Valerian

Valerian came to power around 253, already in his fifties, inheriting an empire convulsing through the Crisis of the Third Century. He named his son Gallienus co-emperor and tried to hold the fracturing state together. In spring 260, he met Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa and lost more than the field — he became the first Roman emperor taken prisoner in combat. The capture itself was unprecedented; the rumors of what followed — humiliation, servitude under Persian hands — spawned stories that traveled farther than any military dispatch. He died in captivity sometime between 260 and 264, and t…