Numerian Numerius

253 – 284 · Generation XV · Eastern emperor (r. AD 283–284) · The Third Century

Numerian (AD 253 – AD 284). Eastern emperor (r. AD 283–284). Carried back from Persia in a closed litter; his death inside it was concealed until the smell betrayed it. He went east with his father against Persia and shared the title Persici Maximi when Seleucia and Ctesiphon fell, the Sasanids too entangled in a succession dispute to resist. After Carus's death Numerian led the army back from Persia in a retreat that met no opposition — his staff giving out that an inflammation of the eyes obliged him to travel enclosed. The prefect Aper announced the death at Nicomedia; a council of generals at Chalcedon chose Diocletian, who swore before the army that he was blameless, accused Aper of the murder, and killed him with his own hand before the assembly. The Historia Augusta remembers Numerian kindly: an amiable man, orator and poet, honoured — it claims — with a statue inscribed “to the most powerful of orators”.

One of 11 people of The Third Century (159–285) in this archive. Not one house but several short ones, in the fifty years the empire nearly came apart.

Parents

Carus Numerius (222 – 283)

Siblings

Carinus Numerius (250 – 285)