Following the assassination of Probus, the Praetorian prefect Carus was on hand and was well placed to succeed.  He rapidly took over and he seemed to know what he was doing.  He was about 60 with two sons and with none of the liberal inclinations of Probus.  He did not trouble to get approval from

Probus was a career soldier who had risen through the ranks, so we are back to the pattern established by Claudius and Aurelian.  Both those emperors came originally from the province of Illyricum, just over the Adriatic from Italy.  Probus also came from the same region.  It may have been that there was an Illyricum

“The crime of one man, and the error of many, have deprived us of the late emperor Aurelian. May it please you, venerable lords and fathers to place him in the number of the gods, and to appoint a successor whom your judgment shall declare worthy of the Imperial purple! None of those whose guilt

“In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.” The familiar opening of the King James Bible.  Being able to read the Bible is something we take for granted. It was the first thing that rolled off the newly invented printing press and most households will have at least one somewhere in the house.

After the defeat of Zenobia, Aurelian could not return directly to Rome. He had also to deal with a revolt in Egypt. A local businessman called Firmus with a large fortune used it to raise an army and declare independence for Egypt. You can’t help but think that Firmus just hadn’t been paying attention.  What

The city of Palmyra originated as a simple settlement around an oasis in the middle of the desert.  The name comes from the same root as our name for Palm tree.  Its wealth and fame came about as a result of the silk trade making it a vital stopping point. Being equidistant between the Roman