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Numerian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Numerian | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of the Roman Empire | |
 |
|
| Coin featuring Numerian. | |
| Reign | 282-3 (as Caesar under his father); December 283 - November 284 (alone) |
| Full name | Marcus Aurelius Numerianus |
| Died | November 284 |
| Emesa | |
| Predecessor | Carus |
| Successor | Diocletian |
| Wife/wives | Daughter of Flavius Julius Aper |
Marcus Aurelius Numerianus (d. November, 284), known in English as Numerian, was a Roman Emperor (December 283 – November, 284)
Numerian was the son of the Roman Emperor Carus and brother of Emperor Carinus, and was proclaimed Caesar in fall 282, short after his father's accession.
After marrying the daughter of the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Lucius Flavius Aper, Numerian and his father-in-law followed Carus on his expedition against the Sassanid Empire (Carinus had been proclaimed Augustus in Gaul). When Carus suddenly died in December 283, Numerian, proclaimed Augustus, had to bring the army back to its bases.
In March 284, the year of his consulship, Numerian was in Emesa. He fell ill, and Aper told the Emperor he had an inflammation to his eyes, and needed to travel in a closed coach. When, several days later, the guards sensed a bad smell coming from the coach and opened it, they found the dead body of the young emperor.
It was probable that Numerian had died naturally, and that the officers wanted to keep his death secret to avoid a turmoil in the army. The commander of the imperial bodyguard, Valerius Diocles, accused Aper of the death of the Emperor, and killed him; Diocles was acclaimed emperor by the army, and took the power with the name of Diocletian.
According to Historia Augusta, Numerian was a man of considerable literary attainments, of remarkably amiable character, and known as a great orator and poet. However, no other sources, apart the unreliable Historia, report anything about his personality.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Preceded by Carus |
Roman Emperor 283–284 with Carinus |
Succeeded by Carinus (until 285) and Diocletian |