Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus (231-283) was Emperor of the Gallic Empire from 1 March 271 to 274 AD, succeeding Victorinus. He was one of the major figures in the Crisis of the Third Century, during which he was defeated by the Roman emperor Aurelian at Chalons in 274 and forced to surrender.
Biography[]
Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was born in Gaul to a noble family, and he became a senator and governor of Aquitaine in 271 AD. When the leader of the Gallic Empire, Victorinus, was assassinated by a jealous husband, Tetricus obtained the army's loyalty through bribery and was acclaimed as the new emperor. In 274, the Roman emperor Aurelian invaded northern Gaul after defeating the secessionist Palmyrene Empire, and Tetricus' army met him at Chalons in March 274. Tetricus' army was soundly defeated, and he was forced to surrender to Aurelian, and the Gallic Empire rejoined the Roman Empire. Tetricus was made a senator and governor of Lucania, and he died peacefully in 283.