Editing Valerian (emperor) (section)

===Rule and fall===
[[File:Naghsh-e rostam, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 12.jpg|thumb|A [[bas relief]] of Emperor Valerian standing at the background and held captive by King of Kings [[Shapur I]] found at [[Naqsh-e Rustam]], [[Shiraz]], [[Iran]]. The kneeling man is probably [[Philip the Arab]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title = ŠĀPUR I: ROCK RELIEFS | last = Overlaet | first = Bruno | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shapur-I-rock-reliefs | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 2017 | quote = The two emperors who are named are shown in the way they are described: Philip the Arab is kneeling, asking for peace, and Valerian is physically taken prisoner by Šāpur. Consequently, the relief must have been made after 260 CE. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kia |first1=Mehrdad |title=The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1610693912 |page=274 |quote=(...) while another figure, probably Philip the Arab, kneels, and the Sasanian king holds the ill-fated Emperor Valerian by his wrist.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Corcoran|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Corcoran|chapter=Before Constantine|title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|page=35|quote=He recorded these deeds for posterity in both words and images at Naqsh-i Rustam and on the Ka'aba-i Zardušt near the ancient Achaemenid capital of Persepolis, preserving for us a vivid image of two Roman emperors, one kneeling (probably Philip the Arab, also defeated by Shapur) and the second (Valerian), uncrowned and held captive at the wrist by a gloriously mounted Persian king.|isbn=978-0521521574| editor-given1 = Noel | editor-surname1 = Lenski }}</ref>]]
Valerian's first act as emperor was to appoint his son Gallienus ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]'', thus making him co-emperor. Early in his reign, affairs in Europe went from bad to worse, and the whole West fell into disorder. In the East, [[Antioch]] had fallen into the hands of a [[Sassanid dynasty|Sassanid]] vassal and [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]] was occupied by [[Shapur I]] (Sapor).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Valerian and Gallienus split the problems of the empire between them, with the son taking the West, and the father heading East to face the [[Sassanid Empire|Persian]] threat.

In 254, 255, and 257, Valerian again became ''Consul Ordinarius.'' By 257, he had recovered Antioch and returned the province of [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]] to Roman control. The following year, the [[Goths]] ravaged [[Asia Minor]]. In 259, Valerian moved on to [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]], but an outbreak of [[Plague of Cyprian|plague]] killed a critical number of [[legionary|legionaries]], weakening the Roman position, and the town was besieged by the Persians. In 260, probably in June,<ref name=P/> Valerian was decisively defeated in the [[Battle of Edessa]] and held prisoner for the remainder of his life. Valerian's capture was a tremendous defeat for the Romans.<ref>[http://www.roman-emperors.org/gallval.htm ''Valerian'']</ref>