Aurelius Achilleus

Aurelius Achilleus
"Achilleus, the great ruler"
Roman emperor
Reign297–298, against Diocletian
PredecessorDomitius Domitianus
Died298
Alexandria, Egypt

Aurelius Achilleus (fl. 297–298 AD) was a rebel against the Roman emperor Diocletian in Egypt in 297 AD.[1]

All literary sources name Achilleus as an imperial pretender and the leader of the rebellion, but numismatic and papyrological evidence attribute that role to Domitius Domitianus instead. Egyptian papyri instead attest Achilleus as corrector under Domitianus. He seems to have succeeded to leadership of the rebellion after Domitianus died in December 297.[2]

Achilleus was at length taken by Diocletian after a siege of eight months in Alexandria, and put to death in 298 AD.[3][4]

  1. ^ Smith, William (1867), "Achilleus", Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, Boston, MA: Ancient Library, p. 12, archived from the original on 2005-12-17, retrieved 2007-10-01
  2. ^ Omissi, Adrastos (2018). "Birthing the Late Roman State: Diarchs, Tetrarchs, and a New Language of Power". Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire: Civil War, Panegyric, and the Construction of Legitimacy (ebook). Oxford Studies in Byzantium. Oxford University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0192558268. OCLC 1041925546. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  3. ^ Eutropius, Epitome ix. 14, 15
  4. ^ Aurelius Victor De Caesaribus 39