Valerian (emperor)
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| Valerian | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emperor of the Roman Empire | ||
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| Valerian on a coin celebrating goddess Fortuna | ||
| Reign | 253-260 (with Gallienus) | |
| Full name | Caesar Publius Licinius Valerianus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus | |
| Born | c.200 | |
| Died | After 260 | |
| Bishapur | ||
| Predecessor | Aemilianus | |
| Successor | Gallienus (alone) | |
| Wife/wives | Egnatia Mariniana | |
| Issue | Gallienus & Valerianus Minor | |
| Father | Senatorial | |
Publius Licinius Valerianus<ref>Valerian full title was IMPERATOR CAESAR PVBLIVS LICINIVS VALERIANVS PIVS FELIX INVICTVS AVGVSTVS, "Emperor Caesar Publius Licinus Valerianus Pious Lucky Unconquered Augustus".</ref> (c. 200 - after 260), known in English as Valerian, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260.
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[edit] Life
[edit] Origins and rise to power
Unlike the majority of the pretenders during the Crisis of the Third Century, Valerian was of a noble and traditional senatorial family. Details of his early life are elusive, but his marriage to Egnatia Mariniana, who gave him two sons: later emperor Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus and Valerianus Minor.
In 238 he was princeps senatus, and Gordian I negotiated through him for Senatorial acknowledgement for his claim as emperor. In 251, when Decius revived the censorship with legislative and executive powers so extensive that it practically embraced the civil authority of the emperor, Valerian was chosen censor by the Senate. Under Decius he was nominated governor of the Rhine provinces of Noricum and Raetia and retained the confidence of his successor, Trebonianus Gallus, who asked him for reinforcements to quell the rebellion of Aemilianus in 253. Valerian headed south, but was too late: Gallus' own troops had killed him and joined Aemilianus before his arrival. The Raetian soldiers then proclaimed Valerian emperor and continued their march towards Rome. At the time of his arrival in September, Aemilianus' legions defected, killing him and proclaiming Valerian emperor. In Rome, the Senate quickly acknowledged him, not only for fear of reprisals, but also because he was one of their own.
[edit] Rule and fall
Valerian's first act as emperor was to make his son Gallienus his colleague. In the beginning of his reign the affairs in Europe went from bad to worse and the whole West fell into disorder. In the East, Antioch had fallen into the hands of a Sassanid vassal, Armenia was occupied by Shapur I (Sapor). Valerian and Gallienus split the problems of the empire between the two, with the son taking the West and the father heading East to face the Persian threat.
By 257, Valerian had already recovered Antioch and returned the province of Syria to Roman control but in the following year, the Goths ravaged Asia Minor. Later in 259, he moved to Edessa, but an outbreak of plague killed a critical number of legionaries, weakening the Roman position. Valerian was then forced to seek terms with Shapur I. Sometime towards the end of 259, or at the beginning of 260, Valerian was defeated in the Battle of Edessa and taken prisoner by the Persians, making him the only Roman Emperor taken captive.
[edit] Death
Some modern scholars believe that Shapur I sent Valerian and some of his army to the city of Bishapur where they lived in relatively good condition. Shapur used the remaining soldiers in engineering and development plans. Band-e Kaisar (Caesar's dam) is one of the remnants of Roman engineering located near the ancient city of Susa.<ref>Abdolhossein Zarinkoob "Ruzgaran: tarikh-i Iran az aghz ta saqut saltnat Pahlvi" pp. 195</ref> In all the stone carvings on Naghshe-Rostam, in Iran, Valerian is respected by holding hands with Shapur I, in sign of submission.
An early Christian source, Lactantius, speculated that Valerian was subjected to the greatest insults by his captors, such as being used as a human stepladder by Shapur when mounting his horse. According to this version of events, after a long period of such treatment Valerian offered Shapur a huge ransom for his release. In reply, Shapur was said to have forced Valerian to swollow molten gold and then had the unfortunate Valerian skinned and his skin stuffed with straw and preserved as a trophy in the main Persian temple. It was further alleged by Lactantius that it was only after Persia's defeat in their last war with Rome three and a half centuries later that his skin was given a cremation and burial.<ref>Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum, v; Wickert, L., "Licinius (Egnatius) 84" in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie 13.1 (1926), 488-495; Parker, H., A History of the Roman World A.D. 138 to 337 (London, 1958), 170. From [1].</ref>. The role of a Chinese prince held hostage by Shapur I, in the events following the death of Valerian has been frequently debated by historians, without reaching any definitive conclusion.
Valerian and Gallienus' joint rule was threatened several times by usurpers. Despite several usurpation attempts, Gallienus secured the throne until his own assassination in 268.
Owing to imperfect and often contradictory sources, the chronology and details of this reign are very uncertain.
[edit] See also
- Gallienus usurpers for all the usurpers of Valerian and Gallienus reign.
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External links
- Image:Commons-logo.svg Media on Valerian in the Wikicommons.
- "Valerian and Gallienus", at De Imperatoribus Romanis.
| Preceded by: Aemilianus | Roman Emperor 253–260 with Gallienus | Succeeded by: Gallienus |
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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