Aemilian (213-253) was Roman emperor for three months in 253, succeeding Trebonianus Gallus and preceding Valerian.
Biography[]
Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus was born in 213 AD in Girba, Roman Africa (now the island of Djerba, Tunisia) to a family of Moors or Libyans. He was sent to command an army in Moesia under Roman emperor Trebonianus Gallus, and he was appointed governor there; he defeated the Scythians in the Balkans and in Asia Minor. In 253, Gallus' inability to defend Rome from the Goths led to the military acclaiming Aemilian as the new emperor, and Aemilian was recognized as emperor in Rome after Gallus was killed by his own men at Terni while attempting to confront Aemilian and his army. However, Gallus had sent for Valerian to bring an army to Rome before he died, and Aemilian's men mutinied at Spoletium rather than have to fight against Valerian. Aemilian was therefore slain in the third month of his reign.