#florianus

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT FLORIAN The Patron of Firefighters Feast Day: May 4

"O Holy St. Florian, please spare my house, set fire to another one." -excerpt from the 'Florian Principle (Sankt-Florians-Prinzip)'

Florian was born about 250 A.D. in Cetium (present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria). He joined the Roman army and advanced in the ranks. However, the Emperor Diocletian was shocked to learn that Florian did not carry out his orders to persecute all Christians in the area, and, thus, was sentenced to death by fire.

Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying: "If you do, I will climb to heaven on the flames."

Apprehensive to his words, instead of burning Florian, they drowned him. His body was later retrieved by Christians and buried at an Augustinian monastery near Lorch.

Saint Florian was adopted as patron saint of Poland after Pope Lucius III consented to the request of King Casimir to send relics of Florian to that country. Soon after, a person was saved from a fire by invoking Saint Florian's name.

Since then, Florian has been invoked against fire and has generally been regarded in most countries as the patron saint of the fire service.

Not in the best shape but also not the easiest emperor to get…

Roman Empire

BI Antoninianus - 22mm 3.79g

Florian 276 AD

Rome Mint

Obverse IMP C FLORIANVS AVG

Bust of Florian right, radiate, draped

Reverse FIDES MILIT

Fides standing left, holding sceptre and ensign, XXIϵ below

27. Claudius Gothicus (268-270) - Proclaimed emperor by his troops, and allegedly could knock out a horse's teeth with one punch, he originated as a barbarian and worked his way up through the army. He was a badass soldier, winning the battle of Naissus (along with his cavalry commander, the future Aurelian), which smashed the Goths for a century. He died of smallpox in 270.

28. Quintillus (270) - ruled from 17 days to six months. May have been murdered by his own soldiers, may have committed suicide. He was elevated after the death of his brother, Claudius Gothicus, but the Danube legions were for Aurelian.

29. Aurelian (270-5) - Claudius' former cavalry commander, Aurelian essentially helped end the crisis of the third century (huzzah!), smashing the northern Germanic tribes, bringing the eastern provinces back into the empire after destroying the Palmyrene empire, conquering the Gallic Empire, and building Rome's Aurelian Walls (which are incredibly cool). He was murdered by a conspiracy apparently organised by one of his secretaries, who feared punishment after a minor lie. There is some evidence that his wife, Ulpia Severina, ruled for a time after his death.

30. Tacitus (275-6) - Chosen by the senate to succeed Aurelian, he was the last emperor to ever be chosen by them. He either died of fever on the way to deal with an invasion of Gaul... or was assassinated.

31. Florianus (276) - Chosen by the army to succeed Tacitus, his half-brother. Assassinated by his own troops after eighty eight days. 

32. Probus (276-82) - Also chosen by the army. At the same time. He was assassinated... by... his own troops. He minted some pretty neat coins with Sol Invictus on them. One awesome thing he did was starting to settle defeated Germanic tribes in the devastated provinces of the empire.

33. Carus (282-3) - Proclaimed emperor by the troops, he went off shortly to fight the Sassanids, winning some significant victories. He was killed either by disease, lightning, or a campaign wound. 

34. Carinus (282-5) - Appointed co-caesar by his father Carus, after his brother Numerian's death and Diocletian's rise, he was - allegedly - assassinated by a tribune whose wife he had seduced. Or his army deserted him and he committed suicide, your pick. 

35. Numerian (282-4) - Headed for Rome after the death of his father, but died incredibly mysteriously enroute - and may indeed have been dead for some time when his body was discovered in his coach...

There isn't much to say about Florianus. He basically just another victim of the fact that Crisis-era Rome didn't really tolerate emperors who inherited the position. In this case, he was Tacitus's brother (or half-brother), and he held on for just a few months before being murdered by his troops on behalf of their new favorite.

My favorite thing about Florianus, though, is that I consider him to be the beginning of the end of the Crisis. To be sure, there are about ten years and five emperors to go, but in my head at least, it's all uphill from here.