Editing Valerian (emperor) (section)

===Death in captivity===
[[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], writing between 364 and 378 AD, stated that Valerian "was overthrown by Shapur king of Persia, and being soon after made prisoner, grew old in ignominious slavery among the Parthians."<ref>Eutropius. Abridgement of Roman History. Translated by the Rev. John Selby Watson.
London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853. (Book 9.7)</ref> An early Christian source, [[Lactantius]] (thought to be virulently anti-Persian, thanks to the occasional persecution of Christians by some Sasanian monarchs)<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |first=Touraj |last=Daryaee |author-link=Touraj Daryaee |title=Sasanian Iran |publisher=Mazda |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-56859-169-8 }}</ref> maintained that, for some time prior to his death, Valerian was subjected to the greatest insults by his captors, like being used as a human footstool by Shapur when mounting his horse. According to this version of events, after a long period of such treatment, Valerian offered Shapur a huge ransom for his release.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In reply (according to one version), Shapur was said to have forced Valerian to swallow molten gold (the other version of his death is almost the same but it says that Valerian was killed by being [[flayed alive]]) and then had Valerian skinned and his skin stuffed with straw and preserved as a trophy in the main Persian temple.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} It was further alleged that it was only after a later Persian defeat against Rome that his skin was given a cremation and burial.<ref>[[Lactantius]], ''De Mortibus Persecutorum'', v; Wickert, L., "Licinius (Egnatius) 84" in ''[[Pauly-Wissowa|Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie]]'' 13.1 (1926), 488–495; Parker, H., ''A History of the Roman World A.D. 138 to 337'' (London, 1958), 170. From [http://www.roman-emperors.org/gallval.htm].</ref> The captivity and death of Valerian has been frequently debated by historians without any definitive conclusion.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

[[Image:HumiliationValerianusHolbein.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''The Humiliation of Emperor Valerian by [[Shapur I of Persia|Shapur I]]'', pen and ink, [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], ca. 1521. [[Kunstmuseum Basel]].]]

According to the modern scholar [[Touraj Daryaee]],<ref name="ReferenceA"/> contrary to the account of Lactantius, [[Shapur I]] sent Valerian and some of his army to the city of [[Bishapur]] or [[Gundishapur]] where they lived in relatively good conditions. Shapur used the remaining soldiers in engineering and development plans. ''[[Band-e Kaisar]]'' (Caesar's dam) is one of the remnants of Roman engineering located near the ancient city of [[Susa]].<ref>Abdolhossein Zarinkoob  "''Ruzgaran: tarikh-i Iran az aghz ta saqut saltnat Pahlvi''" pp. 195</ref> In all the stone carvings on Naghshe-Rostam, in Iran, Valerian is represented holding hands with Shapur I, a sign of submission. According to the early Persian Muslim scholar [[Abu Hanifa Dinawari]], Shapur settled the prisoners of war in Gundishapur and released Valerian, as promised, after the construction of Band-e Kaisar.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Abū Ḥanīfah Aḥmad ibn Dāvud Dīnavarī|last2=Mahdavī Dāmghānī|first2=Maḥmūd|author-link1=Abu Hanifa Dinawari|title=Akhbār al-ṭivāl|date=2002|publisher=Nashr-i Nay|location=Tihrān|isbn=9789643120009|page=73|edition=5th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPnKAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA18|access-date=30 August 2017}}</ref>

It has been alleged that the account of Lactantius is coloured by his desire to establish that persecutors of the Christians died fitting deaths;<ref name="Fik">{{cite book
|author=Meijer, Fik
|title=Emperors don't die in bed
|publisher=Routledge
|location=New York
|year=2004
|isbn=0-415-31202-7
}}</ref> the story was repeated then and later by authors in the Roman Near East fiercely hostile to Persia.<ref name="BI">{{cite book
|author=Isaacs, Benjamin
|title=The Near East under Roman Rule
|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers
|location=Boston
|year=1997
|pages=440
|isbn=90-04-09989-1
}}</ref>

The joint rule of Valerian and Gallienus was threatened several times by [[Roman usurpers|usurpers]]. Nevertheless, Gallienus held the throne until his own assassination in 268 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Saunders|first=Randall T.|date=1992-01-11|title=Who Murdered Gallienus?|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antichthon/article/who-murdered-gallienus/2B48700FFE47B8DD0C76D1F878EF7A21|journal=Antichthon|language=en|volume=26|pages=80–94|doi=10.1017/S0066477400000708|s2cid=146694960 |issn=0066-4774}}</ref>