Valerian I receiving wreath from Oriens Rare Silver Ancient Roman Coin i46884

$200.00 $180.00

Availability: 1 in stock

SKU: i46884 Category:

Item

Item: i46884

 

Authentic Ancient Coin of:


Valerian I

Roman Emperor
: 253-260 A.D. –

 Silver Antoninianus 25mm (3.08 grams) Struck circa 253-260 A.D.
Reference: RIC 287a, C 189
IMPCPLICVALERIANVSAVG – Radiate, draped bust right.
 RESTITVTORIENTIS – Valerian I standing left on right, receiving wreath
from Oriens to left,
holding scepter.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of

Authenticity.

 

VALERIAN I

Augustus:
A.D. 253-260 with Gallienus

Husband of Mariniana
Father of Gallienus
Grandfather of Valerian II and Saloninus

Publius Licinius Valerianus (c. 200 – after 260),
commonly known in
English
as Valerian or Valerian I,
was the
Roman Emperor
from 253 to 260.

Unlike the majority of the pretenders during the
Crisis of the Third Centuryy
, Valerian was of a
noble and traditional
senatorial
family. Details of his early life
are elusive, but for his marriage to
Egnatia Mariniana
, who gave him two sons: later
emperor Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus
and
Valerianus Minor
.

In 238 he was
princeps senatus
, and
Gordian I
negotiated through him for Senatorial
acknowledgement for his claim as emperor. In 251, when
Decius
revived the censorship with legislative
and executive powers so extensive that it practically embraced the civil
authority of the emperor, Valerian was chosen
censor
by the Senate, though he declined to
accept the post. Under Decius he was nominated governor of the
Rhine
provinces of
Noricum
and
Raetia
and retained the confidence of his
successor,
Trebonianus Gallus
, who asked him for
reinforcements to quell the rebellion of
Aemilianus

Coin of
Egnatia Mariniana
, wife of Valerian
and mother of
Gallienus
.

 

Rule and fall

Valerian’s first act as emperor was to make his son Gallienus
his colleague. In the beginning of his reign the 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
vassal,
Armenia
was occupied by
Shapur I
(Sapor). Valerian and Gallienus split
the problems of the empire between the two, with the son taking the West and the
father heading East to face the
Persian
threat.

By 257, Valerian had already recovered Antioch and returned
the province of
Syria
to Roman control but in the following
year, the Goths
ravaged
Asia Minor
. Later in 259, he moved to
Edessa
, but an outbreak of
plague
killed a critical number of
legionaries
, weakening the Roman position in
Edessa which was then besieged by the Persians. At the beginning of 260,
Valerian was defeated in the
Battle of Edessa
and he arranged a meeting with
Shapur to negotiate a peace settlement. The ceasefire was betrayed by Shapur who
seized him and held him prisoner for the remainder of his life. Valerian’s
capture was a humiliating defeat for the Romans.

Gibbon
, in
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

describes Valerian’s fate:

The voice of history, which is often little more than the
organ of hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with a proud abuse of the
rights of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains, but invested with
the Imperial purple, was exposed to the multitude, a constant spectacle of
fallen greatness; and that whenever the Persian monarch mounted on
horseback, he placed his foot on the neck of a Roman emperor.
Notwithstanding all the remonstrances of his allies, who repeatedly advised
him to remember the vicissitudes of fortune, to dread the returning power of
Rome, and to make his illustrious captive the pledge of peace, not the
object of insult, Sapor still remained inflexible. When Valerian sunk under
the weight of shame and grief, his skin, stuffed with straw, and formed into
the likeness of a human figure, was preserved for ages in the most
celebrated temple of Persia; a more real monument of triumph, than the
fancied trophies of brass and marble so often erected by Roman vanity. The
tale is moral and pathetic, but the truth of it may very fairly be called in
question. The letters still extant from the princes of the East to Sapor are
manifest forgeries; nor is it natural to suppose that a jealous monarch
should, even in the person of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty of
kings. Whatever treatment the unfortunate Valerian might experience in
Persia, it is at least certain that the only emperor of Rome who had ever
fallen into the hands of the enemy, languished away his life in hopeless
captivity.

Valerian’s massacre of 258

According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia
article on
Valerian
:

Pope Sixtus
was seized on 6 August, 258, in
one of the Catacombs and was put to death;
Cyprian of Carthage
suffered martyrdom on
14 September. Another celebrated martyr was the Roman deacon
St. Lawrence
. In Spain Bishop
Fructuosus of Tarragona
and his two deacons
were put to death on 21 January, 259. There were also executions in the
eastern provinces (Eusebius, VII, xii). Taken altogether, however, the
repressions were limited to scattered spots and had no great success..

Death in captivity

An early Christian source,
Lactantius
, maintained that for some time prior
to his death Valerian was subjected to the greatest insults by his captors, such
as 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. 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 the unfortunate Valerian skinned and
his skin stuffed with straw and preserved as a trophy in the main Persian
temple. It was further alleged by Lactantius that it was only after a later
Persian defeat against Rome that his skin was given a cremation and burial. The
role of a Chinese prince held hostage by Shapur I, in the events following the
death of Valerian has been frequently debated by historians, without reaching
any definitive conclusion.

The Humiliation of Emperor Valerian by
Shapur I
, pen and ink,
Hans Holbein the Younger
, ca. 1521

 

Some modern scholars believe that, contrary to Lactantius’
account, Shapur I
sent Valerian and some of his army to
the city of Bishapur
where they lived in relatively good
condition. 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
. In all the stone carvings on Naghshe-Rostam, in Iran, Valerian
is respected by holding hands with Shapur I, in sign of submission.

It is generally supposed that some of
Lactantius
‘ account is motivated by his desire
to establish that persecutors of the Christians died fitting deaths; the story
was repeated then and later by authors in the Roman Near East “fiercely hostile”
to Persia.

Other modern scholars tend to give at least some credence to
Lactantius’ account.

Valerian and Gallienus’ joint rule was threatened several
times by
usurpers
. Despite several usurpation attempts,
Gallienus secured the throne until his own assassination in 268.

Owing to imperfect and often contradictory sources, the
chronology and details of this reign are very uncertain..


Frequently Asked Questions

How long until my order is shipped?:
Depending on the

volume of sales, it may take up to 5 business days for shipment of

your order after the receipt of payment.

How will I know when the order was shipped?:
After your

order has shipped, you will be left positive feedback, and that date

should be used as a basis of estimating an arrival date.

After you shipped the order, how long will the mail take?

USPS First Class mail takes about 3-5 business days to arrive in the

U.S., international shipping times cannot be estimated as they vary

from country to country. I am not responsible for any USPS delivery

delays, especially for an international package.

What is a certificate of authenticity and what guarantees do

you give that the item is authentic?
Each of the items sold

here, is provided with a Certificate of Authenticity, and a Lifetime

Guarantee of Authenticity, issued by a world-renowned numismatic and

antique expert that has identified over 10000 ancient coins and has

provided them with the same guarantee. You will be quite happy with

what you get with the COA; a professional presentation of the coin,

with all of the relevant information and a picture of the coin you

saw in the listing.

Compared to other certification companies, the certificate of

authenticity is a $25-50 value. So buy a coin today and own a piece

of history, guaranteed.

Is there a money back guarantee?

I offer a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee. I stand

behind my coins and would be willing to exchange your order for

either store credit towards other coins, or refund, minus shipping

expenses, within 30 days from the receipt of your order. My goal is

to have the returning customers for a lifetime, and I am so sure in

my coins, their authenticity, numismatic value and beauty, I can

offer such a guarantee.

Is there a number I can call you with questions about my

order?

You can contact me directly via ask seller a question and request my

telephone number, or go to my

About Me Page to get my contact information only in regards to

items purchased on eBay.

When should I leave feedback?
Once you receive your

order, please leave a positive. Please don’t leave any negative

feedbacks, as it happens many times that people rush to leave

feedback before letting sufficient time for the order to arrive.

Also, if you sent an email, make sure to check for my reply in your

messages before claiming that you didn’t receive a response. The

matter of fact is that any issues can be resolved, as reputation is

most important to me. My goal is to provide superior products and

quality of service.

  • Selection Required: Select product options above before making new offer.
  • Offer Sent! Your offer has been received and will be processed as soon as possible.
  • Error: There was an error sending your offer, please try again. If this problem persists, please contact us.

Make Offer

To make an offer please complete the form below:
$
Please wait...
YEAR

Year_in_description

RULER

Valerian I

COMPOSITION

Silver

DENOMINATION

Denomination_in_description

Shopping Cart