v31_0489 - TACITUS Aurelianus

TACITUS

(11-12/275-06/276)

According to A. Chastagnol, the interregnum lasts nearly two months, between the end of September and the beginning of December 275 at most. The same researcher establishes that Tacitus was not elected by the Senate alone, but with the help of the army, during a diplomatic ballet between Rome and the Pannonian armies, so that Tacitus would accept the purple. The date of his elevation poses a problem and the traditional date of September 25 may be called into question if the interregnum lasts until December. At the beginning of 276, Tacitus left Rome to fight the Goths who had invaded Asia Minor. He was finally assassinated at Tyana in Cappadocia..