Arve, and welcome to Emperors of Rome, a Roman history podcast from Latrib University.

I'm your host, Matt Smith, and with me today is Associate Professor Kaelin Davenport,

Head of the Centre for Classical Studies at the Australian National University.

This is episode C-C-I-X, a diminished Rome.

While much of the Roman Empire was lost during the rule of Gallianus, we don't really

know how much of that is his fault, or really get a sense of his reign.

Was he responsible for the loss of territories, or was he simply just a victim of his time?

Here's Kaelin Davenport.

Gallianus and his wife Salonina seemed to have spent four or five years initially in Rome

itself, and it's from this period in the city that we get the stories about his luxury

and extravagance, the idea that he is living it up while the Empire is falling apart.

And as I said, I think a lot of these stories come from the senatorial hostility towards

him, because he did not appoint them to military commands anymore, but it's still interesting

to think of Gallianus in the historical imagination as to what they thought he was getting

up to in Rome, and the stories are very much along the lines of Nero and Caligula.

So I'll just quote the Historic Uster Life of Gallianus 16.2, which says, and I quote,

he built castles of apples, preserved grapes for three years, and served melons in the

depth of winter.

He always served out of season green figs and apples fresh from the trees.

So the idea that you know, all he could say about his own food, and you know, having

supply of fresh fruit year-long round, I continue.

He sprinkled his hair with gold dust.

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