v08_0397 - VALERIAN I Antoninien

VALERIAN I

(07/253-06/260)

Valérien was born in 193 and led a brilliant political and military career. Main collaborator of Trajan Decius, he was proclaimed august in 253. He got rid in turn of Trebonian Galle and Volusian, then Emilian, and immediately associated his son Gallien to the throne. In 256, a Gothic invasion threatened the Black Sea provinces. Shapur (Sapor), Sassanid king, arrives in front of Antioch the following year. Valerian I began the great persecution against Christians in 258. In 259, the Empire, already weakened, was invaded on the Rhine-Danubian limes and in the East. Chapour (Sapor) seizes Antioch. Valérien goes to meet him, but is beaten and taken prisoner. Chapour (Sapor) will use the deposed emperor as a stepping stone before having him flayed alive. Christians see it as the chastisement of God punishing persecution, which Gallien hastened to stop.