View source for Laelian

{{Short description|Gallic usurper in 269}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Laelian
| image        = Aureus Laelius-RIC 0001 (obverse).jpg
| image_size   = 
| alt          = 
| caption      = Laelian on an [[aureus]]. Caption: IMP. C. LAELIANVS P. F. AVG.
| succession   = [[Gallic Empire|Gallic]] usurper
| reign        = approximately late February to early June 269 (against [[Postumus]])
| predecessor  = [[Postumus]]
| successor    = [[Marcus Aurelius Marius]]
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]]
| death_date   = 269
| death_place  = 
| burial_place = 
| issue        = <!--list children in order of birth. Use {{plainlist}} or {{unbulleted list}} -->
| issue-link   = 
| issue-pipe   = 
| full name    = Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus
}}
{{Campaignbox Crisis of the Third Century}}
'''Laelian''' ({{IPAc-en|l|eɪ|l|i|ən}}; {{langx|la|Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus}}),<ref name="Martindale, pg. 492">Martindale, pg. 492</ref> also incorrectly referred to as ''Lollianus'' and ''Aelianus'',<ref name="Polfer, ''Laelianus''">Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref> was a [[Roman usurper|usurper]] against [[Postumus]], the emperor of the [[Gallic Empire]]. His revolt lasted from approximately late February to early June 269.<ref name="Polfer, ''Laelianus''">Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref>

==Origins==
Little is known about Laelian. He shares the same ''[[Roman naming conventions|nomen]]'' as a prominent Hispano-Roman family, the [[Ulpia gens|Ulpii]], that included [[Trajan]] among its members, and may have been a relative.<ref name="Polfer, ''Laelianus''">Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref>  This is supported by the strong allusion to Hispania on an [[:Image:Aureus Laelius-RIC 0001.jpg|aureus]] he struck, which featured a reclining personification of Hispania with a rabbit at her side.  If he indeed was a relative, this may be the reason Hispania allied itself with [[Claudius II]], after the death of Laelian, seemingly without a struggle.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==Rule==
Laelian declared himself emperor at [[Mainz|Moguntiacum]] (modern-day Mainz in Germany) in February/March 269,<ref>Polfer, ''Laelianus''; Potter, pg. 265</ref> after repulsing a Germanic invasion.<ref>Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref>  Although his exact position is unknown, he is believed to have been a senior officer under Postumus,<ref>Potter, pg. 265</ref> either the ''[[legatus]]'' of [[Germania Superior]] or the commander of [[Legio XXII Primigenia|Legio XXII ''Primigenia'']].<ref name="Polfer, ''Laelianus''">Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref> Laelian represented a strong danger to Postumus because of the two legions he commanded (''Primigenia'' in Moguntiacum and [[Legio VIII Augusta|VIII ''Augusta'']] in [[Strasbourg|Argentoratum]]);<ref name="Polfer, ''Laelianus''">Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref> Despite this, his rebellion lasted only about two months before he was executed,<ref>Polfer, ''Laelianus''</ref> reputedly by his own soldiers, or by Postumus' troops after a siege of Laelian's capital.<ref name="Martindale, pg. 492">Martindale, pg. 492</ref> The siege of Moguntiacum was also fatal for Postumus; it is said he was slain when he refused to allow his troops to plunder the city following its capture.<ref>Southern, pg. 118</ref>

Laelian (under the Latin name ''Lollianus'') is listed among the [[Thirty Tyrants (Roman)|Thirty Tyrants]] in the ''[[Historia Augusta]]''.

==See also==
* [[Ulpia gens]]
* [[List of Roman usurpers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
===Primary sources===
* [[Aurelius Victor]], [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/victor.caes.html#33.8 ''Liber de Caesaribus'']
* [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/eutropius/eutropius9.shtml#9 ''Brevarium'', Book 9]
* ''[[Historia Augusta]]'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Tyranni_XXX*.html The Thirty Tyrants]

===Secondary sources===
* Southern, Pat. ''The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine'', Routledge, 2001
* Potter, David Stone, ''The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-395'', Routledge, 2004
* Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395'', Cambridge University Press, 1971
* Michel Polfer, "[http://www.roman-emperors.org/laelianu.htm Laelianus (A.D. 269)]", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''] (1999) {{broken link|date=November 2025}}

== External links ==
*{{Commons-inline}}

{{Roman emperors}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:269 deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:3rd-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:Cornelii]]
[[Category:Gallic emperors]]
[[Category:Thirty Tyrants (Roman)]]
[[Category:Ulpii]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]