(8) CLAUDIUS II / CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS –
NON-DYNASTIC / CRISIS OF THE THIRD CENTURY
(268-270 AD: 1 YEAR 11 MONTHS)

Another special mention for an emperor that would have ranked higher but for his short reign, truncated by his death from illness.

As it was, Claudius II – or Claudius Gothicus to give him his victory title – turned the tide on the Crisis of the Third Century, laying the foundations for Aurelian and Probus to restore the empire. He may well even have substituted for Aurelian as savior of the empire if he had lived longer to fulfil his goal of reuniting the lost territories of the empire, but Aurelian achieved it for him instead as his successor.

He also was the first of the so-called Illyrian emperors who renewed and led the Roman empire, most immediately in its third century crisis but more generally for the three centuries or so – soldier-emperors who rose to prominence through the ranks of the army and served with distinction as military commanders, usually in succession to each other. These emperors came from the region of Illyricum and other Danubian provinces – provinces of Illyria, Dalmatia, Dacia, Raetia, Pannonia and Moesia – that gave the empire the core of its army and its best commanders.

While a predecessor Decius (and his sons) also came from the Illyricum region, he hailed from the senatorial background, as opposed to the provincial professional soldiers of humble origin who rose through the ranks of the army. Hence the period of the Illyrian emperors proper started with Claudius, “the first in a series of tough ‘soldier emperors’ who would eventually restore the Empire after the Crisis of the Third Century”, including Aurelian and Probus. The Illyrian emperors rose to prominence and served with distinction as military commanders, generally in succession to each other.

“Before the rule of Claudius Gothicus, there had only been two emperors from the Balkans, but afterwards there would only be one emperor who did not hail from the provinces of Pannonia, Moesia or Illyricum until 378” (when Theodosisus I became emperor). Those emperors included four entries in my top ten – Aurelian, Diocletian, Constantine and Valentinian – and Probus so far in my special mentions, as well as a few more to come. Not that they stopped in 378 either, but resumed subsequent to Theodosius I, albeit not as consistently as before – including some of the eastern empire’s best emperors after the fall of the western empire, notably the Justinian dynasty.

When Claudius became emperor upon the death of his predecessor (by assassination, possibly by a conspiracy involving Claudius himself and even Aurelian), the empire was at the height of the Crisis of the Third Century – invaded by barbarians, and worse, divided into three parts with de facto separate states of the Gallic and Palmyrene Empires in west and east respectively, albeit the latter not quite in open defiance of the empire at the outset of his reign.

The most serious barbarian invasion was an invasion of Illyricum and Pannonia by the Goths – against whom Claudius won his greatest victory, “one of the greatest in the history of Roman arms”.

“At the Battle of Naissus, Claudius and his legions routed a huge Gothic army. Together with his cavalry commander, the future Emperor Aurelian, the Romans took thousands of prisoners and destroyed the Gothic cavalry as a force. The victory earned Claudius his surname of “Gothicus” (conqueror of the Goths). The Goths were soon driven back across the Danube River by Aurelian, and nearly a century passed before they again posed a serious threat to the empire”.

Being the Crisis of the Third Century, there was of course more than one barbarian invasion to repel. “Around the same time, the Alamanni had crossed the Alps and attacked the empire. Claudius responded quickly, routing the Alamanni at the Battle of Lake Benacus in the late fall of 268, a few months after the Battle of Naissus. For this he was awarded the title of ‘Germanicus Maximus’.”

Claudius then turned on the Gallic Empire, aided by its own internal power struggles – winning serval victories and regaining Hispania as well as the Rhone river valley of Gaul. The Gallic Empire remained in place in most of Gaul as well as Britain, but Claudius had set the stage for its destruction by Aurelian.

All pretty impressive for a reign of less than two years, and Claudius was preparing a campaign against yet another barbarian invasion, by the Vandals in Pannonia – and presumably also had his sights set on a Palmyrene empire that had begun to emerge in open defiance to Rome – when he died from illness.

RATING: 4 STARS****
A-TIER (TOP TIER)
EMPIRE SAVER