Aurelian

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

I've been doing a bit of reading on the Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-75) and what becomes apparent apart from him being a very able General and Emperor is his fondness of giving himself a new title after nearly every military victory, Germanicuc Maximus, Gothicus Maximus, Parthicus Maximus, Persicus Maximus, Carpicus Maximus, and then we have restitutor orientis, restitutor orbis.

 

There were even coins issued during Aurelian's lifetime reading deus et dominus natus, "God and born ruler" although he did not officially take this title he must have still had a hand in getting the title put on the coins.

 

He also gave his wife, Ulpia Severina the title Augusta and the empress also bore the title, mater castrorum et senatus et patriae.

 

Was this sort of thing commonplace with the Emperors or was it just that Aurelian was proud of his achievements and also very fond of titles?

Edited June 30, 2007 by Gaius Paulinus Maximus

[Ursus]

It could be said the trend started with Augustus, who was granted a variety of titles to legitimize his rule in a society that did not want to officially recognize monarchs.

 

By Aurelian's time, the need to have an almost god-like ruler to shore up the manifest weaknesses of the Imperial government, and offset potential pretenders to the throne, had become gross.

[ASCLEPIADES]

I've been doing a bit of reading on the Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-75) and what becomes apparent apart from him being a very able General and Emperor is his fondness of giving himself a new title after nearly every military victory, Germanicuc Maximus, Gothicus Maximus, Parthicus Maximus, Persicus Maximus, Carpicus Maximus, and then we have restitutor orientis, restitutor orbis.

 

There were even coins issued during Aurelian's lifetime reading deus et dominus natus, "God and born ruler" although he did not officially take this title he must have still had a hand in getting the title put on the coins.

 

He also gave his wife, Ulpia Severina the title Augusta and the empress also bore the title, mater castrorum et senatus et patriae.

 

Was this sort of thing commonplace with the Emperors or was it just that Aurelian was proud of his achievements and also very fond of titles?

From where I am, this sort of thing was definitely commonplace with the emperors, the rule indeed. In a nutshell, besides the agnomen "Augustus", Caligula would be the first emperor to add a victory title ("Germanicus", inherited from his famous father); Trajan, the first to add multiple titles (3); Marcus Aurelius, the first to add the superlative "Maximus", and Commodus; the first to claim the same title more than once. Gratian (died 383) could be the last emperor with this "polyagnomia". The record probably goes to Diocletian, who claimed no less than 18 times 9 different titles ("Germanicus" at least 6 times), each of them with the correspondent superlative "Maximus"; anyway, other tetrarchs had similar figures.

[caldrail]

To some extent it depended on the personality of the emperor concerned. Some rulers get very attached to numerous titles and occaisionally you get those dictators who pin mountains of medals on their chests for self-aggrandisement. In rome though some of these titles were offered to an emperor for his benificent rule, his military acumen, or simply because he was popular. I also notice that some emperors adopted titles awarded to their predecessors, so there's also a psychologal need for inheritabnce - a sense that they are the true successors of the last man on the throne, particularly since the many emperors claims to power were straining credibility and their rivals knew it.