Valerian - A.D. 257 - Antoninianus Billion - RIC # 277

Valerian- was Roman Emperor from October 22nd 253 to spring 260 AD. He was taken captive by the Persian Emperor, Shapur I, after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the 1st Roman emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war, causing shock & instability throughout the Roman Empire. The unprecedented event & the unknown fate of the captured emperor generated a variety of different reactions & "new narratives about the Roman Empire in diverse contexts".