18. Valerian, a once-proud Roman emperor died in humiliation as a prisoner of war.
Roman emperors liked to be seen as strong and powerful. Or, more accurately, they needed to be seen as strong and powerful, for any sign of weakness could place not only their own position in jeopardy but the stability of the whole Roman Empire at risk, too. All of which makes Valerian’s downfall all the more dramatic. This was a man who went from being the most powerful individual in the known world to being humiliated and then killed by his enemies.
Also known as Valerian the Elder, he was born around 193 AD. He was named Emperor in the autumn of 253 and was immediately faced with numerous challenges, both at home and abroad. His two most pressing concerns were the rise of Christianity throughout the Empire and the threat posed by the Sassanian Emperor, Shapur I. It was to tackle the latter that Valerian led Rome’s armies into combat at the Battle of Edessa in the year 260. Rome was defeated, and Valerian was captured. He was the first Roman emperor to be taken as a prisoner of war.
According to some accounts, Valerian was routinely humiliated whilst being held prisoner. Some writers even claim that Shapur I used him as a footstool, while the emperor was also subjected to a constant stream of verbal abuse. Even if he wasn’t treated so badly, just being a prisoner was humiliation enough for the leader of Rome and caused a massive rise in insecurity right across the empire.
Valerian died in captivity in the year 264. Some accounts note that he was flayed alive by Shapur. But the most popular account tells how Valerian tried to buy his freedom. He offered his enemy a huge sum of gold in return for being let go. In response, Shapur poured molten gold down Roman’s throat, a brutal act designed to show Rome that not everyone can be bought.