Aurelian

Aurelian (214–275) pulled the Roman empire back together after it had split in three. When Claudius II died in 270, the legions at Sirmium proclaimed Aurelian emperor. The east had fallen to the Palmyrene Empire and the west to the Gallic Empire.

He defeated invading Alamanni in Italy, began his walls of Rome, beat the Goths beyond the Danube and gave up Dacia. In 272 he marched on Queen Zenobia of Palmyra; she appeared in his triumph in golden chains together with her son, and when the city rebelled in 273 he let his soldiers sack it. In 274 he defeated Tetricus at Châlons, ending the Gallic Empire and earning the title Restitutor Orbis.

In 275, preparing to march against Persia, he was murdered in Thrace by officers who feared punishment after a secretary forged a death list. The Senate briefly condemned his memory, then made him a god.