| Numerian | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Antoninianus of Numerian | |||||||||
| Roman emperor | |||||||||
| Augustus Caesar | July 283 – November 284 282 – July 283 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Carus | ||||||||
| Successor | Diocletian | ||||||||
| Co-emperors | Carinus (283–284) | ||||||||
| Died | November 284 Emesa | ||||||||
| Spouse | Daughter ofArrius Aper | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Father | Carus | ||||||||
Numerian (Latin:Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus;[2] died November 284) wasRoman emperor from 283 to 284 with his older brotherCarinus. They were sons ofCarus, a general raised to the office ofpraetorian prefect under EmperorProbus in 282.[3]
_02.jpg)
Numerian was the younger son ofCarus.[3] In 282, the legions of the upper Danube inRaetia andNoricum proclaimed as emperor Numerian's father, thepraetorian prefect Marcus AureliusCarus, after a mutiny against the emperorProbus, in which the latter was killed.[5] By one account, Carus hadhimself rebelled against the emperor, and Probus' army, stationed inSirmium (Sremska Mitrovica,Serbia), decided they did not wish to fight Carus and assassinated their emperor instead.[6] According to theHistoria Augusta, Carus was not responsible for Probus's death, and inflicted severe punishment upon the murderers.[7] Carus, already sixty, wished to establish a dynasty[8] and immediately elevated Carinus and Numerian to the rank ofCaesar.[9]
In 283, Carus left Carinus in charge of the West and moved with Numerian and his praetorian prefectArrius Aper to the East to wage war against theSassanid Empire. The Sassanids had been embroiled in a succession dispute since the death of Shapur and were in no position to oppose Carus' advance.[10][11]
According toZonaras,Eutropius, andFestus, Carus won a major victory against the Persians, takingSeleucia and the Sassanid capital ofCtesiphon (near modernAl-Mada'in,Iraq), cities on opposite banks of theTigris.[12] In celebration, Numerian, Carus, and Carinus all took thetitlePersici maximi.[13] Carus died in July or early August of 283,[3] allegedly due to a strike of lightning.[14]
The death of Carus left Numerian and Carinus as the newAugusti. Carinus quickly made his way to Rome from Gaul, arriving in January 284, while Numerian lingered in the East.[15] The Roman retreat from Persia was orderly and unopposed, for the Persian King,Bahram II, was still struggling to establish his authority.[16]
By March 284, Numerian had only reached Emesa (Homs) inSyria; by November, onlyAsia Minor.[17] In Emesa he was apparently still alive and in good health, as he issued the only extantrescript in his name there.[18] Coins were issued in his name inCyzicus at some time before the end of 284, but it is impossible to know whether he was still in the public eye by that point.[19]
After Emesa, Numerian's staff, including the prefect Aper, reported that Numerian suffered from an inflammation of the eyes and had to travel in a closed coach.[20] When the army reachedBithynia,[15] orThrace,[21] some of Numerian's soldiers smelled an odor reminiscent of a decaying corpse emanating from the coach.[16] They opened its curtains and found Numerian dead.[22]
Aper officially broke the news of Numerian's death inNicomedia (İzmit) in November 284,[23] and the discovery, which the prefect attempted to conceal, as due to the forwardness of the soldiery, who forced open the Imperial tent to investigate for themselves the situation of their invisible monarch.[21] Numerian's generals and tribunes called a council for the succession, which met atChalcedon across theBosphorus, where they chose as emperorDiocletian, commander of the cavalry arm of the imperial bodyguard,[24] despite Aper's attempts to garner support.[23] The army of the east unanimously saluted their new Augustus. Diocletian accepted the purple imperial vestments and raised his sword to the light of the sun, swearing an oath denying responsibility for Numerian's death. He asserted that Aper had killed Numerian and concealed the deed. In full view of the army, Diocletian then turned and killed Aper, who had been hauled bound before the assembly.[25]
According to theHistoria Augusta, Numerian was a man of considerable literary attainments, remarkably amiable, and known as a great orator and poet. Allegedly, the Senate raised him a statue, inscribedTo the most powerful of orators.[26]
| previous Marcus Claudius Tacitus Roman Emperor 275-276 | Florianus Roman Emperor 276 | Probus Roman Emperor 276-282 |  Carus Roman Emperor 282-283 | next Diocletian Roman Emperor 284-305 ∞Prisca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carinus Roman Emperor 282-284 ∞Magnia Urbica | Numerian co-emperor 282-284 | Galeria Valeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Roman emperor 283–284 With:Carinus | Succeeded by Carinus (until 285) andDiocletian |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Consul of theRoman Empire 284 withCarinus | Succeeded by |
