In the Western world, February 14 is celebrated as Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day. The adoption of this tradition in Russia is sharply criticized by conservatives, and especially sharply now that there is talk that the “real” Saint Valentine married even same-sex couples. Surprisingly, the version of “Christian gay marriages” has a basis, moreover, taken from Orthodox history.
Valentine's Day is an interesting holiday in the sense that every year it acquires new connotations, sometimes very strange ones. At the same time, in Russia in recent years it can be called a holiday with a fair amount of conventionality. It appeared as a copy of Western traditions, gained a foothold thanks to marketers, and was designed primarily for young people. However, in recent years, there are simply no particularly noisy celebrations of Valentine's Day. The maximum is discounts in stores and “valentines” in stationery kiosks. Young people prefer to bake pancakes during Shrove Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the battles over whether this holiday is necessary and how authentic it is for Russia to celebrate it have not subsided so far, albeit on a residual basis. The peculiarity of this year is a wave of stories that St. Valentine secretly married gay Roman legionnaires, and therefore this is “a date alien to us and an alien saint”, although Valentine was recognized as a saint long before the split of the Christian church into the western (Catholics) and eastern (Orthodox) branches .
For certain, by the way, it is not known who St. Valentine married and which Valentine is meant. Perhaps we are talking about Valentine of Interamne, a bishop who lived in the Italian city of Thermi in the third century. He is known as a preacher and healer, through whose prayers the son of the Roman aristocrat Kraton was cured. After that, many people converted to Christianity, including the son of the mayor. Due to this fame, Valentine was taken into custody, and then tortured and beheaded. The memory of this martyr in the Russian Orthodox Church is celebrated on July 30 according to the old style.
There is also Valentine of Rome, also a martyr who lived around the same time and was also executed. Specialists in hagiography, however, say that in the person of Valentine of Rome, several martyrs who bore this name could be "connected".
As for the romantic component, the person of St. Valentine acquired it already in the late Middle Ages, more precisely, after the “Golden Legend” of Jacob Voraginsky, a collection of apocrypha and “entertaining lives of the saints”, which appeared around 1260. There were not so many literate people at that time, but among them this reading gained popularity, and therefore the image of St. Valentine as the patron saint of “young and in love” quickly entrenched.
Another thing is that the story of secret weddings does not stand up to historical criticism. The version that is most common tells of a certain priest and field doctor Valentine, who lived during the time of Emperor Claudius II. In order for men to fight better and more willingly carry out military service, Caesar allegedly forbade them to marry, as well as girls to marry.
There are several nuances here. Firstly, in the third century there was still no separate rite or rite that would fix the sacrament of marriage. Secondly, the Roman Empire in those days was quite pagan, and Christians were a marginal and persecuted community. And it is extremely unlikely that "advanced Roman youth" would marry in defiance of the will of the emperor, swearing allegiance to an "incomprehensible god" and not to "native pagan gods."
Much more plausible is the version according to which Valentine's Day has replaced the traditional and no less pagan lupercalia, in which case it was also about love and childbearing. It all started before the birth of Christ - in 276 BC, when a sudden "epidemic" of stillbirths and miscarriages occurred in Rome. Since medicine was, as they say, powerless, oracles came to the rescue, who announced that women should be subjected to ritual flogging. And dedicate the action itself to the Faun, one of whose nicknames is Luperc.
On the other hand, the celebration of the “day of the wolf” (Lupus is exactly the wolf) for Rome, with its legend of Romulus and Remus, fed by a she-wolf, was very symbolic. As a result, the new holiday has become one of the most popular. Luperki priests ran with goat leather belts (a goat was considered the most delicious victim for a wolf) and whipped women, and women willingly substituted these blows in order to enlist the support of higher powers for the sake of easy childbirth and the health of newborns.
It all ended, like many other holidays in Rome, with an orgy.
In 494, when Christianity had already become the dominant religion in the empire, Pope Gelasius I decided to stop Lupercalia, and the holiday of "pagan love" was replaced by the holiday of Christian love. However, a number of researchers find this version not too reliable. If only because the replacement of one holiday by another is a very long process in the historical perspective, and at the level of everyday paganism, lupercalia could continue for a long time.
As for stuffing about Valentine and gay marriage, they have some historical background. The fact is that already in the eastern, Byzantine, church, there was such a rite as adelphopoiesis, or “twinning”, which is more correctly called “brotherhood”. We are talking about a church-blessed friendly union of two people of the same sex, usually men. It also took place in the Russian Church. For example, it is very likely that it was through adelphopoiesis that Alexander Nevsky and Sartak, the son of Batu, strengthened their alliance. Other political cases of such brotherhood are also known.
Over time, this rite completely went out of church practice, and one of the versions of why exactly rests on the topic of non-traditional relationships. Yale historian John Boswell generally interpreted adelphopoiesis as something close to gay marriage, but his approach is disputed by other researchers. And here we must understand that Boswell himself (who died, by the way, of AIDS) can be attributed to such a category of persons as gay activists, that is, he was biased in his own way.
Most likely, adelphopoiesis was abandoned due to the extreme politicization of this “brotherhood”. In addition, the family ties of such sworn brothers were not fully clarified. The Church equated spiritual kinship with blood. If so, the question arises - could the children of the “brothers” who passed the adelphopoiesis get married? The people thought that no, they could not.
According to the specialist in the history of the Church, hegumen Athanasius (Selichev), this late Byzantine rite did not take root because of its artificiality and uselessness. “You can make friends without vows. I also think that this confused the already confusing system of calculating kinship. It prevented the children of sworn brothers from marrying each other. After all, they actually became cousins, ”he told the VZGLYAD newspaper.
Whether there was an analogue of adelphopoiesis among Catholics is not an easy question. The historian Boswell mentioned above believed that no, there was not. His British colleague Alan Bray opposed him and even cited in his book the text of a Catholic rite from Slovenia called “Following the creation of the brothers”, although he admitted that much less is known about this phenomenon in the West, therefore, it was less common.
One way or another, but until the middle of the 20th century in the Roman Church, St. Valentine's Day was a significant event and one of the obligatory holidays. This continued until the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965, which changed a lot of fundamental things in the structure of the Roman Church, up to the appearance of a new rite of the liturgy, which provoked several schisms and the emergence of the so-called Old Catholics, or Lefevrites (after the leader of the movement, Cardinal Marcel Lefebvre) .
At the same time, a global revision of the saints and holidays associated with these saints was carried out. As a result, in 1969, Valentine's Day as a general Catholic holiday was canceled, becoming "optional". The formal reason for this is the obscurity of all these Saint Valentines. Their canonical lives were too short and vague, too many later changes were made to them.
At the same time, God, as they say, has an excellent sense of humor: now in the Catholic Church February 14 is celebrated as the day of Cyril and Methodius, the enlighteners of the Slavic peoples.
Thus, for almost half a century, St. Valentine's Day has been a purely secular holiday, which has very little in common with church tradition (either Western or Eastern). He took the corresponding place in Russia - as a reason for discounts on cosmetics and other promotions. And faith and the church have nothing to do with it.
birds; roses; a bishop carrying a sword; bishop holding the sun
miraculous healings, confession of faith in Christ
Life and legends
The first reliable evidence of the veneration of Valentine the Roman dates back to the 7th century and is recorded in the "Martyrdom of Mary and Martha" (BHL 5543). As for Valentinus of Interamna, his life (BHL 8460) was written somewhat earlier, in or in the 7th century. Both texts are extremely typified, they can be considered with great difficulty as reliable evidence.
In the early lists of Roman martyrs, Valentine is not mentioned; undoubtedly, their veneration is recorded no earlier than the beginning of the 7th century. Memory is missing in the most complete app. Blessed Martyrology. Jerome and appears only in the Sacramentary of Pope Gregory I the Great (590-604), from where it passed into the Martyrology of Bede the Venerable. There is indirect evidence of the existence of the cult of St. Valentine in Rome as early as the 4th century, which shows the fact of the construction of two basilicas. According to information from the Roman Chronograph (354), one - “ called Valentina"- was built in the pontificate of Julius I (337-352) on the Flaminius road (" on the second miliarium of the Via Flaminius, quae appellatur Valentini""). At the same time, this name may indicate that a certain Valentine was a builder. The second was built in the city of Terni over the alleged tomb of Valentine, Bishop of Interam, but it is mentioned only in the middle of the 8th century (LP 1, 427).
relics
To possess the relics of St. Valentine claims many temples and monasteries. Despite the fact that the saint’s skull decorated with a wreath has long been located in the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the Vatican recognized the relics of the remains removed in 1836 from the catacombs of Hippolytus on the Tiburtine road. Pope Gregory XVI donated this relic to the Carmelite Church in Whitefair Street, Dublin.
Also, the Cathedral of Roquemore in France, the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna, the basilica in Balzan in Malta, the church of St. Peter and Paul in the Czech Vysehrad, the Greek Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sambir and the church in Chelmno, Poland. On the desecration of the relics of St. Valentine in the Trinity Church of the city of Berestechko is narrated by I. Babel in the story "At St. Valens" from the collection "Cavalry".
veneration
In the West, the memory of Valentine the Roman and Valentine the Bishop of Interamna has been celebrated on the same day since the 7th century - February 14 (see St. Valentine's Day).
In the Catholic Church in 1969, when revising the general liturgical calendar of St. Valentine was excluded from the list of saints whose memory is obligatory for liturgical veneration. The saint is currently commemorated locally in a number of dioceses. In Russia, on February 14, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the enlighteners of the Slavs.
In Orthodoxy, the memory of both martyrs is celebrated on different days: on July 6 (19 New Style) - the memory of Valentine the Roman, Hieromartyr, presbyter, and on July 30 (August 12, New Style) - the memory of Valentine Interamsky, Hieromartyr, Bishop.
In the Belarusian city of Smolevichi there is a Catholic church dedicated to St. Valentine. Also near it is a monument to the saint.
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Notes
Links
- (English)
- Catholic Encyclopedia. Ed. Franciscans, M.: 2002.
- (Russian) - Saints and Blessed of the Catholic Church
- (biographical radio play)
An excerpt characterizing Saint Valentine
[Death is saving and death is calm;O! there is no other refuge against suffering.]
Julie said it was lovely.
- II y a quelque chose de si ravissant dans le sourire de la melancolie, [There is something infinitely charming in a smile of melancholy,] - she said to Boris word for word the passage written out from the book.
- C "est un rayon de lumiere dans l" ombre, une nuance entre la douleur et le desespoir, qui montre la consolation possible. [This is a ray of light in the shadows, a shade between sadness and despair, which indicates the possibility of consolation.] - To this, Boris wrote poetry to her:
"Aliment de poison d" une ame trop sensible,
"Toi, sans qui le bonheur me serait impossible,
"Tendre melancolie, ah, viens me consoler,
Viens calmer les tourments de ma sombre retraite
"Et mele une douceur secrete
"A ces pleurs, que je sens couler."
[Poisonous food of a too sensitive soul,
You, without whom happiness would be impossible for me,
Gentle melancholy, oh come comfort me
Come, calm the torments of my gloomy solitude
And join the secret sweetness
To these tears that I feel flowing.]
Julie played Boris the saddest nocturnes on the harp. Boris read Poor Liza aloud to her and interrupted the reading more than once from excitement, which took his breath away. Meeting in a large society, Julie and Boris looked at each other as the only people in the world who were indifferent, who understood each other.
Anna Mikhailovna, who often traveled to the Karagins, making up her mother's party, meanwhile made accurate inquiries about what was given for Julie (both Penza estates and Nizhny Novgorod forests were given). Anna Mikhailovna, with devotion to the will of Providence and tenderness, looked at the refined sadness that connected her son with rich Julie.
- Toujours charmante et melancolique, cette chere Julieie, [She is still charming and melancholic, this dear Julie.] - she said to her daughter. - Boris says that he rests his soul in your house. He has suffered so many disappointments and is so sensitive,” she told her mother.
“Ah, my friend, how I have become attached to Julie lately,” she said to her son, “I cannot describe to you! And who can't love her? This is such an unearthly creature! Oh Boris, Boris! She was silent for a minute. “And how I feel sorry for her maman,” she continued, “today she showed me reports and letters from Penza (they have a huge estate) and she is poor and all alone: she is so deceived!
Boris smiled slightly, listening to his mother. He meekly laughed at her ingenuous cunning, but he listened and sometimes asked her attentively about the Penza and Nizhny Novgorod estates.
Julie had long been expecting an offer from her melancholic admirer and was ready to accept it; but some kind of secret feeling of disgust for her, for her passionate desire to get married, for her unnaturalness, and a feeling of horror at the renunciation of the possibility of true love still stopped Boris. His vacation was already over. Whole days and every single day he spent with the Karagins, and every day, reasoning with himself, Boris told himself that he would propose tomorrow. But in the presence of Julie, looking at her red face and chin, almost always sprinkled with powder, at her moist eyes and at the expression on her face, which always showed readiness to immediately move from melancholy to the unnatural delight of marital happiness, Boris could not utter a decisive word: despite the fact that for a long time in his imagination he considered himself the owner of the Penza and Nizhny Novgorod estates and distributed the use of income from them. Julie saw Boris's indecisiveness and sometimes the thought came to her that she was disgusting to him; but immediately a woman's self-delusion offered her consolation, and she told herself that he was shy only out of love. Her melancholy, however, began to turn into irritability, and not long before Boris left, she undertook a decisive plan. At the same time that Boris' vacation was coming to an end, Anatole Kuragin appeared in Moscow and, of course, in the Karagins' living room, and Julie, suddenly leaving her melancholy, became very cheerful and attentive to Kuragin.
“Mon cher,” Anna Mikhailovna said to her son, “je sais de bonne source que le Prince Basile envoie son fils a Moscou pour lui faire epouser Julieie.” [My dear, I know from reliable sources that Prince Vasily is sending his son to Moscow in order to marry him to Julie.] I love Julie so much that I should feel sorry for her. What do you think, my friend? Anna Mikhailovna said.
The idea of being fooled and wasting for nothing this whole month of hard melancholy service under Julie and seeing all the income from the Penza estates already planned and used properly in his imagination in the hands of another - especially in the hands of stupid Anatole, offended Boris. He went to the Karagins with the firm intention of making an offer. Julie greeted him with a cheerful and carefree air, casually talking about how fun she had been at the ball yesterday, and asking when he was coming. Despite the fact that Boris came with the intention of talking about his love and therefore intended to be gentle, he irritably began to talk about female inconstancy: about how women can easily move from sadness to joy and that their mood depends only on who looks after them. Julie was offended and said that it was true that a woman needed variety, that everyone would get tired of the same thing.
“For this I would advise you ...” Boris began, wanting to taunt her; but at that very moment the insulting thought came to him that he might leave Moscow without achieving his goal and losing his labors in vain (which had never happened to him). He stopped in the middle of her speech, lowered his eyes so as not to see her unpleasantly irritated and indecisive face, and said: “I didn’t come here at all to quarrel with you. On the contrary…” He glanced at her to see if he could continue. All her irritation suddenly disappeared, and restless, pleading eyes were fixed on him with greedy expectation. "I can always arrange myself so that I rarely see her," thought Boris. “But the work has begun and must be done!” He blushed, looked up at her, and said to her, “You know how I feel about you!” There was no more need to speak: Julie's face shone with triumph and self-satisfaction; but she forced Boris to tell her everything that is said in such cases, to say that he loves her, and never loved a single woman more than her. She knew that for the Penza estates and Nizhny Novgorod forests she could demand this, and she got what she demanded.
The bride and groom, no longer remembering the trees that sprinkled them with darkness and melancholy, made plans for the future construction of a brilliant house in St. Petersburg, made visits and prepared everything for a brilliant wedding.
Count Ilya Andreich arrived in Moscow at the end of January with Natasha and Sonya. The countess was still unwell, and could not go, but it was impossible to wait for her recovery: Prince Andrei was expected to Moscow every day; besides, it was necessary to buy a dowry; The Rostovs' house in Moscow was not heated; in addition, they arrived for a short time, the countess was not with them, and therefore Ilya Andreich decided to stay in Moscow with Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, who had long offered her hospitality to the count.
CLAVDIUS II OF GOTHAS (268 - 270)Claudius II of Gotha (Marcus Aurelius Valery Claudius) (268-270) was born around 214, probably in Dardania (Upper Moesia). AT Historia Augusta letters are cited showing that he served as a military tribune under Trajan Decius and Valerian, who appointed him commander-in-chief in Illyricum. These documents are fictitious, but perhaps the invented messages contain some truth. At the time of the assassination in 268 of Gallienus near Mediolanum, in which Claudius seems to have taken part, he held the post of deputy commander in that area. They chose a new emperor from two contenders: Claudius and another major commander, Aurelian, who was also involved in the conspiracy. It is not known why Claudius was chosen by the army, although Aurelian's reputation for strict discipline may have played a role. One way or another, the story was set in motion that the dying Gallienus had formally appointed Claudius as his successor.
However, the murder of Gallienus outraged the soldiers, and fermentation began in the troops, which was only managed to be dampened by the traditional promise to pay an additional reward of twenty gold coins per person. For their part, the senators in Rome, outraged that Gallienus had removed them from government, cheered his death. They immediately proceeded to destroy his friends and relatives, including his brother and son Marian. Claudius urged the senators to mercy, even insisting on deifying the late emperor and appeasing the army.
After the ascension of Claudius to the throne, the siege of Mediolanum with the rebellious commander Aureol, which was conducted by both Gallienus and his murderers, continued without interruption. Upon learning of the change of ruler, Aureol tried to come to an agreement, but when his close associates opposed this, he decided to surrender to Claudius, apparently on the condition that his life be spared. But he was soon killed - the soldiers were outraged that he had betrayed Gallienus. Despite the elimination of this danger, Claudius was still forced to remain in northern Italy, as a serious threat arose from the Alemanni. Either at the instigation of Aureolus, or because the garrison in Rhetia was weakened, his units were pulled to Mediolanus, but the Alemanni broke through the Brenner Pass and reached Lake Benac. Here Claudius met them and inflicted such a heavy defeat on the Alemanni that hardly half of their original number returned to the north. Claudius, however, appropriated the title "Germanic" to himself.
The breakaway Empire, founded by Postumus in the west, was going through difficult times, and Claudius, in order to further weaken it, sent a reconnaissance detachment under the command of Julius Placidian into southern Gaul. He, located at Kularon, established contact with Spain and thereby returned it to the authority of the central government. Claudius himself did not lead this campaign, since he believed that first of all it was necessary to organize resistance to the combs in the Balkans. In 268, Gallienus failed to win a final victory at Naissus, but his commander Marcianus continued to disturb the invaders, and then Claudius himself arrived to complete the rout. When the Goths, who were short of food, had to descend from the camp on Mount Hessax to Macedonia in search of food, Claudius attacked them furiously, apparently not far from the city of Marcianopolis. This success was marked by the issuance of coins (VICTORIAE GOTHIC ae) and brought the title of “Gothic” to the emperor, under which he has been known since then. New detachments were ready to cross the Danuvium to help their fellow tribesmen, but they did not achieve much success, another part of them tried to break through to the cities of the Aegean Sea on the ships of the Heruli, but also met with rebuff and was defeated by the Roman fleet, led by Tenaginon Probus, the governor Egypt. Many Germans who were captured during various wars were enrolled in the Roman army or settled in the north of the Balkans. The preserved milestones testify to the intensive construction of roads in this area.
Claudius was still occupied with the siege of the Goths on Mount Aemus when reports came in that the tribe of the Jutungs, which until then was content with the money paid by Rome, had crossed the Danuvium in search of new lands and threatened Raetia, while another tribe, the Vandals, was preparing to invade Pannonia. Therefore, Claudius, having entrusted the fight against the Goths to Aurelian, hastened with the troops to Sirmium in order to inspect the new theater of operations. But his army was struck by the plague, and in January 270 Claudius himself fell victim to it.
Although he reigned for less than two years, his death was sincerely mourned by both the soldiers and the senate, and his deification followed immediately. Moreover, later the memory of him was again resurrected when Constantine the Great stated that his grandmother was Claudius's daughter or niece. This claim was fictional, but because of it Claudius's life stories turned into enthusiastic panegyrics. But nevertheless, the fact remains that he was an outstanding commander, showing a fine example of military skill and valor, to which the Empire owes its preservation. But he had neither the time nor the opportunity to deal with difficult economic problems; for example, the quality of a silver-plated bronze coin became even worse, which adversely affected the already soaring prices. His coins depict a typical representative of the Danuvian military leaders of that time: short-haired, bearded and unforgiving.
(text according to the publication: M. Grant. Roman emperors / translated from English by M. Gitt - M.; TERRA - Book Club, 1998)
And the time is coming again. No, not the New Year and not even March 8th. And chocolate-heart-flowery Valentine's Day, or Valentine's Day. And while love is in the air for everyone, we decided to dig up historical facts about this day that have little to do with falling in love and flowers.
The Roman emperor Claudius II did not allow his soldiers to marry during the war, as he believed that love and marriage were in no way connected. According to the Golden Legend, a collection of Christian legends and the lives of saints, it was under Claudius II that Saint Valentine was executed.
In fact, there are several legends about Saint Valentine. One says that he secretly married lovers, was caught and executed by order of the emperor. According to another, Valentine tried to help Christians who were persecuted in those days escape from prison, was discovered and captured. Fell in love with the daughter of his jailer and wrote her the first Valentine, signing "Your Valentine". Be that as it may, Valentine was executed, and Pope Julius II canonized him, presumably on February 14th.
Red roses were the favorite flowers of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. In general, each flower has its own meaning, so try not to give your girlfriend a hatred bouquet of yellow lilies, for example. © rexfeatures
It was the King of England Henry VIII, known for the fact that almost all of his six wives died tragically (he himself executed two, one died after childbirth), in 1537 made February 14 an official holiday for lovers.
The city of Verona still receives thousands of letters addressed to Juliet, Romeo's love. Pictured is a statue of Juliet in Verona. © rexfeatures
Only in the Middle Ages did Valentine's Day become associated with love, and then only because, for example, in France and England, in February, the mating season began for birds. © rexfeatures
Many historians suggest that February 14 was chosen not at all because of St. Valentine, but to replace the ancient Roman pagan fertility holiday Lupercalia in honor of the god Faun, as well as the founders of the city, Romulus and Remus. During the celebration, goats and dogs were sacrificed, men undressed, ran around the city and whipped everyone with animal skins, especially women, since the blow was considered a blessing. Then the leaves with women's names were placed in a vessel, and the men thus chose a mate for themselves for a year, after which they got married.
Valentine cards appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, when typography became not such a complicated process. At that time, it was not customary to openly express your feelings, so valentines were most welcome.
In fact, several Christian martyrs with the name Valentine lived in the 3rd century - the holy martyr Valentin, bishop of the city of Interamna, and the presbyter Valentin of Rome, as well as the martyr Valentin of Dorostol, a warrior who died for an open confession of Christianity.
In the Roman church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, you can admire the skull of St. Valentine. Yes, this is one of the main attractions of the church. We hope that this is the skull of exactly the “correct” Valentine. Are you going to Rome anytime soon? Great, you can see the rest of his skeleton in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Scotland, Great Britain and France.
In the days of Queen Victoria in England, it was considered bad luck to sign valentines. Probably, this was due to the fact that, again, it was not customary to openly declare one's feelings, since it was possible to compromise the beloved.
The oldest valentine has survived, with a poem sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Unfortunately, his wife passed away before she could get the duke's poem.
At the beginning of the 19th century, doctors actively urged people to eat chocolate to relieve longing for their beloved. And at the end of the 19th century, Richard Cadbury produced the world's first box of chocolates.
In the Middle Ages, most people were illiterate, so when they had to sign any document, they simply put an X in front of witnesses, and then kissed their "signature" as a sign of the sincerity of their decision. Among these documents were marriage certificates.
[Marcus Aurelius Valery Claudius; lat. Claudius Gothicus] (10.05.213/4, Sirmius, now Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia - Jan./March 270, ibid.), Roman. imp. (Aug/Sep 268 - Jan/March 270). The reign of K. G. fell on one of the most acute phases of the socio-political crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, when it temporarily broke up into a number of unstable and opposing states. K. G. ruled only the central regions of the empire (Italy, Pannonia, Illyricum, the Balkan Peninsula, the western part of M. Asia, North Africa, Egypt). At the same time, the extreme West of the empire (the Gallic Empire) and the East (the Palmyra Empire) were at enmity with K. G. Due to the scarcity and unreliability of the sources of many others. the circumstances of KG's life and reign remain a matter of debate.
KG is an Illyrian by birth. According to the legendary genealogy set forth in the historical code "Scriptores historiae augustae" (4th century), the genus of K. G. descended from the Trojans of Il and from Dardanus (the progenitor of the population of the Dardania region in Illyricum) (Scr. hist. Aug. XXV 11. nine). According to the historian Sextus Aurelius Victor (4th century), K. G. was the illegitimate son of the imp. Gordian II, but this information is also most likely a legend (Aur. Vict. De Caes. 34. 1). K. G. made a military career; from the beginning 50s 3rd century held various positions of tribune, commanded individual legions; at imp. Valerian (253-260) became governor of Illyricum; imp. Gallienus (260-268) appointed C. G. commander of the cavalry, which was traditionally considered the 2nd most important military post in Rome. K. G. became emperor after the summer of 268 imp. Gallienus was killed near Mediolanum (now Milan, Italy), where he besieged the usurper Aureolus. It is unclear whether C. G. was involved in the conspiracy against Gallienus. According to Aurelius Victor, KG at that time commanded Rome. connection at Ticinus (now Pavia), which was supposed to protect the Alpine passes and restrain a possible attack on Italy by the Gallic imp. Posthuma. Having received news of the death of Gallienus, the troops proclaimed K. G. emperor. Having ascended the throne, he prevented the intentions of the Senate in Rome to carry out repressions against the relatives of Gallienus and achieved the deification of this emperor. The author of "Scriptores historiae augustae" claims that K. G. was proclaimed emperor in the temple of the Great Mother (Cybele) on one of her holidays, March 24, and Rome. the senate eulogized the emperor in the temple of Apollo (Scr. hist. aug. XXV 4). Probably, this mention refers to a certain rite, which was performed by K. G. in 269.
Shortly after the beginning of the reign, K. G. achieved the capitulation of Avreol in Mediolanum, then the usurper was killed. In con. In 268, a large force of the Alemanni broke through the Alps and began to devastate Italy. K. G. defeated them at the lake. Benak (now Garda in Northern Italy). In 269, C. G. launched a large-scale campaign against the Goths who invaded Rome. possessions in the Balkans and captured a significant part of this region. Advancing from the west across the territory of Illyricum, the Romans, led by KG, destroyed the main forces of the Goths in the battle of Naisse (now Nish, Serbia). The Goths were forced to retreat across the Danube; their subsequent attack attempts were quickly repulsed, although the wars in the Balkans continued for several more. years. After this victory, the emperor received the title of Goth. The naval forces of the Goths and Heruli in the Aegean were destroyed by Rome. by the fleet of the governor of Egypt, Tenaginon Prob.
C. G. successfully resisted the Gallic Empire. His commander Julius Placidian achieved the transfer of all Spain and Narbonne Gaul to the power of KG. At the same time (probably at the end of 269), the revolt against the Gallic Empire was raised by the city of Augustodun (now Autun, France). The townspeople proclaimed themselves subjects of Rome and turned to KG for support. However, he could not or did not have time to send help to the rebels. After several weeks the city was taken by the Gallic troops of the imp. Quiz and looted. Relations between K. G. and the Palmyra Empire were also hostile, although there was no clash of the main forces. In 269, the Palmyrenes tried to capture Egypt, but were defeated by its governor, Tenaginon Probus.
The brevity of the reign of K. G. and the incompleteness of the sources do not give grounds for characterizing religions. policy of K. G. It can be judged only by the images of K. G. on coins, where the emperor was adjacent to various deities of traditions. Rome. religion, including the image of Sol Invictus (the syncretic deity the Invincible Sun), which indicates the interest in this cult of the new supreme deity, which, under the successor C. G. Aurelian, became an official. empire cult. Also, under K. G., for the first time, images of Egypt appeared on coins. goddess Isis. A rare manifestation of K. G.'s religiosity was the image of Hephaestus with the inscription: "Regi artis" (To the King of Art). According to Aurelius Victor, C. G. turned to the Sibylline books for divination about the future (Aur. Vict. De Caes. 34. 3).
No information has been preserved about whether there were persecutions of Christians under KG in the Middle Ages. Zap. In Europe, a legend spread that under K. G. in Rome, the schmch suffered. Valentine (commemorated 14 Feb.). This was mentioned in the hagiographic code "Golden Legend" of James from Varazze (1260), where the saint confessed his faith before a certain imp. Claudius. The interpreters of this story assumed that, since with imp. Claudius in the 1st century there was no persecution of Christians, we could only talk about K. G. Nevertheless, this information is not confirmed in the oldest versions of the Acts of St.. Valentine and, apparently, are erroneous.
K. G. died of a plague that struck his army in the beginning. 270, when, in the course of ongoing hostilities against the Goths, he began to concentrate his main forces in Sirmia to repulse the Vandal tribe. After the death of K. G., his brother Quintillus was proclaimed emperor, but he was killed after 17 days. Aurelian, who was the head of the cavalry under KG, took power. Rome. the senate declared K. G. divine. In his memory, a statue 10 feet high was erected on the Capitol in front of the temple of Jupiter; in Rome. Curia by decision of the Senate was placed a golden shield. Ancient biographers of K. G. spoke positively of him as a person and a ruler. It was said that his subjects and soldiers loved him like few others. emperors. The author of "Scriptores historiae augustae" wrote about K. G. in a panegyric tone, comparing him with Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian and other best rulers of the Roman Empire. His biography also included a number of most likely forged letters in which the emperors - contemporaries of C. G. (Decius, Valerian and Gallienus) spoke of him very respectfully (Scr. hist. aug. XXV 14-18).
Increased attention to KG by historians of the late antique era was due to the fact that in the 4th century. at the court of the imp. Constantius I Chlorus (293-306), Constantine I the Great (306-337) and their heirs (the Flavian dynasty), information about the relationship of their family with K. G. was widely disseminated. "Scriptores historiae augustae" indicated that the biography of K. G. was written in it in accordance with the wishes of "Caesar Constantius", i.e. imp. Constance I (Scr. hist. aug. XXV 1). In a panegyric in honor of the imp. Constantine, uttered in 310 (Panegyrici latini. VI), indicated a relationship with K. G. It was known that K. G. had a brother Crispus, who had a daughter Claudia (Scr. hist. aug. XXV 13. 9) . It was believed that Claudia was the mother of the imp. Constantius I, father of Constantine. Thus, Constantius I could be the great-nephew of K. G. The degree of reliability of this information cannot be assessed; as a rule, modern researchers consider them a fiction of the Flavian courtiers, for whom it was important in one way or another to demonstrate the dignity and high origin of their surname. However, it seems that the relationship with K. G., who ruled for a short time and did not win c.-l. decisive victory for the empire, hardly added political authority to Constantius Chlorus and his much more successful descendants. However, with imp. Constantine even minted coins in memory of K. G. with the inscription: “Divo Clavdio Opt Imp Memoriae Aeternae” (To the Divine Claudius, the best emperor, eternal memory). Thus, the possibility of family ties between K. G. and the Flavian dynasty of the 4th century. should not be unambiguously denied.
Source: XII Panegyrici Latini / Ed. R.A.B. Mynors. Oxf., 1964; Scriptores historiae augustae / Ed. E. Hohl. Lpz., 19552; Aur. Vict. Decaes. 34; Eutrop. Breviar. IX 11-12; Zosim. Hist. I.
I. N. Popov