DECIUS ; HERENNIUS
ETRUSCUS.] The empire being thus suddenly left without a ruler,
Gallus was selected, towards the end of November, A. D. 251, by both the senate and the
soldiers, as the person best qualified to mount the vacant throne, and Hostilianus, the
surviving son of the late prince, was nominated his colleague. The first care of the new ruler
was to conclude a peace with the victorious barbarians in terms of which they agreed to retire
beyond the frontier, on condition of retaining their plunder and their captives and of
receiving a fixed annual tribute as the price of future forbearance. The disgrace inflicted on
the Roman name by this shameful concession excited the indignation of the whole nation, while
the suicidal folly of the humiliating compact was soon manifested. For scarcely had the
provinces enjoyed one short year of tranquillity, when fresh hordes from the north and east,
tempted by the golden harvest which their brethren had reaped, poured down upon the Illyrian
border. They were, however, driven back with great loss by Aemilianus, general of the legions
in Moesia, whose triumphant troops forthwith proclaimed him Augustus. Gallus, upon receiving
intelligence of this unexpected peril, despatched Valerianus [VALERIANUS] to quell the rebellion; but while the latter was employed in collecting an
army from Germany and Gaul, Aemilianus, pressing forwards, had already entered Italy.
Compelled by the urgency of the danger, Gallus, accompanied by Volusianus [VOLUSIANUS], whom he had previously invested with all the imperial
dignities, marched forth to meet his rival, but before any collision had taken place between
the opposing armies, both father and son were slain by their own soldiers, who despaired of
success under such leaders. The precise date of this event has given rise to controversy among
chronologers, some of whom fix upon the year 253, and others upon that of 254.
The name of Gallus is associated with nothing but cowardice and dishonour. The hatred and
contempt attached to his memory may have led to the reports chronicled by Zosimus and Zonaras
that the defeat of Decius was caused by his perfidy, and that he subsequently became the
murderer of Hostilianus [HOSTILIANUS]. In addition to the misery
produced by the inroads of the barbarians during this reign, great dismay arose from the rapid
progress of a deadly pestilence which, commencing in Ethiopia, spread over every region of the
empire, and continued its ravages for the space of fifteen years. (de Caes. 30, Epit. 30; de Reb. Goth. 19.)