Licinius
I (/lɪˈsɪniəs/; Latin: Gaius Valerius Licinianus Licinius Augustus; c.
263 – 325) was a Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he
was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored
the Edict of Milan (AD 313) that granted official toleration to
Christians in the Roman Empire. He was finally defeated at the Battle of
Chrysopolis (AD 324), and was later executed on the orders of
Constantine I.
Born to a Dacian peasant family in Moesia Superior,
Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the future emperor
Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 298. He was trusted enough by
Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to Maxentius in Italy to
attempt to reach some agreement about the latter's illegitimate
political position. Galerius then trusted the eastern provinces to
Licinius when he went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death
of Flavius Valerius Severus. Upon his return to the east Galerius
elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus in the West on November 11,
308 his immediate command were the Balkan provinces of Illyricum, Thrace
and Pannonia. In 310 he took command of the war against the Sarmatians,
inflicting a severe defeat on them. On the death of Galerius in May
311, Licinius entered into an agreement with Maximinus II (Daia) to
share the eastern provinces between them. By this point, not only was
Licinius the official Augustus of the west but he also possessed part of
the eastern provinces as well, as the Hellespont and the Bosporus
became the dividing line, with Licinius taking the European provinces
and Maximinus taking the Asian. An alliance between Maximinus and
Maxentius forced the two remaining emperors to enter into a formal
agreement with each other. So in March 313 Licinius married Flavia Julia
Constantia, half-sister of Constantine I,[citation needed] at
Mediolanum (now Milan); they had a son, Licinius the Younger, in 315.
Their marriage was the occasion for the jointly-issued "Edict of Milan"
that reissued Galerius' previous edict allowing Christianity (and any
religion one might choose) to be professed in the Empire, with
additional dispositions that restored confiscated properties to
Christian congregations and exempted Christian clergy from municipal
civic duties. The redaction of the edict as reproduced by Lactantius -
who follows the text affixed by Licinius in Nicomedia on June 14 313,
after Maximinus' defeat - uses neutral language, expressing a will to
propitiate "any Divinity whatsoever in the seat of the heavens". Daia
in the meantime decided to attack Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000
men, he reached Bithynia, although harsh weather he encountered along
the way had gravely weakened his army. In April 313, he crossed the
Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which was held by Licinius' troops.
Undeterred, he took the town after an eleven-day siege. He moved to
Heraclea, which he captured after a short siege, before moving his
forces to the first posting station. With a much smaller body of men,
possibly around 30,000, Licinius arrived at Adrianople while Daia was
still besieging Heraclea. Before the decisive engagement, Licinius
allegedly had a vision in which an angel recited him a generic prayer
that could be adopted by all cults and which Licinius then repeated to
his soldiers. On 30 April 313, the two armies clashed at the Battle of
Tzirallum, and in the ensuing battle Daia's forces were crushed.
Ridding himself of the imperial purple and dressing like a slave, Daia
fled to Nicomedia. Believing he still had a chance to come out
victorious, Daia attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at the
Cilician Gates by establishing fortifications there. Unfortunately for
Daia, Licinius' army succeeded in breaking through, forcing Daia to
retreat to Tarsus where Licinius continued to press him on land and sea.
The war between them only ended with Daia’s death in August 313. Given
that Constantine had already crushed his rival Maxentius in 312, the
two men decided to divide the Roman world between them. As a result of
this settlement, Licinius became sole Augustus in the East, while his
brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West. Licinius
immediately rushed to the east to deal with another threat, this time
from the Persian Sassanids. In 314, a civil war erupted between Licinius
and Constantine, in which Constantine used the pretext that Licinius
was harbouring Senecio, whom Constantine accused of plotting to
overthrow him. Constantine prevailed at the Battle of Cibalae in
Pannonia (October 8, 314). Although the situation was temporarily
settled, with both men sharing the consulship in 315, it was but a lull
in the storm. The next year a new war erupted, when Licinius named
Valerius Valens co-emperor, only for Licinius to suffer a humiliating
defeat on the plain of Mardia (also known as Campus Ardiensis) in
Thrace. The emperors were reconciled after these two battles and
Licinius had his co-emperor Valens killed. Over the next ten years, the
two imperial colleagues maintained an uneasy truce. Licinius kept
himself busy with a campaign against the Sarmatians in 318, but
temperatures rose again in 321 when Constantine pursued some
Sarmatians, who had been ravaging some territory in his realm, across
the Danube into what was technically Licinius’s territory. When he
repeated this with another invasion, this time by the Goths who were
pillaging Thrace under their leader Rausimod, Licinius complained that
Constantine had broken the treaty between them. Constantine wasted no
time going on the offensive. Licinius's fleet of 350 ships was defeated
by Constantine's fleet in 323. Then in 324, Constantine, tempted by
the "advanced age and unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared
war against him and having defeated his army of 165,000 men 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 the 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. In this conflict Licinius was supported
by the Gothic prince Alica. Due to the intervention of Flavia Julia
Constantia, Constantine's sister and also Licinius' wife, both
Licinius and his co-emperor Martinian were initially spared, Licinius
being imprisoned in Thessalonica, Martinian in Cappadocia; however,
both former emperors were subsequently executed. After his defeat,
Licinius attempted to regain power with Gothic support, but his plans
were exposed, and he was sentenced to death. While attempting to flee
to the Goths, Licinius was apprehended at Thessalonica. Constantine had
him hanged, accusing him of conspiring to raise troops among the
barbarians.
Character and legacy After defeating Daia, he had put
to death Flavius Severianus, the son of the emperor Severus, as well as
Candidianus, the son of Galerius. He also ordered the execution of the
wife and daughter of the Emperor Diocletian, who had fled from the court
of Licinius before being discovered at Thessalonica. As part of
Constantine’s attempts to decrease Licinius’s popularity, he actively
portrayed his brother-in-law as a pagan supporter. This was not the
case; contemporary evidence tends to suggest that he was at least a
committed supporter of Christians.[citation needed] He co-authored the
Edict of Milan which ended the Great Persecution, and re-affirmed the
rights of Christians in his half of the empire. He also added the
Christian symbol to his armies, and attempted to regulate the affairs
of the Church hierarchy just as Constantine and his successors were to
do. His wife was a devout Christian. It is even a possibility that he
converted. However, Eusebius of Caesarea, writing under the rule of
Constantine, charges him with expelling Christians from the Palace and
ordering military sacrifice, as well as interfering with the Church's
internal procedures and organization. Finally, on Licinius’s death, his
memory was branded with infamy; his statues were thrown down; and by
edict, all his laws and judicial proceedings during his reign were
abolished. |
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