Firmus

<h2 id="historia-augusta-account">Historia Augusta account</h2>
<p>According to the <i><a href="/facts/Historia_Augusta/DkN67QSX">Historia Augusta</a></i> ("Firmus"), Firmus was a man of great wealth. He had  his house fitted with square panels of glass, and owned a huge library. His commercial relationships involved <a href="/facts/Blemmyes/Pp6pdAUV">Blemmyes</a>, <a href="/facts/Saracens/txYv1kIL">Saracens</a>, and India. He had two elephant tusks, which later Aurelian projected to use as a basis for a statue to <a href="/facts/Jupiter_(mythology)/JPetM2m9">Jupiter</a> and which were actually given as a present by <a href="/facts/Carinus/GzYQLVYG">Carinus</a>. Physically, Firmus was noteworthy, being huge and very strong. Firmus was notably also a heavy drinker and could eat quite a bit. The <i>Historia Augusta</i> states that he once consumed an entire ostrich in one day, and even beat one of Aurelian's standard bearers and notorious drinkers in a drinking contest, draining two buckets of wine while remaining completely sober. The importance and threat of Firmus' revolt is related to the interruption of the Egyptian grain supply to Rome.
</p>
<h2 id="notes">Notes</h2>

<h3>Primary sources</h3>
<ul><li><a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Firmus_et_al*.html">"Firmus Saturninus Proclus et Bonosus" 3-6</a>, <i><a href="/facts/Historia_Augusta/DkN67QSX">Historia Augusta</a></i></li>
<li><a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Aurelian/2*.html#32.2">"Aurelianus" xxxii.2‑3</a>, <i><a href="/facts/Historia_Augusta/DkN67QSX">Historia Augusta</a></i></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Zosimus_(historian)/RAMJg0zv">Zosimus</a> i.61.1</li></ul>
<h3>Secondary sources</h3>
<ul><li>"Firmus", s.v. <a href="http://www.roman-emperors.org/aurelian.htm">"Aurelian"</a>, <i>De Imperatoribus Romanis</i> site</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Blaudeau, Philippe; Nuffelen, Peter (2015-07-01). L'historiographie tardo-antique et la transmission des savoirs (in French). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-040931-4. <a href="978-3-11-040931-4" target="_blank">978-3-11-040931-4</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Jan den Boeft; Jan Willem Drijvers; Daniël den Hengst; Hans Teitler (coauthor) (3 December 2013). Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus XXIX. BRILL. p. 150. ISBN 978-90-04-26787-9. <a href="978-90-04-26787-9" target="_blank">978-90-04-26787-9</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Firmus open-in-new

Firmus