When Gallienus, Valerian’s son, became sole emperor in 260, he revoked his father’s
anti-Christian edicts (Eus. HE 7.13). This did not imply that he neglected paganism.
Gallienus himself was in contact with Plotinus (Porphyry, Vita Plotini12). He seems
to have taken a special interest in Greek rituals and games. Possibly, he was initiated
into the Eleusinian mysteries, but he did not therefore discount Roman traditions;
it was only a slight shift of balance.
Politically the crisis deepened under his reign as so-called Sonderreiche(independ-
ent empires) emerged in Gaul and in Syria (Palmyra). But in the years after Gallienus’
death in 267, a series of strong and efficient emperors managed to stabilize the Roman
empire and to make good the losses to a high degree.
Foremost among them was Aurelian. Much more than his predecessors he laid
emphasis on the fact that a god had invested him as emperor. After his victory over
Palmyra in the summer of 273 he established the cult of Sol invictus(Invincible Sun)
in Rome. The god received his own magnificent temple, the templum Solis, and the
priesthoods were restructured in order to give the priestly college of Sol a special
rank. Moreover, a special agon Solis(games for Sol) was introduced, to be held every
four years. This cult has an air of monotheism, insofar as there was a central god,
but it did not exclude the veneration of other gods. It was new, but remained within
the framework of traditional religious practice and could happily co-exist with the
older cults.
It is a matter of debate whether Aurelian planned measures against Christians
in his last days. Even if he drew up orders for persecutions (Eus. HE7.30.20 –1;
Lact. DMP6), they were never issued. Several accounts of martyrdoms refer to his
reign, but they may represent local incidents. There was no heavy oppression of
Christianity in his times.
After several short-lived, but mostly effective emperors, Diocletian, proclaimed in
284, was the first to reign for a longer period. He created a new political system,
the tetrarchy, by installing four rulers, two Augusti (at first Diocletian and
Maximianus) and two Caesares, the latter subordinated to the Augustiand their pro-
spective successors. In doing so, he made usurpations unattractive, because potential
usurpers could be integrated or had to reckon with four legitimate rivals.
The legitimacy of the dynasty was propagated in religious terms. The emperors
were regarded as holders of an office which was given to them by the providence of
the gods (providentia deorum). But they themselves also had divine qualities and
virtues by birth. Their closeness to the gods was expressed by epithets: in 286, Diocletian
received the surname of Ioviusand Maximianus that of Herculius, connecting them
with Jupiter and his son respectively; in 293, those titles were also bestowed on the
Caesares. Even if they were not called gods officially, the tetrarchs and their gods
(not their natural family) formed a domus divina, a divine family, the emperors being
considered as sons of the gods (Kolb 2004). This systematic concept was a clear
innovation, but remained integrated in a range of measures intended to demonstrate
respect toward the temples and traditional customs.
Part of the policy of religious restoration was the elimination of cults which could
offend the traditional gods, first of all Manicheism. Probably in 297, by an edict
answering to a request of the proconsul of, as it seems, Africa (but which possibly
102 Hartmut Leppin