en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelian
3 corrections found
The deaths of the Sassanid Kings Shapur I (272) and Hormizd I (273) in quick succession
These dates are off. Modern reference works place Shapur I’s death in 270 and Hormizd I’s short reign in 270–271, not 272 and 273.
Full reasoning
The sentence gives incorrect death years for both Sasanian rulers.
- Shapur I is dated by Encyclopaedia Iranica to 239–270, and the same entry says he probably died in May 270.
- Hormizd I did not die in 273. Encyclopaedia Iranica's overview of the Sasanian dynasty states that Hormozd I died after a short reign of May 270–June 271.
- This is reinforced by the Encyclopaedia Iranica entry on Bahram I, which says Bahram succeeded Hormozd I and ruled from June 271 to September 274. If Bahram began ruling in June 271, Hormizd I cannot have died in 273.
So the article's parenthetical dates are too late by about two years for Shapur I and about two years for Hormizd I.
3 sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — SHĀPUR I: History
SHAPUR I, second Sasanian king of kings (r. 239-70) ... Shapur died of illness in the city of Bišāpur ... probably in May 270.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — SASANIAN DYNASTY
The successor of Šāpur, Hormozd I, died after a short reign (May 270–June 271)...
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — BAHRĀM I
Bahrām I ... succeeded Hormozd (Ohrmezd) I and ruled from June, 271 until September, 274.
The Brucheion (Royal Quarter) in Alexandria was burned to the ground.
This overstates what the sources say. The main ancient source says Alexandria lost the greater part of the Bruchion district under Aurelian, not that the whole quarter was burned to the ground.
Full reasoning
The wording here is too strong and too specific.
The principal ancient testimony is Ammianus Marcellinus 22.16.15, which says that under Aurelian Alexandria's walls were destroyed and it "lost the greater part of the district called Bruchion". That is not the same as saying the entire royal quarter was "burned to the ground".
A modern scholarly discussion of Alexandria in antiquity repeats this same point, citing Ammianus: the city lost the greater part of the Bruchion district during Aurelian's time. In other words, the evidence supports severe damage and partial loss, but not the categorical claim that the whole quarter was totally burned down.
2 sources
- Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum Gestarum, Book XXII, chapter 16
under the rule of Aurelian ... her walls were destroyed and she lost the greater part of the district called Bruchion
- Alexandria in Antiquity
under the rule of Aurelian ... her walls were destroyed and she lost the greater part of the district called Bruchion
The city of Orléans in France is named after Aurelian.
Modern scholarship rejects the old story that Orléans was named directly after Emperor Aurelian. Reference works describe that link as an erroneous tradition.
Full reasoning
This repeats an old founder-legend that specialists have rejected.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites explains that the city became the capital of the civitas Aurelianorum and states that linking this name to Emperor Aurelian is "an erroneous tradition."
A review in Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes likewise says the legend that Orléans was founded or restored by Aurelian and owed its name to him had already been refuted, and summarizes the scholarly conclusion that the name derives instead from possessions associated with the gens Aurelia, not from the emperor personally.
So the article's wording is not just oversimplified; it presents as fact a traditional explanation that the cited scholarship explicitly rejects.
2 sources
- The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites — CENABUM or Genabum (Orléans)
the town lost its name Cenabum and became the capital of the civitas Aurelianorum, a name which an erroneous tradition links to the emperor Aurelian.
- Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes — review of Jacques Soyer, La légende de la fondation d'Orléans par l'empereur Aurélien
la légende d'après laquelle la ville d'Orléans aurait été fondée ou restaurée par l'empereur Aurélien et lui devrait son nom ... peut être considérée comme définitive ... la ville d'Orléans doit tirer son nom de domaines qu'un membre de la gens Aurelia aurait possédés