Tetricus

one of the thirty tyrants enumerated by Trebellius Pollio [Aureolus], was the last of the pretenders who ruled Gaul during its temporary separation from the empire under Gallienus and his successor. He was of noble descent, a senator, a consular, and praefect of Aquitania at the period when, after the death of Postumus, of Laelianus, of Victorinus, and of Marius, in rapid succession, the supreme power devolved on the popular Victoria, who, feeling unable or unwilling to undertake a task so onerous and so fraught with danger, persuaded the soldiers to accept of her kinsman Tetricus as their ruler, and he was accordingly invested with the purple at Bordeaux, in A. D. 267. Claudius Gothicus found his attention and resources so fully occupied by the wild tribes on the Danube and the coasts of the Euxine, that he considered it impolitic to commence hostilities against a chief who maintained tranquillity and order throughout the limits of France and Spain, and kept at bay the barbarians on the Rhenish frontier; indeed, we may conclude from medals, that he not merely tolerated, but acknowledged the authority of his rival. Upon the accession of Aurelian, however, Tetricus, if we can believe the concurring testimony of Pollio, Victor, and Eutropius, harassed and alarmed by the insolence and factious spirit of his troops, privately invited the new sovereign to relieve him from a load which he found intolerable, and betrayed his army to defeat at the great battle of Chalons. [Aurelianus.] It is certain that although Tetricus, along with his son, in the guise of captives, graced the triumph of the conqueror, he was immediately afterwards treated with the greatest distinction, appointed corrector of the whole of Italy, and even addressed by Aurelian as comrade, colleague, and imperator. Retiring sub sequently into private life, he died at a very ad vanced age.

(Every circumstance connected with the history of Tetricus has been collected and arranged, with great industry and learning, by De Boze. in a dissertation contained in the Mémoires de l'Academie de Sciences et Belles Lettres, vol. xxvi.; p. 504; see Trebell. Poll. Trig. Tyrann. xxiii.; Aurel. Vict. de Caes. xxxv., Epit. xxxv.; Eutrop. 9.9; Zonar. 12.27.)

[W.R]

twenty-fourth on the list of Pollio, son of the pre ceding, although a child at the time of his father's elevation, was forthwith proclaimed Caesar. Whether he subsequently received the title of Augustus is a matter of doubt, since the evidence afforded by medals, our surest guide in such matters, is in the present instance indistinct and contradictory. He shared the favour displayed towards his father by Aurelian, was treated with distinction by the princes who followed, and passed with credit through all the grades of Senatorian rank, transmitting his patrimony, undiminished, to his heirs. The house of the Tetrici. on the Caelian hill, was still in existence when Pollio wrote, and contained a picture in which Aurelian was represented in the act of investing the father and son with senatorial robes, receiving from them, in return, a sceptre and civic crown.

We have given, above, the names of these two personages as exhibited by Eckhel. The family designation Pesuvius or Pesubius seems established, beyond a question, by coins and inscriptions, but we cannot so readily admit Pivesus, which Eckhel supposes to have been derived by the son from a mother Pivesa. In the first place, Pesuvius and Pivesus, or their contractions, are never found together upon the same piece. Secondly, Pivesus, Pivesu, Pives, and Piv., appear only in the silver and small brass coins, all of which are of rude and inferior workmanship, while the gold, which are executed with care and skill, present uniformly C. Pes. Tetricus. Caes., and hence we are inclined to conclude that Pivesus was a mispronunciation, by barbarous lips, of Pesuvius, and had no real existence as a distinct name. [W.R]

One of the Thirty Tyrants, and the last of the pretenders who ruled Gaul during its separation from the Empire under Gallienus and his successor, A.D. 267-274. He was defeated by Aurelian at the battle of Châlons (274), and was treated by his conqueror with so much consideration as to give rise to the report that he had himself connived at the result (Eutrop. ix. 9; Trebell. Poll. Tr. Tyr. 23).