Licinius

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As of 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).

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, he committed a jealous treason in favor of Bassianus against Constantine. When his actions became known, a civil war ensued, in which Constantine prevailed at the Battle of Cibalae in Pannonia (October 8, 314), and later defeated Licinius again two years later (after naming Valerius Valens co-emperor) in the plain of Mardia (also known as Campus Ardiensis) in Thrace. The outward reconciliation left Licinius in possession of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt, but he later added numerous provinces to Constantine's control.

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.

References

• [De Imperatoribus Romanis website:] Licinius

External links

• [Socrates Scholasticus account of Licinius' end]

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