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Italy: Valerian (193/195/200-260/264), 40th Roman emperor, from the book <i>Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies: elogijs ex diuersis scriptoribus per Thomam Treteru S. Mariae Transtyberim canonicum collectis</i>, c. 1583. Valerian was from a traditional senatorial family, and served under various emperors. When Emperor Trebonianus Gallus faced rebellion from rival claimant Aemilianus in 253, he turned to Valerian for aid. Valerian was too late to save Gallus, who was murdered by his own troops, but his arrival saw Aemilianus' legions kill their own emperor and defect to Valerian's side, declaring him the new emperor in late 253.
Valerian (193/195/200-260/264) was from a traditional senatorial family, and served under various emperors. When Emperor Trebonianus Gallus faced rebellion from rival claimant Aemilianus in 253, he turned to Valerian for aid. Valerian was too late to save Gallus, who was murdered by his own troops, but his arrival saw Aemilianus' legions kill their own emperor and defect to Valerian's side, declaring him the new emperor in late 253.<br/><br/> He inherited a Roman Empire that was going through tumultuous times. The West fell into disorder, while various portions of the East were being subsumed into the Sassanid Empire. Making his son Gallienus co-emperor, they divided responsibilities between themselves, Gallienus taking the West while Valerian headed East to fight the Sassanids. While he was fighting the Sassanids, Valerian also continued the persecution of Christians started by previous emperors, demanding them perform sacrifices to Roman gods or face banishment and execution.<br/><br/> In 260, after being decisively defeated in the Battle of Edessa, Valerian arranged for a peace settlement with Shapur I, ruler of the Sassanid Empire. Shapur betrayed the truce however, and captured Valerian, holding him prisoner for the rest of the emperor's life. He would die in captivity, with accounts of his death ranging from being flayed alive to being forced to swallow molten gold.
Valerian (Latin: Publius Licinius Valerianus Augustus; 193/195/200 – 260 or 264 CE), also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260. He was taken captive by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the only Roman emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war and causing wide-ranging instability across the empire.<br/><br/> At the beginning of 260, Valerian was decisively defeated in the Battle of Edessa and he arranged a meeting with Shapur to negotiate a peace settlement. The truce was betrayed by Shapur who seized him and held him prisoner for the remainder of his life.