Hinc Licinius Valeriānus in Raetiā et Nōricō agēns ab exercitū imperātōr et mox Augustus est factus. Galliēnus quoque Rōmae ā senātū Caesar est appellātus. Hōrum imperium Rōmānō nōminī perniciōsum et paene exitiābile fuit vel īnfēlīcitāte prīncipum vel ignāviā. Germānī Ravennam ūsque vēnērunt; Valeriānus in Mesopotamiā bellum gerēns ā Sapōre Persārum rēge superātus est, mox etiam captus apud Parthōs ignōbilī servitūte cōnsenuit.

    Valerianus Emperor, 253260 CE

    Licinius Valeriānus: the Emperor Valerian was in charge of the army in Raetia

    agēns: "living" 

    Galliēnus: Gallienus was the son of Valerian (Hazzard)

    Caesar est appellātus: Gallienus was made Augustus, not Caesar, at this time (Bird).

    Ravennam ūsque: = usque ad Ravennam

    ā Sapōre: the great Sassanian Persian king Shapur I

    superātus est: at first Valerianus was successful; but he followed the enemy too rashly. He was captured near Edessa. After his death his skin was stuffed and long preserved as a trophy in the chief temple of the nation (Hazzard).

    Read more

    According to Lactantius (who is hostile to Valerian because Valerian had persecuted the Christians), "[Valerian] having been made prisoner by the Persians, lost not only that power which he had exercised without moderation, but also the liberty of which he had deprived others; and he wasted the remainder of his days in the vilest condition of slavery: for Shapur, the king of the Persians, who had made him prisoner, whenever he chose to get into his carriage or to mount on horseback, commanded the Roman to stoop and present his back; then, setting his foot on the shoulders of Valerian, he said, with a smile of reproach, 'This is true, and not what the Romans delineate on board or plaster.' Valerian lived for a considerable time under the well-merited insults of his conqueror; so that the Roman name remained long the scoff and derision of the barbarians: and this also was added to the severity of his punishment, that although he had an emperor for his son, he found no one to revenge his captivity and most abject and servile state; neither indeed was he ever demanded back. Afterward, when he had finished this shameful life under so great dishonor, he was flayed, and his skin, stripped from the flesh, was dyed with vermilion, and placed in the temple of the gods of the barbarians, that the remembrance of a triumph so signal might be perpetuated, and that this spectacle might always be exhibited to our ambassadors, as an admonition to the Romans, that, beholding the spoils of their captive emperor in a Persian temple, they should not place too great confidence in their own strength." (Lactantius, de Mort. Pers. 5, Translated by Philip Schaff)

    apud Parthōs: I.E., the Persians

    Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates

     

    Valeriānus, ī, m.

    (P.) Licinius Valeriānus, Roman emperor 253–260 A.D.

    Raetia, ae, f.

    a Roman province south of the Danube

    Nōricum, ī, n.

    a Roman province south of the Danube

    Augustus, ī, m.

    a title of honor given to Octavianus in 27 BC and after him to all the Roman emperors

    Galliēnus, ī, m.

    (P. Licinius Valeriānus Egnatius) Galliēnus, Roman emperor 260–268 A.D.

    Caesar, aris, m.

    a family name in the Julian gens. (1) C. Iūlius Caesar, the famous dictator; (2) Sex. Iūlius Caesar, uncle of the dictator. Consul 91 B.C.; (3) C. Octāviānus, the emperor Augustus

    perniciōsē [perniciōsus], adv.

    dangerously, destructively

    exitiābilis, e [exitium], adj.

    destructive, deadly

    īnfēlīcitās, ātis [īnfēlis, unfortunate], f.

    ill-luck, misfortune

    ignāvia, ae [ignāvus], f.

    idleness, sloth; cowardice, baseness

    Germānī, ōrum, pl. m.

    the Germans

    Ravenna, ae, f.

    a city in Cisalpine Gaul

    Mesopotamia, ae, f.

    Mesopotamia, a division of Asia between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers

    Sapōr, ōris, m.

    the name of several Persian kings; (1) Sapor I, 240273 A.D.; (2) Sapor II, 310381 A.D.

    Persae, ārum, pl. m.

    the Persians

    Parthī, ōrum, pl. m.

    a Scythian people southeast of the Caspian Sea

    ignōbilis, e [in + (g)nōbilis], adj.

    unknown, unrenowned, obscure; base, ignoble

    servitūs, ūtis [servus], f.

    slavery

    cōnsenēscō, ere, senuī, ——

    to grow old

     

    article nav
    Previous
    Next