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Roman emperor from 260 to 269

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus ( 259 – 269) was a Roman commander of Batavian origin, who ruled as emperor of the splinter state of the Roman Empire known to modern historians as the Gallic Empire. The Roman army in Gaul threw off its allegiance to Gallienus around the year 260, and Postumus assumed the title and powers of Emperor in the provinces of Gaul, Germania, Britannia, and Hispania. He ruled for the better part of ten years before he was murdered by his own troops.

Little is known about the early life of Postumus. He has been claimed as being of Batavian origin; certainly his coinage honors deities—Hercules Magusanus and Hercules Deusoniensis—who would have been popular among the Batavians. Hercules Magusanus was probably an interpretatio romana translation of the Germanic deity Þunraz. Deusoniensis may refer to the town of Deuso, located in or near Batavian territory and likely to be identified with modern day Diessen; it has been hypothesized that Postumus himself was born in Deuso. From these relatively obscure provincial origins, Postumus would have risen through the ranks of the army until he held command of the Roman forces " among the Celts". What his precise title was is not definitely known, though he may plausibly have been promoted by the emperor Valerian to the position of imperial legate of Germania Inferior. Postumus was evidently in favour at court, and, according to König, was granted an honorary consulship. By 259, Valerian was campaigning in the east against the Persians, while his son and co emperor Gallienus was preoccupied with the situation on the Danubian frontier. Consequently, Gallienus left his son, Saloninus, and military commanders, including Postumus, to protect the Rhine. Amid the chaos of an invasion by the Alamanni and Franks, and spurred on by news of the defeat and capture of Valerian, Under the command of Postumus and Marcus Simplicinius Genialis, the Roman army crushed the Juthungi, and Postumus proceeded to distribute the captured spoils to the legions he commanded. The troops accordingly proclaimed Postumus emperor and besieged Colonia, trapping Saloninus and Silvanus. Later he erected a triumphal arch to celebrate his victory.

Postumus was immediately recognized as emperor in Gaul (except perhaps for the province of Gallia Narbonensis He established his capital in northern Gaul, probably at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium and furnished his government with many of the traditional Roman legislative and executive structures. Apart from the position of emperor, he immediately assumed the office of consul alongside a colleague, Honoratianus. Like his imperial predecessors, he became the pontifex maximus of the state and a Pretorian Guard, The chief members of Postumus' administration, such as Victorinus and Tetricus, appear to have been drawn from his power base in northern Gaul, and indeed the entire administration rapidly became Gallicized. Postumus represented himself as the restorer of Gaul (Restitutor Galliarum) and the bringer of security to the provinces (Salus Provinciarum) on some of his coins; His control of the Spanish and British mining regions was presumably crucial in this regard, as was his employment of master minters who would have come into Gaul with Gallienus. Postumus fought successful campaigns against the Franks and Alemanni in 262 and 263; following his victory over them in 263, his coin types celebrated peaceful themes such as Felicitas Augusti for some time. After having spent much of the last four years pushing the Franks out of Gaul, Postumus then recruited Frankish troops to fight against other Franks, probably dispersed within existing Roman army units. Scholars continue to debate whether Postumus originally intended to dislodge Gallienus from Rome or was content to rule only the western provinces.

For four years Gallienus was too distracted by Germanic invasions and other usurpers in the east to address the situation to his north and west, but in 265 he launched a campaign to defeat Postumus. Aureolus was punished with demotion, eventually leading him to turn against Gallienus in 267. ), he was wounded and forced to withdraw. After this, Gallienus was occupied with crises in the rest of his empire and did not confront Postumus again. In 266, Postumus became consul for the fourth time, taking as his colleague Marcus Piavonius Victorinus, a Gallic noble who was also a senior military officer; his selection to such a high profile position may be seen as an attempt to broaden Postumus' base of support. The year 268 saw the issuing of the 'Labours of Hercules' series of gold coins in honour of Postumus' favourite god. A sudden debasement of the coinage later that year shows that Postumus was facing increasing financial difficulties, due perhaps to a disruption of silver production in the Spanish mines or the need to buy off an increasingly discontented army. Aureolus, the general who was in command of Mediolanum (Milan) in Gallienus' interest, rebelled and ultimately declared for Postumus. Before the end of summer in 268, Gallienus was assassinated, and his successor, Claudius II, captured and killed Aureolus. At the same time, a sequence of events began which would end Postumus' rule in Gaul.

Postumus assumed his fifth consulship on 1 January 269, Within a few months, Postumus was able to capture Mogontiacum and kill Laelianus. His army wanted to sack the defeated city, and when Postumus tried to restrain them, the soldiers turned on him and killed him. The mutineers set up Marius, a common soldier, as emperor. Marius held sway for a short while before being overthrown by Victorinus, Postumus' erstwhile colleague in the consulship and tribune of the praetorian guard. In the meantime, the Gallic Empire lost Hispania.

Postumus' coinage has been of particular interest to numismatists, in light of the high quality and relative abundance of his coin issues. His ‘Labours of Hercules’ series is particularly renowned,

Most of the ancient literary references to Postumus come from the works thought to be based on the Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte (Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus, Eutropius, and the Historia Augusta, in the last of which Postumus is listed among the Thirty Tyrants). He also figures in the works of Zosimus and Zonaras.