LOST ROMAN HEROES

Probus, Aurelian's prodigy and friend, rose to the purple shortly after Aurelian's murder just like his mentor had, through sheer grit and merit.  In five short years he pursued Aurelian's policies brilliantly, with a deftness of touch perhaps that Aurelian lacked.  He was everywhere at once, East and West, North and South, campaigning north of the Rhine like Germanicus and Drusus, showing the Persians that Rome was no longer afraid, in short, helping to reinforce Aurelian's miracle.  To friend and foe alike, lest there be any doubt, thanks to Probus all knew - ROME WAS BACK.

Emperor Claudius Gothicus is dead.  Aurelian is dashing around Thrace, chasing a Goth horde, while Claudius' weakling brother Quintillus is elevated to the purple.  Rome is still broken in three, with the Gallic Empire going strong in Gaul, Britannia and Germania.  While the East is increasingly independent, and anti-Roman, under Odaenathus' widow Zenobia.  What Aurelian accomplishes next is difficult to fathom, and will bestow upon him the most extraordinary and well deserved of honorary title: RESTITUTOR ORBIS.

Aurelian.  Farm boy.  Born in the dirt somewhere near Sirmium, son of a soldier, and a priestess of Sol Invictus.  He entered the army at the very bottom and fought his way to the top of the military hierarchy, the old fashioned way - he earned every bit of it.  By the time Claudius Gothicus died, he was the number two to the emperor, the general in charge of the entire army.  But this was a reduced Empire, split in three, overrun by barbarian enemies on the frontiers, and devastated by the Plague.  What is Rome in 270AD?  And who is Aurelian?  Does any of it matter when the world as we know it no longer exists?

In the heart of darkness that was the Crisis of the Third Century, Postumus was one of those super talented generals cherry picked by the supreme talent scout that was the Emperor Gallienus.  A Roman through and through, as Juthungi and Frank warriors poured across the Rhine, Postumus rode a wave of discontent, was declared emperor of a new world that would be known as the Gallic Empire, killed Gallienus' son, and would build a new regime dedicated to holding the line on the Rhine frontier.  Villain or hero?  Emperor or usurper?  Tune in to Episode 44 to find out....

Who could have possibly imagined, that when Rome's fortunes hit their nadir, when the West had fallen away (to be ruled by the new Gallic Emperor Postumus) and the East crumbled under Shapur's relentless onslaught, it would not be a Roman Emperor, or a Roman General that saved Rome's eastern provinces from annihilation, but it would be a young guy born in the desert oasis town known as Palmyra that would rescue Rome.  Odaenathus rose from obscurity in an obscure place - Palmyra - last stop on the Silk Road, a watering hole in the Syrian desert.  And through sheer force of will and brilliant military and political tactics, he would become Rome's indispensable man in the heart of the storm known as the Crisis of the Third Century.

Poor Gallienus, son of poor Emperor Valerian, if you had existed in an earlier era, who knows what might have come of you?  As it was, you had the bad luck of being born in the heart of the disastrous 3rd century, when the machine that was Rome careened down the tracks, no one at the helm, brakes shot, with the wheels coming off.  With the Rhine and Danube frontiers overwhelmed by a relentless barbarian tide, the new Sassanid Empire in the East under vigorous Shapur I clawing back ancient Persian lands, and an endless line of internal usurpers aiming for the throne, one can't help but feel sympathy for Gallienus - but does he belong in the hall of heroes if the world nearly ended on his watch?  

Septimius Severus, Rome's first African emperor.  Born in Leptis Magna, he ended the civil war that erupted following Commodus' death during the Year of the Five Emperors, restoring order to the Empire, cowing the Senate, strengthening the borders, and ushering in a new era of warrior-emperors just in time for the Crisis of the Third Century that would shortly bring Rome to her knees.  Rome wouldn't look this good again for A LONG TIME.  Pretty impressive resume, except for the whole dying-and-leaving-the-Empire-to-Caracalla bit.

Lucius Artorius Castus, centurion of the Roman legions, Primus Pilus under Rome's Philosopher-Emperor Marcus Aurelius himself in the Legio V Macedonica.  This man went wherever the Empire needed him - from the scorching deserts of Syria to the frigid Danube at Belgrade and Carnuntum he served with distinction.  But his true star turn came when he was sent with the Sarmatian knights to serve on the Wall in Britannia, where his valor, bravery and remarkable deeds planted the seeds (we believe) of the legend that we know as KING ARTHUR!

Marcus Aurelius, the gentle philosopher who lived through the inconceivable, heart-wrenching loss of ten children.  Heir to Antoninus Pius against his will, he became emperor of 1/3 of the known world just as the Pax Romana began to fracture.  True to his stoic core, Marcus set aside personal wants and rose to the occasion, transforming himself from the first philosopher-emperor into the first warrior-emperor who spend his final 10 years camped on the Danube, fighting the barbarian wave that would eventually overwhelm the West.

Hadrian the Builder!  Third of the Five Good Emperors, and as unknowable as the sphinx.  He took over control of the Roman Empire from Trajan at its greatest territorial extent, inheriting a crazy Frankenstein of a territory that no one since Augustus had really focused on managing well, his predecessors had wanted to milk it or expand it, but Hadrian wanted to optimize it.  A remarkable ambition, a mysterious man, and a legacy worthy of remembrance, and debate.  But does he qualify as a Roman hero?