Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireatwill  Of course it does. He should have done everything in his power not to be captured alive and humiliated like that.
Not to mention the chaos his capture caused in the empire... An emperor who becomes a foot stool... He should have killed himself in captivity. |
His army was dying of plague and was on the brink of mutiny, and by some accounts he was treacherously kidnapped during a parley. Its impossible to judge the circumstances surrounding his capture, but I would have little doubt he resisted to whatever degree he was capable.
At any rate, its silly to call him the 'worst' emperor because of the misfortune that befell him. He had more or less kept the Empire together for the past seven years which was, by the standards of his immediate predecessors, no small acheivement.
Even less is known about what happened after his capture. The footstool story may be propaganda. Considering his advanced age, as well as the fact that he was probably in poor health at the time of his capture, its unlikely he lasted very long.
The fact that he had a mature son already well established (and more importantly, favored by at least parts of the army) meant that the impact of Valerianus' capture was more of a blow to Rome's prestige than it was a serious threat to its stability.
Linear Mode
