Introduction

Last time we left rome in a state ofi pair. The east was invaded by the sisonids, the danube had been invaded by the goths and italy had been invadedby the alamani. Unable to handle all these foreign threats at once, gallien watched helplessly as the legions across the empire elevated their own local commanders to the purple. But for some reason, possibly because he was a cripple, macrianus did not himself assume the imperial dignities. Instead, he induced the legion to elevate to the purple his two grown sons, quietus and macrionus.