Gallienus - Legacy

Legacy

Gallienus has not been dealt with well by ancient historians, partly due to the secession of Gaul and Palmyra and his inability to get them back. According to the modern scholar Pat Southern, however, some historians now see him in a more positive light. Gallienus produced some useful reforms. He contributed to military history by being the first to commission a cavalry-only unit that could be dispatched anywhere in the Empire in short order. This reform arguably created a precedent for the future emperors Diocletian and Constantine I.

The biographer Aurelius Victor also reports that Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable equestrian commanders rose to prominence. In Southern's opinion, these reforms and the decline in senatorial influence not only helped Aurelian to salvage the Empire, but they also make Gallienus one of the emperors most responsible for the creation of the Dominate, along with Septimius Severus, Diocletian and Constantine I.

In portraying himself with the attributes of the gods on his coinage, Gallienus began the final separation of the Emperor from his subjects. A late bust of Gallienus (see above) shows him of largely blank face and gazing heavenward, as seen on the famous stone head of Constantine I. One of the last rulers of Rome to be theoretically called "Princeps", or First Citizen, Gallienus' shrewd self-promotion assisted in paving the way for those who would be addressed with the words "Dominus et Deus" (Lord and God).

• Antoninianus issued to celebrate, "Legio II Italica seven times faithful and loyal."

• Antoninianus issued to celebrate, "Legio III Italica six times faithful and loyal."

• Antoninianus issued to celebrate, "Legio VII Macedonica six times faithful and loyal."

• Antoninianus issued to celebrate, "Legio VII Claudia six times faithful and loyal."