Valerian (253-260), sestertius. AE 30 mm, 16.85 g. Rome, 255-256 Obv.: IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG: Laureate and cuirassed bust, right Rev.: VIRTVS AVGG / S C: Virtus helmeted, in military attire, standing left, resting right hand on shield and holding spear in left hand RIC V Valerian 183 Valerian was a Roman emperor for 7 years and nobody knows what eventually happened to him. He seized power in 253 during one of the many civil wars of the mid-3rd c. He was a Roman senator, governor of a Danubian province and could rely on the legions placed under his command. A conservative, he followed the traditionalist political line initiated by his former colleague Trajan Decius, especially the persecution of Christians: under his reign the Christians were forced to sacrifice to the pagan gods of the Empire and many bishops were executed. At his accession in 253, Valerian proclaimed his elder son Gallienus his co-emperor, with the title of Augustus. The interesting thing is that Gallienus would have rather promote another policy but, being Valerianus’ son, he was subordinate to his father. In 253 the military situation was serious as two wars were being fought at that time, in the West against Germans, in Orient against the Persian king Shapur I who had taken Antioch and Armenia. Gallienus took the commandment of the western front and Valerian went East to command the war against the Persians. He was relatively successful and won several campaigns from 254 to 259. He could rightfully claim victory in Orient, but no actually decisive battle had removed the Persian threat. Antioch, Syria had been retaken, but in 259 Shapur’s forces were still in North Mesopotamia. In 259 or 260 the disaster occurred: Valerian was captured alive by Shapur at Edessa (today Sanliurfa, Turkey … oops Turkiye). There are different testimonies about this capture: was he made prisoner in battle or, in a rather treacherous way, when attempting to negotiate? In a triumphal inscription engraved at Naqsh-i Rustam near the ruins of Persepolis, Shapur gives his own version: “ (…) And beyond Carrhae and Edessa we had a great battle with Valerian Caesar. We made prisoner ourselves with our own hands Valerian Caesar and the others, chiefs of that army, the praetorian prefect, senators; we made all prisoners and deported them to Persis. (…)” Shapur does not say he had won the war and captured the whole Roman army; he just mentions the commanders… When playing chess, if you capture the king, you’ve won the game, that’s the Indo-Iranian way of thinking. But the Romans thought differently: for them, the loss of a few men does not weaken the army. The Roman forces were mostly intact and undefeated, and the chain of command was immediately re-established: there was still a legitimate emperor, Gallienus, and the senator Odenathus, who was governor of Syria at this moment, became the new commander in his name. AR Dirham (drachm) of Shapur I We don’t know if Shapur attempted to take advantage of his prestigious prisoners, if he tried to negotiate a treaty or a ransom. What we can say is that nothing was done by the Romans to liberate Valerian. The war went on, and Shapur had eventually to withdraw his forces while Odenathus was harassing him, as far as the Persian capital Ctesiphon. In Rome, Gallienus was now the sole emperor. He did nothing to bring back his old reactionary dad, but immediately made the reforms he couldn’t make when his father was still the senior Augustus: the persecution of the Christians was stopped and Christianity officially tolerated in the Empire, the senators were excluded from the commandment of legions and provincial governorships. What happened to Valerian? In his inscription, Shapur just says that Valerian was deported in Persia. On the Persian triumphal reliefs, Valerian is always depicted standing, alive and well, never lying dead and tramped by the king’s horse. There even was a tradition in Iran saying that he stayed at Shapur’s court as a prisoner and was later released. This is the version told in the medieval Persian epic Shahnameh by Firdowsi. But there is a completely different version told by the Christian author Lactantius in “the Deaths of Persecutors”: Valerian spent the rest of his life as a slave, humiliated by Shapur who used him as a stool to mount on horseback. "This is true, Shapur used to say, and not what the Romans delineate on board or plaster!" When he died, he was flayed and his skin, dyed in red, was displayed in a temple in Persia… Seriously, nobody knows. Valerian humiliated by Sapor, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1521 (not my drawing)
Won this Valerian I coin a while ago. I liked very much the reverse, which I hadn't come across before. @GinoLR, after reading your very interesting message, it could be interpreted as the foot of Shapur, even though I found that the foot is an allegory to Mercury: AE 30, 16.68 g, 1h Phoenicia, Ake-Ptolemais, 253 – 260 AD struck under the authority of Valerianus I and his son Gallienus RPC X, number unassigned, ID 62858 (8 specimens, 1 in the core collection); Rosenberger 84; Sofaer 288; Kadman, IV Akko 250; BMC 47 Ob.: IMP CE LIC VALERIANVS AVG Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Valerianus I to r. seen from the front Rev.: COLP-TOL right foot to r. with attachment at top; above, winged thunderbolt; below, harpa with point to r.; at right, winged caduceus. Picture courtesy CNG:
Valerian I, Potin tetradrachm 255-6, Alexandria. 11.2g, 23mm. Laureate, cuirassed bust right / Nike standing facing head left, wings spread behind, thunderbolt in right hand, palm leaf in left. LΓ in left field, regnsl year 4. Milne 3882.
Nice write-up @GinoLR , and the coins are GREAT! Mine: VALERIAN I RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AE 20mm Alexandria Troas mint Horse Grazing RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AR Ant Felicitas stndg Caduceus and Cornucopia
SHAPUR I Sasanian Shapur I 240-272 CE AE Tetradrachm 10.78g 27mm Ctesiphon mint phase 1a mural crown korymbos - fire altar type 2 SNS IIa1-1a
There was something funny about a coin of Valerian. In Hegra (Saudi Arabia) an antoninianus of Valerian was found, among many other Roman coins. Obv. : IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, radiate draped and cuir. bust right, seen from front Rev.: SALVS AVGG, Salus standing left holding sceptre and feeding serpent arising from altar This coin was not listed in RIC. It appears to be a mule associating two dies cut for two different emissions, very likely in the Rome mint. It often happens for this kind of billon antoniniani which were minted on an industrial scale. I posted it on this forum three years ago and @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, a former member of this forum, found a parallel... in the Cunetio hoard, found in Wiltshire, England ! Top : specimen from the Cunetio Hoard (Wiltshire, England) Bottom : specimen from Hegra (al-Ula, Saudi Arabia) The two coins are struck from different dies but I don't think any other specimen of this mule have been reported or published. Both were likely struck at roughly the same time, perhaps in the same minting operation, after which both circulated from hand to hand until one ended hoarded in England while the other one was lost in Saudi Arabia...
Great thread, I love the bite sized history lessons and the information about the SALVS AVGG coin was fascinating too! Although not my prettiest Valerian, I find this one interesting. It appears to be as bronze as you can get. The references say it was minted in Antioch but I can’t help imagine it was minted out of bronze by a field mint on campaign. The presumptive VICTORIA AVGG makes me smile too. Valerian OBV: IMP VALERIANVS PF AVG. Radiate, draped bust right REV :: VICTORIA AVGG. Victory standing left on globe, holding wreath and palm EX :: blank minted in Antioch RIC V-1 Antioch 288 / Gobl 1590a 257-259 Then, a few less ugly Valerians.
