Then he hastily crossed through the Balkans, taking with him the new cavalry corps ( comitatus ) under the command of Aureolus and defeated the usurper at Mursa or Sirmium.

However, the invasion of the Macriani forced him to dispatch Aureolus with a large force against them, leaving him with insufficient troops.

The use of Paracelsus ' laudanum was introduced to Western medicine in 1527, when Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, better known by the name Paracelsus, returned from his wanderings in Arabia with a famous sword, within the pommel of which he kept " Stones of Immortality " compounded from opium thebaicum, citrus juice, and " quintessence of gold.

In September 268 he found himself assigned as a military tribune with the Imperial Army besieging the usurper Aureolus in Milan.

Scholars assume Gallienus ' efforts were placed with Aureolus, the office who betrayed him, and the defeat of the Herulians was left to his successor, Claudius Gothicus.

The traitor Aureolus was not treated with the same reverence, as he was killed by his besiegers after a failed attempt to surrender.

After that, Mursa had a turbulent history, with several decisive battles taking place ( among which the Battle of Mursa Major in 351 and the battle between Aureolus and Ingenuus in 260 ), deciding the destiny of the whole region.

Nevertheless, Postumus was given a golden opportunity in 268 to move against Gallienus when Aureolus, Gallienus ’ general who was in command of Mediolanum, openly changed sides and allied himself with Postumus.

Postumus began his fifth consulship on 1 January, 269, but the army, unhappy with Postumus ’ decision not to march on Rome in support of Aureolus, raised a usurper in early 269.

HA asserts that in this operation Domitianus was an associate ( possibly, a cliens, client or protégé ) of Gallienus ’ s Hipparchos ( Cavalry-Master-General ) Aureolus who is normally credited with the victory over Macrianus.

It is quite possible that, as a client of Aureolus, Domitianus would later have become associated with the Gallic regime given what is suspected and known about his patron's relations with Postumus.

As Imperial Horsemaster Aureolus would have been well-placed to work with Gallienus in formulating and developing the concept of a self-contained cavalry force to beef up the effectiveness of the comitatus as a highly mobile field army under the Emperor's direct control.

In any case Gallienus seems to have given Aureolus a free hand in crushing the rebels and entrusted him with a force that proved sufficient for the purpose.

As to why Aureolus is credited with suppressing the Macriani as a major challenge to Gallienus's rule rather than the Emperor himself there are two possible explanations: ( 1 ) The determination of the Latin historians to denigrate the achievements of Gallienus ; however, a more likely explanation is that ( 2 ) Gallienus was attempting at this time to crush the Gallic usurper Postumus who he probably saw as an even greater threat to his regime than the Macriani and to clear the Juthungi out of the Alpine province of Raetia where they posed a direct threat to Italy and Rome.

He had been given sole responsibility for the campaign against the Macriani, yet when the Goths and Heruls invaded the Danubian provinces with an enormous force in 268, Aureolus was not even a senior officer of the Imperial comitatus that accompanied the Emperor against the marauders.

From Milan Aureolus invited Postumus to challenge Gallienus for the Empire with his support.

However, the conspiracy by the Praetorian Prefect, together with Aurelius Heraclianus, Claudius and Aurelian that was to cost Gallienus his life suggests that there was a growing belief at the highest level of the army in the later 260s that the Emperor was no longer fit to rule and Aureolus may well have shared these sentiments.

However, apparently before Claudius could decide what to do with him, Aureolus was murdered by Claudius's Praetorian Guard, supposedly in revenge for Aureolus's rebellion against Gallienus which had evoked great fury in the ranks of the Imperial comitatus which obviously did not share the treasonable disloyalty to that Emperor's regime of its most senior officers.

Against this one might wander why Gallienus's treachorous marshals would see any benefit in associating themselves with damaged goods such as Aureolus.

In 268, having surrendered to Emperor Claudius Gothicus after the death of Gallienus, Aureolus was murdered by the Praetorian Guard before Claudius could decide what to do with him.

Later that year Gallienus traveled to Italy and fought Aureolus, his former general and now usurper for the throne.

After his victory, Gallienus left Marcianus in place and hastily left for Italy, intending to suppress the revolt of his cavalry officer Aureolus.

Perhaps, as a Dacian, Aureolus resented Gallienus's policy of withdrawing elements of the Dacian garrison to reinforce his field army for the defence of Italy thus compounding the problems of barbarian incursions into Dacia.

) Aureolus confirmed his disaffection from Gallienus by deserting his Alpine command, and invading Italy where he took his old base, Milan.

However, as Aureolus had earlier offered his allegiance to Postumus it seems likely that he made this last defiant gesture-if indeed he did make it-only when Postumus failed to take advantage of the turmoil in Italy.

He suffered some initial defeats before the victorious army of Aureolus joined him again.

At any event, whether or not he indulged in an unsuccessful conspiracy, Aureolus does seem to have lost the confidence of Gallienus as a result of his failure to destroy Postumus in Gaul even though he was not brought to trial nor dismissed the Imperial service for that direlection of duty.

In 268, at some time before or soon after the battle of Naissus, Gallienus ' authority was challenged by Aureolus, commander of the cavalry stationed in Mediolanum ( Milan ), who was supposed to keep an eye on Postumus.

* Gallienus is killed by his own senior officers at Mediolanum ( Milan ) while besieging his rival Aureolus, one of the Thirty Tyrants.

Aureolus is murdered in turn by the Praetorian guard.

It is written that, while sitting down at dinner, Gallienus was told that Aureolus and his men were approaching the camp.

It is possible that his motive in doing this was to deflect some of the glory accruing to the low-born Aureolus from his suppression of the Macrianic rebellion.

The evidence is not sufficient to confirm that the associate or protégé of Aureolus mentioned in the HA, the obscure rebel of Aurelian ’ s reign mentioned by Zosimus and the Imperial claimant celebrated in the coins were one and the same man.

The ancient sources which refer to Aureolus are limited and the information they do provide is often contradictory.

Aureolus first made his mark in history in 258 ( or 260-the date is uncertain ) when his cavalry was principally responsible for the defeat of the usurper Ingenuus at the Battle of Mursa ( Osijek in Croatia ).

It is often implied that even at this stage Aureolus was willing to see Gallienus displaced as Emperor and that he deliberately allowed the Gallic usurper to evade destruction.

However, this is pure speculation unsupported by any direct evidence as to what motivated Aureolus.

When Gallienus was murdered it is possible Aureolus made his own bid for the Purple if a rather obscure issue of coinage is to be believed.

However, it is also possible to suggest that the action of Claudius's Pratorians in taking it upon themselves to dispose of Aureolus would have been very convenient if their master wanted to obliterate any evidence of treasonable links between Aureolus and Gallienus's murderers.

Aureolus ( died 809 ) is traditionally thought to have been the chief of the Franks in the region of Aragón.

The " Skythai " successfully invaded the Balkans in the early months of 268, and Aureolus, a commander of the cavalry, declared himself an ally of Postumus, and the new emperor at Milan.

Zosimus ( 1. 41 ) reports that Aureolus and two other officers conspired against Gallienus, but that all of them were punished and submitted, except Aureolus, who retained his anger against the emperor.