Decius
Decius: emperor of the Roman world (r. 249-251).
Names:
- ±195: Gaius Messius Quintus Decius Valerianus
- June 249: Imperator Gaius Messius Quintus Decius Valerianus
- September 249: Imperator Caesar Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius Augustus
- June 251: killed in action
Successor of: Philippus Arabs
Relatives:
- married to: Herennia Etruscilla
- children: Quintus Herennius Decius; Gaius Valens Hostilianus
Main deeds
- ±195 Born in Budalia near Sirmium
- Consul before 232
- c.230 Marriage to Herennia Etruscilla
- c.232 Propraetor of Moesia
- c.235 Propraetor of Germania Inferior
- c.237 Propraetor of Hispania Tarraconensis
- Praefectus urbi
- Propraetor of both Moesian and both Pannonian provinces
- 249 Proclaimed emperor; defeats Philippus Arabs near Verona; major persecution of the Christians
- 250 Consul II (with Vettius Gratus); Visigoths in Thrace; a local Roman commander named Priscus proclaimed emperor; Decius fights against the Visigoths, and kills Priscus; Decius accepts titles Dacicus maximus and Germanicus maximus; in the meantime in Rome a brief insurrection by a man named Julius Valens Licinianus
- 251 Consul III (with his son Quintus Herennius Decius); death, together with Herennius, in a battle on the Danube
- Decius is succeeded by his youngest son Hostilian, while the army proclaims Trebonianus Gallus; civil war is averted when Hostilian succumbs to the plague
Buildings: Baths of Decius
Contemporary events
- 250 Diophantus publishes his Arithmetica
- 251 Cyprian publishes De lapsis
- 251 Martyrdom of Agatha
Succeeded by: Hostilianus; Trebonianus Gallus