Valerian (emperor)
| Valerian | |||||||||
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Bust, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek[1] | |||||||||
| Roman emperor | |||||||||
| Reign | September 253 – June 260 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Aemilian | ||||||||
| Successor | Gallienus (alone) | ||||||||
| Co-emperor | Gallienus | ||||||||
| Born | c. 199[2] | ||||||||
| Died | After 260 AD Bishapur or Gundishapur | ||||||||
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| Issue Detail |
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| Dynasty | Valerian | ||||||||
Valerian (/vəˈlɪəriən/ və-LEER-ee-ən; Latin: Publius Licinius Valerianus; c. 199 – 260 or 264) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. Valerian rose to power during a particularly unstable period during the Crisis of the Third Century and appointed his son Gallienus as co-emperor.
Valerian is known as the first Roman emperor to have been taken captive in battle, captured by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, causing shock and instability throughout the Roman Empire. The unprecedented event and rumors of his humiliation at the hands of the Persian emperor generated a variety of different reactions and "new narratives about the Roman Empire in diverse contexts".[5]
- ^ F. Johansen (1995). Catalogue Roman portraits, vol. III.. p. 122, cat. no. 50.
- ^ RE 13.1 (1926) col. 488, Licinius 173. John Malalas 12.298 gives his age at death as 61 years, but apparently mistakes the emperor for his identically-named son. Weigel says he was born shortly before 200.
- ^ AE 2004, 673
- ^ Valerian's full title at his death was Imperator Caesar Pvblivs Licinivs Valerianvs Pivs Felix Invictvs Avgvstvs Germanicvs Maximvs Pontifex Maximvs Tribuniciae Potestatis VII Imperator I Consul IV Pater Patriae, "Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Valerianus, Patriotic, Favored, Unconquered Augustus, Conqueror of the Germans, Chief Priest, seven times Tribune, once Emperor, four times Consul, Father of the Fatherland".
- ^ Caldwell, Craig H. (2018). "The Roman Emperor as Persian Prisoner of War: Remembering Shapur's Capture of Valerian". Brill's Companion to Military Defeat in Ancient Mediterranean Society. pp. 335–358. doi:10.1163/9789004355774_016. ISBN 9789004355774.