Tetricus I

Reece Period attributed: Period 13

Member of the The Gallic Emperors dynasty.

Coins for this issuer were issued from 271 until 274.

Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus became emperor of the Gallic empire after the assassination of Victorinus in 271. He was loosely related to Victorinus’ mother Victoria, who paid a large bribe to the armies for their allegiance. He made his young son Tetricus II a Caesar, and may have later named him Augustus and co-ruler.

Tetricus was an accomplished military commander, and he defeated a German invasion. He also fought against Aurelian’s attempt to take the Gallic Empire back into the main Roman Empire, but the circumstances of the Gallic Empire’s ultimate capitulation are shady. Tetricus was not executed but given an administrative post, and both father and son appear to have lived out their days in peace. Some suggest that Tetricus asked Aurelian to intervene and take Gaul back into the Roman Empire when he could no longer deal with internal strife and administration.

Other resources about Tetricus I

• Dbpedia: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tetricus_I
• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetricus_I
• VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/11425945

View all coins recorded by the scheme attributed to Tetricus I.

Information from Wikipedia

• Preferred label: Tetricus I
• Full names:
  • Tetricus I
• Title: Emperor of the Gallic Empire, Augustus of Gaul and Britannia, Consul of the Gallic Empire
• Predecessor: Victorinus
• Successor: Aurelian
• Definition: Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was the emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274 AD. He was originally the praeses (governor) of Gallia Aquitania and became emperor after the murder of Emperor Victorinus in 271, with the support of Victorinus's mother, Victoria. During his reign, he faced external pressure from Germanic raiders, who pillaged the eastern and northern parts of his empire, and the Roman Empire, from which the Gallic Empire had seceded. He also faced increasing internal pressure, which led him to declare his son, Tetricus II, caesar in 273 and possibly co-emperor in 274, although this is debated. The Roman emperor Aurelian invaded in 273 or 274, leading to the Battle of Châlons, at which Tetricus surrendered. Whether this capitulation was the result of a secret agreement between Tetricus and Aurelian or necessary after his defeat is debated. Aurelian spared Tetricus, and even made him a senator and corrector (governor) of Lucania et Bruttium. Tetricus died of natural causes a few years after 274.
• Parents:
  • Father:
  • Mother:
• Birth place: Roman Gaul
• Death place: Lucania, Roman Italy
• Spouse:
• Other title(s):
  • Emperor of the Gallic Empire
  • Augustus of Gaul and Britannia
  • Consul of the Gallic Empire
• Came After:
• Came before:
• Subjects on wikipedia:
  • Gallic consuls
  • 3rd-century monarchs in Europe
  • Gallic emperors
  • Thirty Tyrants (Roman)
  • 3rd-century Romans
  • Imperial Roman consuls
  • Year of birth unknown
  • Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime
  • Year of death unknown