Marcus Claudius Tacitus, 275 - 276

Following the murder of Aurelian , the commanders of the army uncharacteristically requested that the senate elect a new emperor. The senate eventually chose the 75 year old senator Tacitus, apparently a descendant of the historian. Tacitus joined the army in Thrace where a Gothic invasion was successfully repulsed. The exertions and poor weather were too much for the old man, though, and he died after less than a year in power.