As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disintegrated under the pressure of barbarian invasions and internal revolts.

He was also responsible for the construction of the Aurelian Walls in Rome, the abandonment of the province of Dacia, and monetary reforms attempting to curb the devaluation of the Roman currency.

[12] These two propositions, together with the tradition that the clan Aurelius had been entrusted with the maintenance of that deity's cult in Rome, inspired the notion that this could explain the devotion to the sun-god that Aurelian was to manifest as emperor.

Saunders suggests that his career is more easily understood if it is assumed that his family was of Roman settler origins with a tradition of military service and that he enlisted as an equestrian.

[d] However, although Saunders's conjecture as to Aurelian's early career is not supported by any evidence other than his nomen which could indicate Italian settler ancestry — and even this is contested — his rise to the highest ranks is more easily understood if he did not have to start from the bottom.

To be sure, the exploits detailed in the Historia Augusta vita Divi Aureliani, while not always impossible, are not supported by any independent evidence and one at least is demonstrably an invention typical of that author.

[15] However, he was probably associated with Gallienus's cavalry army and shone as an officer of that elite unit because, when he finally emerged in a historically reliable context in the early part of the reign of Claudius II, he seems to have been its commander.

[29] The war against Aureolus and the concentration of forces in Italy allowed the Alamanni to break through the Rhaetian limes along the upper Danube.

In early 269, emperor Claudius and Aurelian marched north to meet the Alamanni, defeating them at the Battle of Lake Benacus.

[31] The Goths were besieging Thessalonica when they heard of emperor Claudius' approach, causing them to abandon the siege and pillage north-eastern Macedonia.

Aurelian intercepted the Goths with his Dalmatian cavalry and defeated them in a series of minor skirmishes, killing as many as three thousand of the enemy.

Aurelian continued to harass the enemy, driving them northward into Upper Moesia where emperor Claudius had assembled his main army.

Aurelian, sensing his enemies' desperation, attacked them with the full force of his cavalry, killing many and driving the remainder westward into Thrace.

The determined Goths killed many of the oncoming infantry and were only prevented from slaughtering them all when Aurelian finally charged in with his Dalmatian cavalry.

Emperor Claudius fell ill on the march to the battle and returned to his regional headquarters in Sirmium, leaving Aurelian in charge of operations against the Goths.

By late summer the Goths were defeated: any survivors were stripped of their animals and booty and were levied into the army or settled as farmers in frontier regions.

[38] With his base of power secure, he now turned his attention to Rome's greatest problems – recovering the vast territories lost over the previous two decades, and reforming the res publica.

In 248, Emperor Philip the Arab had celebrated the millennium of the city of Rome with great and expensive ceremonies and games, and the Empire had given a tremendous proof of self-confidence.

The eastern provinces found their protectors in the rulers of the city of Palmyra, in Syria, whose autonomy grew until the formation of the Palmyrene Empire, which was successful in defending against the Sassanid threat.

[41] The authority of the Emperor was challenged by several usurpers—Septimius, Urbanus, Domitianus, and the rebellion of Felicissimus—who tried to exploit the sense of insecurity of the empire and the overwhelming influence of the armies in Roman politics.

Aurelian, who was in Pannonia to control the Vandals' withdrawal, quickly entered Italia, but his army was defeated in an ambush near Placentia (January 271).

[42] The emperor led his legions to the Balkans, where he defeated and routed the Goths beyond the Danube, killing the Gothic leader Cannabaudes, and assuming the title of Gothicus Maximus.

The Syrian queen cut off Rome's shipments of grain, and in a matter of weeks, the Romans started running low on bread.

Eventually Zenobia and her son were captured and made to walk the streets of Rome in his triumph, the woman in golden chains.

With the grain stores once again shipped to Rome, Aurelian's soldiers handed out free bread to the citizens of the city, and the Emperor was hailed a hero by his subjects.

The centre of the cult was a new temple, built in 274 and dedicated on December 25[49] of that year in the Campus Agrippae in Rome, with great decorations financed by the spoils of the Palmyrene Empire.

The rationalis Felicissimus, a senior public financial official whose responsibilities included supervision of the mint at Rome, revolted against Aurelian.

[38] A very large number of rare gold coins of Aurelian have been discovered as part of the Lava Treasure in Corsica, France, in the 1980s.

On his way, he suppressed a revolt in Gaul – possibly against Faustinus, an officer or usurper of Tetricus – and defeated barbarian marauders in Vindelicia (Germany).

The notarius Mucapor and other high-ranking officers of the Praetorian Guard, fearing punishment from the emperor, murdered him shortly after October 275 (Tacitus began his reign in November or December), in Caenophrurium, Thrace.