Licinius
|
Aureus of Licinius, celebrating his tenth year of reign and the fifth year of his son Licinius (on the obverse). |
For other Romans of this name, see
Licinius (gens).
Flavius Galerius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c.
250 -
325) was
Roman emperor from 308 to
324.
Of
Dacian peasant origin, born in
Moesia Superior,
Licinius accompanied his close friend the Emperor
Galerius on the Persian expedition in 297. After the death of
Flavius Valerius Severus, Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of
Augustus in the West on
November 11 308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of
Illyricum, Thrace and Pannonia.
On the death of Galerius, in May
311, Licinius shared the entire empire with
Maximinus Daia, the
Hellespont and the
Bosporus being the dividing line.
In March
313 he married
Flavia Julia Constantia, half-sister of
Constantine, at Mediolanum (now
Milan), the occasion for the jointly-issued "
Edict of Milan" that restored confiscated properties to Christian congregations and allowed Christianesim to be professed in the empire. In the following month, on
April 30, Licinius inflicted a decisive defeat on Maximinus at the
Battle of Tzirallum, after Maximinus had tried attacking him. Then, Licinius established himself master of the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West.
In
314, a civil war errupted between Licinius and Constantine, in which Constantine prevailed at the
Battle of Cibalae in
Pannonia (
October 8, 314) and again two years later (after naming
Valerius Valens co-emperor) in the plain of
Mardia (also known as
Campus Ardiensis) in
Thrace. The emperors reconciled after these two battles.
In
324, Constantine, tempted by the "advanced age and unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared war against him, and, having defeated his army at the
Battle of Adrianople (
July 3, 324), succeeded in shutting him up within the walls of
Byzantium. The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius in the
Battle of Hellespont by
Crispus, Constantine’s eldest son and
Caesar, compelled his withdrawal to
Bithynia, where a
last stand was made; the
Battle of Chrysopolis, near
Chalcedon (
September 18), resulted in Licinius final submission. He was interned at
Thessalonica under a kind of house arrest, but when he attempted to raise troops among the barbarians, Constantine had him and his former co-emperor
Sextus Martinianus assassinated, undermining a promise the emperor made half a year prior.
*
De Imperatoribus Romanis website: Licinius
*
Socrates Scholasticus account of Licinius' end 
