censor, to bring the legions of Gaul and Germany[1] to his aid. Valerian executed that commission with zeal and fidelity; and, as he arrived too late to save his sovereign, he resolved to revenge him. The troops of Æmilianus, who still lay encamped in the plains of Spoleto, were awed by the sanctity of his character, but much more by the superior strength of his army; and, as they were now become as incapable of personal attachment as they had always been of constitutional principle, they A.D. 253, August readily imbrued their hands in the blood of a prince who so lately had been the object of their partial choice. The guilt was theirs, but the advantage of it was Valerian's; who obtained the possession of the throne by the means indeed of a civil war, but with a degree of innocence singular in that age of revolutions; since he owed neither gratitude nor allegiance to his predecessor, whom he dethroned.
Character of ValerianValerian was about sixty years of age[2] when he was invested with the purple, not by the caprice of the populace or the clamours of the army, but by the unanimous voice of the Roman world. In his gradual ascent through the honours of the state he had deserved the favour of virtuous princes, and had declared himself the enemy of tyrants.[3] His noble birth, his mild but unblemished manners, his learning, prudence, and experience, were revered by the senate and people; and, if mankind (according to the observation of an ancient writer) had been left at liberty to choose a master, their choice would most assuredly have fallen on Valerian.[4] Perhaps the merit of this emperor was inadequate to his reputation; perhaps his abilities, or at least his spirit, were affected by the languor and coldness of old General misfortunes of reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, A.D. 253-268 age. The consciousness of his decline engaged him to share the throne with a younger and more active associate:[5] the emergency of the times demanded a general no less than a- ↑ Zosimus, 1. i. p. 28 [29]. Eutropius and Victor station Valerian's army in Rhætia [where they proclaimed him Emperor].
- ↑ He was about seventy at the time of his accession, or, as it is more probable, of his death. Hist. August, p. 173 [xxii. 5 (1)]. Tillemont, Hist, des Empereurs, torn. iii. p. 893, note 1.
- ↑ Inimicus Tyrannorum, Hist. August, p. 173 [ib.]. In the glorious struggle of the senate against Maximin, Valerian acted a very spirited part. Hist. August. p. 156 [xx. 9] .
- ↑ According to the distinction of Victor, he seems to have received the title of Imperator from the army, and that of Augustus from the senate.
- ↑ From Victor and from the medals, Tillemont (torn. iii. p. 710) very justly infers that Gallienus was associated to the empire about the month of August of the year 253. [This date is too early. Æmilianus was not slain till after August 29. We can only say that Gallienus was associated as Augustus before October 22.]
