From A. D. 251.

Biography, his Throne, and now looked forward to the enjoyment of that security which his policy, rather than his arms, had purchased. But the disgrace which he had inflicted upon the majesty of Rome, by an ignominious peace with the Barbarians, rankled in the breasts of his People. The annual gift to the Gothic Monarch could not be viewed in any other light than that of a tribute; and to this humiliating reflection, which cast a gloom on the return of the Emperor, there were soon added all the miseries attendant upon a destructive Plague.*

to

253.

Goths re new their invasion, and are

In the second year of his reign, Gallus had the mortification to discover that the faith of the Barbarians, whom he had hoped to bind by Treaty, had again yielded defeated by to the temptation held forth by the superior wealth and Emilianus. comfort of the Provincials in Mosia and Pannonia. Swarms of those restless shepherds, conducted by various leaders, crossed the Danube, carrying with them terror and devastation, and setting at equal defiance the obligations of honour and the fear of arms. The safety of Rome, in such a case, was justly regarded as being placed in the hands of the General who commanded the Illyrian Legions. Æmilianus, who was said to be a Moor by birth, acted at that time as Proconsul on the banks of the Danube; and as his ambition was not inferior either to his power or his military genius, he did not refuse the reward which the army thought proper to present to a successful Chief. He defeated the Goths in several bloody engagements, recovered much of the booty which had been previously carried away, and thereby so materially diminished their strength as to afford to the neighbouring Provinces the hope of lasting tranquillity.†

But the success of Emilianus as a Commander put an end to his allegiance as a subject; and hence he had

Caius

Vibius Trebonianus

Gallus

Augustus.

From

A. D. 251.

to

253. The Legions

revolt, and

no sooner finished the war with foreigners, than he found it necessary to conduct the Legions against his Imperial master. Gallus, amazed by the rapidity of events, the victories, the revolt, and the advance of the Pannonian army, sent Valerian to collect the cohorts which were serving on the Rhine, while he himself set out at the head of such troops as he could assemble on the spur of the occasion, to meet the rebellious Governor. The two armies came in sight of each other near Interamna, a district of Umbria; but as both were convinced that no higher object was at stake than the personal interests of two individuals, they resolved that, Gallus is put without striking a blow, the smaller number should to death." give way to the greater, and that the Empire should be secured to him who was surrounded by the strongest camp. The soldiers of Gallus, accordingly, ended the strife by putting him and his son to death; upon which the Imperial cohorts immediately passed over to the ranks of their antagonists. Nor did the Senate long delay to give the sanction of their authority to the right of conquest. The letters of Emilianus to that body display a mixture of moderation and vanity. He assured them that he should resign to their wisdom the administration of Civil affairs; and, contenting himself with the honour of obeying their commands as a General, he would endeavour to avenge the cause of Rome, by driving from the Empire those crowds of Barbarians by whom its Provinces in the North and East had been recently insulted. His modesty and patriotism were applauded by the Senators; and their sense of his good intentions is perpetuated in certain medals, which represent him as combining in his own person the attributes of Hercules and of Mars.*

Biography.

A. D.

VALERIAN, who had been despatched by Gallus to bring to his assistance the Legions stationed on the rontiers of Germany, did not arrive in time to prevent 253. the death of the Emperor; but finding, upon his return Ems to Italy, that the catastrophe now mentioned had already taken place, he determined to revenge it on the person of the usurper. The army which had raised the latter to the Throne, appears still to have continued on the ground whereon was decided the fate of the two rival Commanders; and where, without drawing the sword to defend the object of its recent choice, it was again to transfer the Crown to another head. The moderation

straps,

Zosim. lib. i. Aurel. Victor. Eutrop.

Zosim. ubi supra. Eutrop. lib. ix. Victor, de Cæsaribus.

which Æmilianus. displayed, and which was probably the effect of principle, was ascribed by the fierce soldiery to the influence of fear. to the influence of fear. His apparent pusillanimity withdrew their confidence; and finding that Valerian was approaching, by rapid marches, to punish their late disaffection, they resolved to secure his forbearance by repeating, in his own favour, the treason with which they were chargeable against Gallus. The troops under his command had already proclaimed him Augustus ; and the murder of the reigning Prince by their hands soon opened to Valerian an unresisted passage to the Throne.†

Caius

Julius Emilianus Augustus.

A. D. 253.

Biography.

From

A. D. 253.

to

FEW Princes, in the evil times of which we are now writing, entered upon the Government with the advantage of so high a reputation as that enjoyed by Valerian. His merits had attracted the attention of the whole Empire; and his elevation to the most eminent rank in the State was accompanied with universal congratu260. lation in Italy as well as in the Provinces. Descended Character of Valerianus. from an illustrious family, he was introduced at an early period of life to the most important offices, Civil and military, that were open to the ambition of a Patrician youth; and long before he reached the Throne, he had arrived at a degree of consideration much more gratifying to a patriotic mind than the more ostentatious honours of Imperial power. The judgment formed of his character by his contemporaries, supersedes every other species of eulogy. When Decius desired the Senate to select from their Body one qualified to discharge the duties of Censor, the choice unanimously fell on Valerian. "His whole life," they exclaimed, “has been an example and an admonition to his fellow citizens. Let Him be the judge of others, who, in all respects, is their superior. Let Him be appointed to investigate the conduct of the Senators, who himself is not chargeable with any crime. Let Him pronounce sentence on our lives, whose own purity has never been impeached. From his earliest childhood Valerian has been Censor; his maturer years have done honour to the same office: as a Senator he has been wise, moderate, and grave; a friend of good men, and an enemy of the tyrannical and the immoral. We are all ready to acknowledge him as Censor, because we are deirous to imitate his virtues. More distinguished by his merits than by the nobleness of his blood, his conduct shows innocency of manners and sublimity of sentiments. He has revived in his person the excellence of the first Ages; and we venerate in his character an example of the purest and best of times."*

His reign not prosperous.

But with all these qualities to fit him for government, the reign of Valerian was not happy. His merits may have been overrated by partial judges; or, perhaps, the advanced period of life to which he had arrived, may have blunted his energies and clouded his discernment; but, whatever may have been the cause, there is no doubt that the character of his administration did not correspond to the lofty conceptions of wisdom and vigour, which his conduct in a lower sphere had led his Countrymen to form. To this ruler, accordingly, has been applied an observation made by Tacitus in regard to Galba; that, as long as he was a private person he appeared superior to a private station, and if he had never been Emperor he would, in the opinion of all men, have been esteemed most capable of discharging all the duties belonging to that high office.†

Trebell. Poll. Valer. c. 1-3.

Major privato visus, dum privatus fuit, et omnium consensu capax imperii, nisi imperâsset. Tacit. Hist. lib. i. c. 49.

His views were not sufficiently expansive; and, above all, he wanted firmness in adhering to his plans, and activity in reducing them to practice. He is reported also in his latter years, to have become timid and credulous, more alive to the sense of danger, than to the means of avoiding it; and hence, though the love of his Country never cooled in his breast, he yet brought on it, or rather, perhaps, allowed it to endure, evils much more formidable than could have arisen from injustice and tyranny combined.*

Caius

Publius

Licinius Valerianus

Augustus.

From A. D. 253.

to

260.

The reign of Valerian was soon disturbed by a simul- Empire taneous invasion of several of those warlike nations, invaded by which had gradually been augmenting their numbers the Franks. and improving their martial skill, along its Northern boundaries. A powerful host, who had assumed the proud appellation of Franks, or Freemen, threatened the banks of the Rhine, and even made repeated inroads into the Roman Provinces; to oppose whom, the Emperor sent his son Gallienus, already honoured with the title of Cæsar, assisted by the experience of Posthumus, a General of high reputation, who undertook to direct the movements of the army. The first efforts of the Prince, it is said, were crowned with distinguished success. The applause of History, confirmed by a series of medals, ascribes to the son of Valerian several important victories, by which he acquired the distinction of Germanicus, Maximus. Having weakened their power in the field of battle, he next attempted to bind the faith of the enemy by a solemn compact; a proof, in all cases, that the triumphs of the conqueror have not been complete. The German Prince with whom this alliance was formed, promised not only to abstain from all farther aggressions himself, but even to prevent every other member of the confederacy from crossing the Rhine with hostile intentions.†

There appears, however, in opposition to the state- Inroad into ment just given, a remarkable historical fact, which Spain. cannot be reconciled to the belief that the Franks were either intimidated, or induced to relinquish their plans of conquest. We find in the pages of Aurelius Victor, that the Barbarians, who are supposed to have yielded to the arms or policy of Gallienus, not only extended their ravages to the Pyrenees, but entered Spain, and laid waste some of its richest Provinces. Having exhausted the plunder of that extensive peninsula, they crossed the Mediterranean, and carried into the Roman Colonies in Africa the terror and desolation which every where marked their progress.‡

conduct the

Valerian had already departed from Rome to con- Valerian duct the Legions in Syria against Sapor, King of Persia; sets out to and, consequently, while Gallienus was engaged on the war against Rhine, the government of the Empire must have been the Persians. confided to Chiefs of the Senate, under the nominal

Zosim. lib. i. Aurel. Victor.
Zosim. lib. i. Eutrop. lib. ix.

Aurel. Victor, c. 33. Eutrop. lib. ix.

From

A. D. 253.

to

260.

Biography, superintendence, perhaps, of one of the junior members of the Imperial Family. In the absence of the two rulers, Italy appears to have been menaced with an invasion by another horde of Germans, who are known to history by the name of Alemanni; an appellation which is understood to express the variety of their lineage, and the courage which they claimed as common to them all. A numerous Body of this enterprising People had pushed across the Danube, penetrated the defiles of the Rhætian Alps, and poured down upon the plains of Lombardy. Meeting with no force able to oppose their progress, they advanced as far as Ravenna, and even extended the fear of conquest to the very gates of the Capital; when an army, raised in haste by the zeal of the Senate, and reinforced by the Prætorian Guards, successfully repelled the tumultuary invaders, and finally drove them back into their own Country. It is probable, however, that the Alemanni, already laden with plunder, and having therefore a stronger inducement to retreat than to fight, allowed to the Romans the credit of an easy victory; for it appears that they had no sooner deposited their spoils in a place of security, than they returned to lay waste the fields, and attack the wealth which had provoked their avarice. This second invasion procured for Gallienus the defeats the honour of a decisive victory. Zonaras informs us, that the Prince, at the head of only ten thousand legionary soldiers, defeated, near Milan, a host of Germans, amounting to not fewer than three hundred thousand men. But the extent of this triumph may very reasonably be called in question, particularly when we find that the Roman conqueror immediately contracted an alliance with the King of one of the hostile tribes, married his daughter, and relinquished to him, as the price of his friendship, a large portion of territory in the Province of Pannonia.*

Gallienns

Alemanni.

Prosiaces;

The first cares of Valerian, upon his departure from rade the Rome, were directed to the safety of the Illyrian settlements. The Goths, who in their successive migrations from the shores of the Baltic, had now reached those of the Euxine, were become very formidable neighbours to the Roman Provincials in that remote part of the Empire. Various engagements took place between them and the Imperial Lieutenants, in which the skill and firmness of the Legions generally proved successful over mere savage strength and impetuosity. Aurelian, in a particular manner, distinguished himself in the Gothic war, and was rewarded for his exploits with the honour of the Consulate. Probus, too, who was afterwards raised to the Throne, acquired great reputation in the same arduous service. The Emperor himself remained at Byzantium to direct the movements of his Generals, and to remunerate their toils; and so great were their vigilance and activity along the whole extent of the frontiers, that the Barbarians were checked or defeated in every inroad which they attempted into the Illyrian Provinces.+

But the Goths found less difficulty in making an impression on the Roman Colonies in Asia Minor. Directing the stream of emigration from the Northern shores of the Black Sea, they arrived at the little Kingdom of Bosphorus; which falling a ready prey into their hands, supplied them with ships and other means for carrying

Zonar. lib. xii. c. 23. p. 629. Aurel. Victor, c. 33.

Caius Publius Licinius Valerianus Augustus.

From

A. D. 253.

to

260.

their armies to the coast of Asia. Embarking in the fleet with which they were thus provided, the Gothic Chiefs first encountered the Roman power, at the fortress of Pityus, whence they were repulsed with considerable slaughter: but being desirous to remove the disgrace which attached to their failure, they afterwards renewed the siege with increased vigour, and ultimately reduced the garrison to the necessity of surrendering. This success inspired them with so much confidence, that they resolved to pursue their conquests on an enlarged scale. They cruised along the shores of the Euxine in search of an object worthy of their courage, when, at length, they cast their eyes upon a rich Temple, at the mouth of the river Phasis, which they attempted, but in vain, to plunder. The city of Trebizond next awakened their love of booty and of adventure, and, owing to the They take most culpable negligence on the part of the soldiers Trebizond. appointed to defend it, their determination to carry it by storm was followed by the most complete success. A double wall and ten thousand men could not protect the wealth of that celebrated place against the assault of rude Barbarians. A general massacre of the inhabitants ensued; the Temples and the most splendid edifices were involved in a common destruction; and the amount of the spoil was so great, that the victors loaded with it a fleet of ships which they found in the harbour. The prisoners, too, whom they carried with them to their new settlement in the Kingdom of Bosphorus, served not only to man their ships, but also to instruct them in naval architecture and navigation, in which Arts the Romans, who colonized the maritime districts of the Empire, had made considerable advances.*

Encouraged by a degree of success which must have They renew surpassed their most sanguine hopes, the Goths, in the their invacourse of the ensuing winter, made preparations for a sion. second expedition against the Roman settlements in Asia Minor. Having equipped on this occasion a greater armament than before, they directed their course to the Western shores of the Euxine; and at length, after stripping the city of Chalcedon of its arms and wealth, they marched their victorious bands into the Province of Bithynia. Guided by the local knowledge of a traitor, who had joined their ranks, they proceeded to Nicomedia, the ancient Capital of the Bithynian Kings, which they took and plundered. Nice, Prusa, Apamæa, and Chius, cities not much inferior in wealth or population to Nicomedia, were involved in the same calamity. Cyzicus escaped a similar fate, owing to an inundation of the adjacent country, or to the unusual swelling of a river which crossed the path of the Goths. These victors, accordingly, once more loaded with booty, and leaving a name increased in terror by their late excesses, returned to their own coast, meditating new invasions and more extended conquests.†

It is extremely difficult, amid the varying statements of ancient Annalists, to determine the actual succession of events, and more especially as the same occurrence is referred to the time of Valerian, or to that of his son, according to the caprice of the several writers from whom we derive our information. The third inroad of the Scythian or Gothic nations is usually placed in the reign of Gallienus; on which account, although there

Zosim. lib. i. p. 647, 648. Aurel. Victor, de Casaribus. Zonar.
Zosim. lib. i. p. 649.

Eography.

From

A. D.

260.

to

268.

The Per

Beir java.

and alarm the whole Roman World. But we cannot
pursue the details, which made the deepest impression
on contemporary writers, and which, perhaps, have been
magnified by superstition and resentment.
We resume,
therefore, the course of general History, and return to
the scene of war occupied by the Goths and Persians."

Sapor, after having subdued the Roman army in Mesopotamia, and seized the person of the Emperor, sans renew renewed his invasion of Syria and of Asia Minor. He retook Antioch, which had been partially rebuilt and strengthened; after which he marched into Cilicia, and made himself master of Tarsus. Thence he advanced against Cæsarea, one of the principal towns in Cappadocia, and supposed to contain not fewer than four hundred thousand inhabitants. Demosthenes, a General much esteemed for his patriotism and professional knowledge, assumed the command of the garrison, and would, it is probable, have baffled all the efforts of the Persians, had not a Physician, who seems to have been taken prisoner in a sally, revealed to them the means by which the walls might be ascended. The scene which ensued disgraced the triumph of Sapor. He is accused of treating his prisoners with wanton cruelty; enraged, it was thought, at the escape of the Roman Commander, who bravely cut his way through a thick body of the assailants. Aware, perhaps, that he could not make any permanent establishment in the Empire, he sought only to leave behind him a wasted desert, whilst he transported beyond the Euphrates the people and the wealth of the conquered Provinces. But his career was checked by two of the Imperial Lieutenants, who, finding that the interests of the State were abandoned by their profligate Prince, took upon themselves the exercise of a discretionary power, in the employment of the forces committed to their charge.

The Persian Monarch laid siege to Pompeiopolis, Are repulsed by Ba- which he threatened, in case of a protracted resistance, to visit with all the horrors of war. Balista, who had risen to the highest honours under the personal command of Valerian, assembled such troops as could be drawn together without loss of time, and attacked the invaders with so much skill and resolution, that he compelled them to relinquish that undertaking, and break up their camp. The retreat of an Eastern army soon degenerates into a rout. The Romans, pressing upon the rear of the fugitives, gave them no opportunity to rally, and at length had the satisfaction of seeing them recross the Euphrates, enriched indeed with spoil, but stripped of all the warlike honours which they had derived from their late successes.†

And de

But Sapor encountered a still more formidable enemy feated by .n Odenatus, a noble Senator of Palmyra, who, amidst Odenatus. all the vicissitudes of their fortune, remained faithful to Valerian and to Gallienus. The zeal of this Chief was, moreover, not a little sharpened by a personal insult inflicted upon him by the Persian King. Desirous to secure at least the forbearance of that conqueror, Odenatus sent to him a magnificent present, accompanied with a letter full of respect and submission: but the haughty Monarch, instead of being softened by this expression of good will, ordered the gift to be thrown into the Euphrates, and returned an answer breathing the

Trebell. Poll, in Gallien. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. Zonar. lib. xii. c. 24. p. 631.

Publius Licinius

"Who is this Ode

utmost contempt and indignation. natus," he exclaimed, "that he should thus dare to write to his master? If he would obtain any mitigation of his punishment, let him prostrate himself at the foot of my Throne, with his hands tied behind his back. Should he refuse to do this, no mercy shall be extended to himself, to his family, or to his devoted Country." The Palmyrian Commander, who read his fate in the angry message of Sapor, immediately took the field; and, falling upon the enemy before they recovered from the panic inspired into them by the cohorts of Balista, gained a decisive advantage over their main body. He burst into the camp, seized the treasure and the concubines of the Prince, dispersed the intimidated soldiers, and in short time restored Carrhæ, Nisibis, and all Mesopotamia to the possession of the Romans. Trebellius Pollio informs us, that he even proceeded so far as to lay siege to Ctesiphon, with the view of liberating Valerian, who was still alive, but that neither his arms nor his entreaties could effect his benevolent object.*

Gallienus Augustus.

From

A. D. 260.

to

268.

Gallienus.

The events now mentioned took place in an early The usurpart of the reign of Gallienus; immediately after which pers who there follows a scene of confusion into which no dili- disturbed gence or arrangement can introduce the light of Histo- the reign of rical order. In almost every Province of the Empire, the Commander of the Legions was raised by his men to the rank of Augustus; and hence, at one period in this troubled era, there were as many Emperors as armies. Posthumus reigned seven years in Gaul; Macrian was acknowledged Sovereign in Asia; Valens assumed the Purple in Achaia; and Ingenuus was hailed Ruler of Pannonia. Macrian fell in Illyricum, whither he had gone to vanquish a rival, leaving his youngest son in the East to administer the Government. Quietus, the name of this Prince, was attacked by Odenatus, (who acted as a Lieutenant of Gallienus,) and slain at Emesa. Balista assumed the vacant sceptre, which he succeeded in retaining three years, either by the sufferance, or in defiance of the Palmyrian General. The affairs of Syria being thus restored to some degree of tranquillity, Odenatus was elevated to the authority of a Sovereign, and Gallienus took the honours of a Triumph for the victories gained by the former in the war with the Persians.†

It is a fancy of the Historian Trebellius Pollio, that as Greece had to bewail the domination of Thirty Tyrants, so the Romans, in the time of Gallienus, were visited with a similar calamity in the persons of those military usurpers to whom we have already made allusion. But the number fixed upon cannot be completed unless we include in it the names of certain women and children, who were, in a moment of disaffection or sport, raised to the Imperial title. Instead, however, of tracing the progress and suppression of every separate revolt, we shall hold it sufficient to specify the names of the leaders, and of the Countries wherein they respectively arose.

VOL. XI.

Trebell. Poll. Trigint. Tyran, passim; et Vita Gallien. c. 10.

H