Trajan Decius - Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius (earlier Gaius Messius Quintus Decius (ca. AD 200 - 251): Husband of Herennia Etruscilla; Father of Herennius Etruscus and Hostilian. AD 249 - 251 - sole reign AD 251 - co-emperor with Herenius Etruscus and Hostilian

Mints: Antioch, Mediolanum, Rome.

Biography: Quintius Decius Valerius came from the Balkans and was a distinguished senator with many honors under his belt at the time of Philip the Arab's reign. His commission as governor of Moesia a nd Panonnia in 248 earned hi additional distinction but also seduced him to accept his troops' acclamation as emperor. After Philip's defeat and death in 249 at Beroia, he stayed for several months in Rome, consolidating his power, and adopted the surname "Trajanus." At Rome, Decius sponsored several major building projects and repaired the Colosseum. In 250 he mebarked on a campaign against the Goths, who had again crossed the Danube and allied themselves with a pretender, Julius Priscus. The campaign stretched into 251, when another pretender, Valens Licinianus, emerged at Rome but was eliminated soon thereafter. Decius did not outlive him long however. Advancing against the Goths south of the Danube, in the vicinity of Abrittus, his army fell into a trap and perished, the first Roman emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy. Along with him was killed his elder son, who had been raised to the rank of Caesar the previous year.

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