GALLO, GAIO VIBIO (Imp. C. Vibius Trebonianus Gallus), ROMAN EMPEROR. — Born at Perugia around 207, died at Terni in 253. He belonged to the Senate and in 250 was governor of Moesia, commanding the legions during the war against the Goths. Upon the death of Decius he was acclaimed emperor (251); he hastened to sign a peace treaty, leaving the Goths the booty they had already taken and the prisoners, and went to Rome to obtain the Senate’s approval of his appointment. To dispel suspicions of his treachery, he adopted Decius’s second son, Hostilian.
In 253 the Goths invaded Fannonia; the provincial legate, Aemilianus, defeated them and was acclaimed emperor. G. marched against him, but at Terni he was killed by his own soldiers together with his son Volusianus. Shortly afterwards Aemilianus too was killed, and the Empire passed to Valerian, who had been acclaimed emperor by the soldiers of Gaul.
At first G. showed himself tolerant toward the Christians, but the plague that broke out in 252 gave rise to a persecution. Propitiatory sacrifices were in fact ordered throughout the Empire (St. Cyprian, Epist., 59). The Christians naturally abstained from taking part in them, and their absence aroused the hatred of the pagans, who rioted against them everywhere. An edict was then promulgated by which the heads of the churches—bishops, priests, and deacons—were condemned to exile (Eusebius, Hist. ecd., VII, 10; St. Cyprian, Epist., 61). The most illustrious victim was Pope Cornelius, arrested in June 252 and sent to Centumcelles (Civitavecchia), where he died in May–June 253 (id., Epist., 60). Lucius was elected to succeed him, but he too was exiled. It does not appear, however, that the persecution caused any victims, because G.’s subsequent death prevented the edict from being enforced.