Gallienus

218–268

Gallienus ruled the Roman Empire from AD 253 to 268, first jointly with his father Valerian and then alone after Valerian’s capture by the Persians. His reign faced invasions, plague, military revolts and the breakaway Gallic and Palmyrene states.

Gallienus reorganised high command, relied increasingly on mobile cavalry and excluded many senators from military posts. He survived repeated crises but was assassinated by officers during the siege of Milan. Gallienus died in Mediolanum.

Harry Sidebottom’s Ballista novels place Gallienus inside the cascading emergencies of the third-century empire. Fire in the East begins under the joint rule of Valerian and Gallienus as Persia attacks the eastern provinces, and King of Kings shows their authority strained by military defeat and court intrigue. Lion of the Sun follows the crisis after Valerian’s capture, when Gallienus must hold an empire whose eastern defence increasingly depends on Odaenathus of Palmyra. In Falling Sky, Gallienus personally campaigns against Postumus and the breakaway Gallic Empire. The Burning Road returns to AD 265, using the disorder of his reign as the background to rebellion in Sicily and to the limits of imperial control far from the emperor’s field army.

Periods

Periods linked to Gallienus

Reign of Gallienus253–268 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Gallienus (1 series)

Warrior of Rome in Order

by Harry Sidebottom 8 books 4.3(9,729)

The Warrior of Rome series follows Marcus Clodius Ballista, an Angle raised within the Roman world who becomes a senior imperial commander during the Crisis of the Third Century. His service carries him from the Persian frontier to Palmyra, the Black Sea, the Eurasian steppe, Rome, Sicily and…