus and Claudius II and, possibly, Marcus Aurelius Probus among their successors and that he was one of the principal commanders in the prolonged war against a coalition of what the late antique Greek writers called Scythian peoples whose incursions in that period seemed to threaten the very survival of the Roman state. These would refer to the major Germanic and Iranian peoples, among them the Goths and Roxolani, who invaded the Roman empire across the lower Danube River.
Nothing is known of his private life.
The sources Literary Ancient The notoriously inaccurate Scriptores Historiae Augustae (SHA) make several references to Marcianus's military exploits in two of the Imperial uitae, i.e. the Duo Gallieni (the Two Gallieni)SHA(DG) and the Diui Claudii (the Deified Claudius),SHA(DC:) albeit solely in relation to his role in dealing with barbarian incursions into the Imperial provinces of the region now described as South Eastern Europe in 267–8 AD.But, still often referred to familiarly as 'the Balkans' They also assert that he was deeply involved in the conspiracy of senior officers that led to the assassination of Gallienus in 268 AD and his replacement by Claudius II – i.e. Claudius Gothicus.
The only other ancient literary source in which Marcianus is securely attested is the Νέα Ιστορία ("New History") of the Greek historian, Zosimus.Zos Zosimus's "Marcianus" is generally agreed to be the same man as that referred to in the SHA,Gerov(1965:passim) but he is mentioned only once in the "New History" and then in a purely military context. However, Zosimus's failure to make any mention of him in relating the events of the army marshals' coup against Gallienus is considered very significant by some modern commentators.
It was at one time believed that Marcianus was to be identified with the Marianus who was one of three leaders mentioned in a recently discovered fragment of Dexippus as coordinating Greek resistance to a Gothic invasion that swept across the Balkans in the early 260s. However recent scholarship has established Marianus as a previously unknown governor of AchaiaDexippus and the Gothic Invasions: Interpreting the New Vienna Fragment (Codex Vindobonensis Hist. gr. 73, ff 192-193)
Secondary The only modern biography specifically devoted to Marcianus is that of Gerov which was written in 1965. Gerov wrote before recent archaeological and numismatic discoveries encouraged the development of a new view of Imperial activity in Asia during the reign of Claudius II and Marcianus's possible involvement in this. Thus his biography did not consider the possibility that Marcianus commanded an expedition to counter Scythian incursions into Asia region at this time, for which the only literary reference was an off-hand statement in Zosimus. In addition, he was not able to take account of the very critical examination of the SHA material that took place from the late-1960s onwards, especially by Sir Ronald Syme, which might have affected his willingness to accept the account of Marcianus's activity propagated by that work. Although Gerov's paper is still considered the standard study of Marcianus, it is now possible to come to significantly different conclusions on some points.
Epigraphic Reference to Marcianus authoritatively established There are three epigraphic inscriptions that have been identified by published authorities as relating to the Marcianus of the ancient literary sources – albeit with varying degrees of confidence. These add considerably to the knowledge of his career derived from the literary sources:
1. From Philippopolis, Thracia (ancient city located in modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria):AE 1965, 114 (Thracia) This inscription (in Greek) comes from a monument set up by the Town-Council and People of Philippopolis honouring one "Marcianus" (i.e. no praenomen or nomen) who saved the city when it was besieged by an unidentified enemy. The identification with the Marcianus of the literary sources (see above) was first made by Gerov;Gerov(1965:353)
2. From Termessos, Lycia et Pamphylia province, (ancient city located on Mount Dagi ( Taurus Mountains)), Antalya province, Turkey):AE1978, 802) This inscription (in Greek) is from a monument set up by the Town-Council and People of Termessos dedicated to one "L. Aurelius Marcianus", a "patron and benefactor" of the city who "brought peace". It is now proposed that this dates from the reign of Claudius II and that the dedicatee can be identified with the Marcianus of the Philippopolis Inscription.Biagi(2006:363fn19) The Termessos inscription provides the only secure reference to Marcianus's praenomen (i.e. Lucius); however, his nomen is also confirmed in a third inscription
3. Discovered in Rhodes, but originally from Kibyra, Pamphylia (ancient city in south-west Turkey, near the town of Gölhisar, in Burdur Province: This inscription (in Greek) was on a monument honouring one "Aurelius Marcianus", who is celebrated as "a most generous military leader". This inscription, like that from Termessos, is now thought to date from the reign of Claudius II and to honour the same man.Biagi:(2006:passim.))
All three of these inscriptions give the dedicatee the title of διασημότατον (i.e. diasemotaton – nominative form diasemotatos), which is the Greek equivalent of the Latin honorific Vir Perfectissimus. Thus, when the monuments with which they were associated were set up, he was a member of the Second Class of the Roman equestrian order. The viri perfectissimi were invariably men of very high official and social status with close connections to the Imperial Court.
Similarly on each of them he is described as a δούξ (doux)- the Greek transliteration of the Latin Dux which was at this time still in the process of developing from a functional title to an established rank in the military hierarchy. All known duces were Viri Perfectissimi.Christol(1978:passim). This suggests that, in addition to military capability, men who were entrusted with this function had to be known personally to and trusted by the reigning Emperor.
The status of a vir perfectissimus et dux was an exalted one in the hierarchy of the Imperial Service of the late 260s. (The governor of Lycia et Pamphylia probably ranked no higher than egregius ("Select"), the Third Grade of the Equestrian OrderChristol(1978:xx).). That all three dedicatees mentioned in these inscriptions not only bore the same cognomen (and in the Asian instances, the same gentilicium), but were also of this rank strengthens the proposition that they were, in fact, the same man who was also the Marcianus referred to by the SHA and Zosimus.
If this identification is accepted, the detail of the inscriptions fills out the information relating to Marcianus's service in the war in Achaea and Illyricum under Gallienus that can be derived from the literary record. It also argues for the proposition that he subsequently saw active service against Scythians raiders in Asia for which there is no literary record.
In that latter connection, a recent study of a fourth inscription from the ancient city of Sagalassos (Lycia et Pamphylia – modern Antalya province, Turkey) seems to throw further light on his career. The Sagalassos document does not mention Marcianus specifically, but it does indicate that the operations against the Scythian pirates in the Eastern Mediterranean under Claudius II mentioned by Zosimus involved a significant land operation under Claudius II in Pisidian Asia. This encouraged a review of the then current interpretations of the Marcianus inscriptions
... not established A further inscription (in Latin) discovered near Salona, Dalmatia, (now Split, Croatia) honouring the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus was dedicated by an "Aurelius Marcianus", a Vir Perfectissimus, described as Praeses, i.e. equestrian governor, of the province of Dalmatia.CIL III.8707 (Dalmatia). The invocation of Probus as the reigning Emperor fixes this document to the period 276–82 AD which means that the dedicator was at least a contemporary of the Marcianus of the literary record. The possibility that he was that Marcianus is not inherently unlikely, but the identification has yet to be securely established.Mennen(2011:141fn 21).
Origins There is no information from the ancient sources relating to Marcianus's date or place of birth but he is generally assumed to have had his origin in one of the Danubian provinces – i.e. Illyricum.Potter(2004:265). His nomen/gentilicium, (i.e. "Aurelius"), would usually be taken to indicate that his family was admitted to Roman citizenship as a result of the Emperor Caracalla's Constitutio Antoniniana of 212 AD. This would mean that he was certainly not a member of the aristocracy that had ruled the Empire under the Severan Dynasty, but owed his prominence to his own capabilities.
Rise to eminence Information for Marcianus's career in the years before he was entrusted with senior commands is almost non-existent. The only literary reference is from Zosimus who, recording Marcianus's appointment as theatre-commander in the war against Scythian invaders of Illyricum in 268 AD – see below – remarked that he was: ... a man of great experience in military affairs.Zos(1.40))) This indicates that his early career had been mainly as a soldier.Mennen(2011.234) It is most likely that Marcianus enlisted as a common soldier which would suggest that he had to serve many years before achieving commissioned rank. On this period of his life, apart from Zosimus's aside – see above – the sources are entirely silent.
The Philippopolis Inscription (epigraphic source 1. above) records that before he began to receive Imperial commissions as a dux Marcianus had been the tribunus of a Praetorian Cohort and a Protector of Gallienus. (See Protectores Augusti Nostri). This indicates that, whatever his beginnings, he had not only survived involvement in the almost incessant warfare that was the condition of a soldier serving in the Illyrician garrisons in the middle decades of the Third Century, but also that he thereby distinguished himself and that by the mid-260s he had achieved equestrian status and had been singled out for promotion to the most senior commands.
Praetorian tribuni were chosen from among officers who were members of the Equestrian Order by the Emperor himself, usually on the recommendation of the Praetorian Prefect or other persons of influence in Court Circles.Dobson(1974:411-13 and 417-20) His status as a protector was almost certainly acquired during Gallienus's sole reign (260–8 AD) when these appointments were made from among senior Praetorian officers or legionary prefects (see, again, Volusianus and also Publius Aelius Aelianus) for by the end of Gallienus's reign and certainly under Claudius II these men were being appointed from the centurions of all units attached to the Imperial field-army – see Traianus Mucianus. Progression to more senior commands by way of a tour of duty in the units of the Roman garrison (sometimes with successive postings to the Vigiles, the Cohortes Urbanae and the Praetorian Guard) and admission to the ranks of the Protectores Augusti Nostri was a career-path followed by a number of Marcianus's eminent near-contemporaries.
Career as a field-officer