Editing Quintillus

{{short description|Roman emperor in 270}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{for|other people named Quintillus|Quintillus (name)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Aureus Quintillus (obverse).jpg
| image_size   = 250px
| alt          = Golden coin depicting man with diadem facing right
| caption      = [[Aureus]] depicting Quintillus. Inscription reads {{abbreviation|IMP|IMPERATOR}} {{abbreviation|C|CAESAR}} {{abbreviation|M|MARCVS}} {{abbreviation|AVR|AVRELIVS}} QVINTILLVS {{abbreviation|AVG|AVGVSTVS}}
| succession   = [[Roman emperor]]
| reign        = 270 (17–77 days)
| predecessor  = [[Claudius Gothicus]]
| successor    = [[Aurelian]]
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = [[Sirmium]], [[Pannonia Inferior]] ([[Sremska Mitrovica]], [[Serbia]])
| death_date   = 270
| death_place  = [[Aquileia]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]]
| burial_place = 
| issue        = 2 sons
| full name    = Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus
| regnal name  = Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus Augustus<ref>{{cite book |last=Cooley |year=2012 |first=Alison E. |title=The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy|page=500|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84026-2 |url={{googlebooks|VlghAwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} |author-link=Alison E. Cooley }}</ref>
}}
'''Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus''' (died 270) was a short-lived [[Roman emperor]]. He took power after the death of his brother, Emperor [[Claudius Gothicus]], in 270. After reigning for a few weeks Quintillus was overthrown by [[Aurelian]], who had been proclaimed rival emperor by the [[Roman legion|legions]] he commanded. The ancient sources variously report him to have killed himself, to have fallen in battle against Aurelian, or to have been murdered by his own soldiers.

==Early life==
Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus' exact birthplace is unknown. An [[Illyrians|Illyrian]], he was likely born in [[Pannonia Inferior]], as is indicated by his coinage.{{sfn|Manders|2012|p=258}} Originating from a low-born family, Quintillus came to prominence with the accession of his brother [[Claudius Gothicus]] to the imperial throne in 268 CE. Quintillus was possibly made [[Procurator (Roman)|Procurator]] of [[Sardinia]] during his brother's reign.

==Reign of Quintillus==
Quintillus was declared emperor after Claudius died in 270. [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]] reports Quintillus to have been elected by soldiers of the [[Roman army]] immediately following the death of his brother;{{sfn|Eutropius|loc=IX:12}} the choice was reportedly approved by the [[Roman Senate]]. [[Joannes Zonaras]] reports him elected by the Senate itself.{{sfn|Zonaras|loc=12:26}} Records, however, agree that the [[Roman legion|legions]] which had followed Claudius in campaigning along the [[Danube]] were either unaware or disapproving of Quintillus' elevation. They instead elevated their current leader [[Aurelian]] as emperor.{{sfn|Banchich|1999}}

The few records of Quintillus' reign are contradictory. It is variously reported to have lasted 17 days ([[Jerome]], [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]] and [[Zonaras]]), 77 days ([[Filocalus]]), or "a few months" ([[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]]). Modern scholars believe "17" to be a misreading of a larger number, since Quintillus had time to produce an abundance of coins.{{sfn|Banchich|1999}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Syvänne|first=Ilkka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nD1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65|title=Aurelian and Probus|publisher=[[Pen and Sword]]|year=2020|isbn=9781526767530|pages=65}}</ref> Records also disagree on the cause of his death. The ''[[Historia Augusta]]'' reports him [[murder]]ed by his own soldiers in reaction to his strict [[military discipline]].{{sfn|Historia Augusta|loc=12:5}} [[Jerome]] says that he was slain at [[Aquileia]], without further specifics.{{sfn|Jerome|loc=s.a. 271}} According to Joannes Zonaras, Quintillus [[Suicide methods#Cutting and stabbing|opened his veins and bled himself to death]];{{sfn|Zonaras|loc=12:26}} [[John of Antioch (historian)|John of Antioch]] concurs, adding that the suicide was assisted by a [[physician]].{{sfn|Banchich|1999}} [[Claudius Salmasius]] noted that [[Dexippus]] recorded the death without stating causes.{{sfn|Historia Augusta|loc=12:6}} All records, however, agree in placing the death at [[Aquileia]]. Quintillus was reportedly survived by his two sons.{{sfn|Historia Augusta|loc=13:9}}

The ''Historia Augusta'' reports Claudius and Quintillus having another brother named Crispus and through him a niece, [[Claudia (mother of Constantius)|Claudia]], who reportedly married Eutropius and was mother to [[Constantius Chlorus]].{{sfn|Historia Augusta|loc=13:1}} Some historians however suspect this account to be a [[genealogical]] [[Lie#Fabrication|fabrication]] to flatter [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]].{{sfn|Banchich|1999}}

==Legacy==
[[Image:Carska palata Sirmijum1.JPG|thumb|Ruins of Imperial Palace at [[Sirmium]], today in [[Sremska Mitrovica]]]]
His reign was very short and he never managed to visit Rome as emperor. Surviving Roman records considered Quintillus a moderate and capable emperor.{{sfn|Eutropius|loc=IX:12}} He was seen as a champion of the Senate and thus compared to previous emperors [[Galba]] and [[Pertinax]]. All three were highly regarded by senatorial sources despite their failure to survive a full year of reign.{{sfn|Banchich|1999}} In his reign the priestly offices held by the emperor were separated and the image of the emperor as ''[[pontifex maximus]]'' was abandoned.{{sfn|Manders|2012|p=145}}

==See also==
* [[List of Roman emperors]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==

===Ancient sources===
* {{cite book |author=[[Jerome]]|title=Chronicon|date=2005|url=https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm|ref={{sfnref|Jerome}}|orig-date={{circa}} 380|translator=Roger Pearse}}
* {{cite book |author=Aurelius Victor|author-link=Aurelius Victor|title=Epitome de Caesaribus|date=2018|url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/epitome.htm|ref={{sfnref|Aurelius Victor}}|orig-date={{circa}} 400|translator=Thomas M. Banchich}}
* {{cite book |author=Eutropius|author-link=Eutropius (historian)|title=Breviarium ab urbe condita|date=1853|url=http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/eutropius/trans9.html#12|ref={{sfnref|Eutropius}}|orig-date={{circa}} 380|translator=[[John Selby Watson]]}}
* {{cite book |chapter=Live of Claudius|title=[[Historia Augusta]]|date=1913|chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius*.html|ref={{sfnref|Historia Augusta}}|orig-date=|translator=David Magie}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Joannes Zonaras]]|title=Epitome Historiarum|date=2008|url=http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1049415|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521191250/http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1049415|archive-date=21 May 2008|ref={{sfnref|Zonaras}}|translator=Basileos Nestor|orig-date={{circa}} 1120}}
* {{cite book |author=Zosimus|author-link=Zosimus (historian)|title=Nova Historia|date=1814|url=https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zosimus01_book1.htm|ref={{sfnref|Zosimus}}|translator=J. Davis|orig-date={{circa}} 500}}

===Secondary sources===
* {{cite book |last1=Manders |first1=Erika |title=Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193-284 |date=2012 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004189706 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CeyGeNsb_GoC}}
* {{cite web|last1=Banchich|first1=Thomas|title=Quintillus (270 A.D)|date=1999|website=[[De Imperatoribus Romanis]]|url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/quintil.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317143116/http://www.roman-emperors.org/quintil.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2022-03-17}}
* [[A. H. M. Jones|Jones, A.H.M.]]; [[John Robert Martindale|Martindale, J.R.]], [[John Morris (historian)|Morris, J.]] (1971). [https://archive.org/details/prosopography-later-roman-empire/PLRE-I/page/759/mode/1up Quintillus 1]. ''[[The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]]'' '''I'''. [[Cambridge University Press]], p.&nbsp;759. {{ISBN|0-521-07233-6}}
{{Commons|Quintillus}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Claudius II]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[List of Roman emperors|Roman emperor]]
        | years=270 }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Aurelian]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman Emperors}}
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[[Category:3rd-century Roman emperors]]
[[Category:Crisis of the Third Century]]
[[Category:Suicides in Ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Suicides by sharp instrument in Italy]]
[[Category:210s births]]
[[Category:270 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Illyrian people]]
[[Category:Aurelii]]
[[Category:Claudii]]
[[Category:Illyrian emperors]]
[[Category:Royalty who died by suicide]]