VALERIAN I 256AD Rome mint Silver Ancient Roman Coin Victory Nike Cult i46273

Description

Item
Item:
i46273
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Valerian I
-
Roman Emperor
: 253-260 A.D. -
Silver Antoninianus 22mm (3.87 grams) Rome mint 254 A.D.
Reference: RIC V-I 131; RSC 244; Sear 9987.
IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right
VICTORIA EXERCIT, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
In
ancient Roman religion
,
Victoria
was the
personified
goddess of victory. She is the
Roman equivalent
of the
Greek goddess
Nike
, and was associated with
Bellona
. She was adapted from the
Sabine
agricultural goddess
Vacuna
and had a
temple
on the
Palatine Hill
. The goddess
Vica Pota
was also sometimes identified with Victoria.
Unlike the Greek
Nike
, the goddess Victoria (
Latin
for "victory") was a major part of Roman society. Multiple temples were erected in her honor. When her statue was removed in 382 CE by Emperor
Gratianus
there was much anger in Rome. She was normally worshiped by
triumphant
generals returning from war.
Also unlike the Greek Nike, who was known for success in athletic games such as
chariot races
, Victoria was a symbol of victory over death and determined who would be successful during war.
Victoria appears widely on Roman coins, jewelry, architecture, and other arts. She is often seen with or in a
chariot
, as in the late 18th-century sculpture representing Victory in a
quadriga
on the
Brandenburg Gate
in
Berlin
, Germany; "
Il Vittoriano
" in Rome has two.
Winged figures, very often in pairs, representing victory and referred to as "victories", were common in Roman official iconography, typically hovering high in a composition, and often filling spaces in
spandrels
or other gaps in architecture. These represent the spirit of victory rather than the goddess herself. They continued to appear after Christianization of the Empire, and slowly mutated into Christian
angels
.
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..
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