The Capture Of The Emperor Valerian By The Sasanian Persians

The Capture Of The Emperor Valerian By The Sasanian Persians​

Sasanian Kings Shapur I​

Shapur was the second shahanshah [king of kings] of the Sasanian empire, his father Ardashir I as king in joint rule in AD 240, and then succeeding in around 242 as sole ruler. Shapur had accompanied his father on campaign against the Parthians who then still controlled much of the Iranian plateau, and already before his accession was praised for his intelligence and learning, as well as for boldness and kind-heartedness.



Continuing his father's war with the Roman empire, Shapur conquered the Mesopotamian fortresses of Nisibis and Carrhae, advancing into Syria, which required the young emperor Gordian III to set out with a vast army to counter the Sasanian threat. Gordian's army won battle after battle, at last routing the Sasanian army at Resaena, forcing Shapur to hand back all of his gains. Gordian's death and the succession of Philip the Arab [Philip I] ended the Roman campaign against Shapur, who was able to extract considerable advantages from Philip including an enormous indemnity in gold.

Shapur soon resumed his attacks on Rome, and in 253 met and annihilated a Roman army of 60,000 at the Battle of Barbalissos, and proceeded then to burn and ravage the Roman province of Syria. Armenia was conquered, and Georgia submitted to Sasanian control. With his northern borders secure, Shapur then led an army which penetrated deep into Syria, plundering all the way to Antioch which quickly fell to his forces.

The Roman counteroffensive under emperor Valerian was slow, but by 257 Antioch had been recovered and the province of Syria returned to Roman control. Shapur's speedy retreat caused the Romans to launch a hasty pursuit of the Sasanians all the way to Edessa, where they were severely defeated by the Persians, and Valerian along with the survivors of his army were led away into captivity. The defeat and capture of Valerian surely marks the greatest achievement in the reign of Shapur, who is also called 'the Great', and the submission of Valerian is commemorated in a mural at Naqsh-e Rustam, which shows the emperor bending the knee before Shapur on horseback. Valerian's army was sent to Bishapur, and the soldiers were used in engineering and development works, such as the Band-e Kaisar [Caesar's dam] near the ancient city of Susa.

Valerian' fate thereafter has been the subject of much speculation. Christian writers [such as Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum], sought to assign a fitting death to one of their most infamous persecutors. Likewise, Romans assuming the worst of their traditional Persian enemies described several versions of Valerian's torture, humiliation and eventual grisly death. These included being used as a human mounting block and been skinned and then stuffed with straw [Trebellius Pollio, Life of Valerian; Aurelius Victor, Caesares, 32; Eutropius IX, 6]. However, modern scholars have disputed many of these accounts as inconsistent with Persian traditions of treating captured kings, and it is more likely he simply died in captivity as a living trophy [Touraj Daryaee, Sasanian Iran].

Valerian's death would never be avenged, as Shapur would die of illness in 270 AD, and Valerian would be remembered as the only captured emperor of the Roman Empire.