Roma si Valerian!

 1-Acest aricol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!

3-Roma in aceasta perioada era pe moarte !

“Valerian was overthrown by Shapur king of Persia, and being soon after made prisoner, grew old in ignominious slavery among the Parthians.”

Around 258 AD, a new coalition of Germanic tribes, the Alemanni, crossed the Rhine to fill the power vacuum left by the withdrawal of Gallienus to confront Ingennus. The Franks invaded Gaul, pushing as far as west as southern Hispania and sacking Tarraco (modern Tarragona). The Alemanni pushed through the gap betwixt the rivers Rhine and Danube, followed by the Jutungi, devastating Germania and Raetia (southern France and Switzerland), and crossing into Italia. Marching through Cisalpine Gaul, they became the first foreign army to enter the Italian peninsular proper since the Carthaginian host of Hannibal Barca some 500 years earlier.

The Alemanni were repelled from the outskirts of Rome by a hastily thrown together army, complemented by armed civilians and the Praetorian Guard. Gallienus was marching south with 12 legions, and finally caught up with the host of some 300,000 Alemanni at the Battle of Mediolanum (Milan). Little is recorded of the battle, save for it being a decisive Roman victory and annihilating the invaders. It would be a decade before the Alemanni would bother Rome again. The Jugunthi managed to escape from Italia with their loot, and the swift initiative of the Senate caused jealousy in Gallienus who would go on to exclude them from military commands and suppress all of the Senate’s military prerogatives.

Despite the victory, the invasion had ended the myth of Italia being safe due to Rome’s legions occupying the frontiers. Italia itself was vulnerable, and what was needed to defend it were swift, mobile units, not slow, cumbersome legions that would march away and leave a province defenceless. Gallienus duly enacted a number of military reforms, creating a highly mobile field army composed mainly of cavalry under the control of his general Aureolus, and headquartered in Mediolanum, which would go on to become the de facto capital of the empire, its northern location proving far more suitable to reacting to Danube and Rhine crossings than Rome was.

While Gallienus was crushing the Alemanni, the Balkan general Regalianus declared himself as emperor. Gallienus had taken the obvious step of using the frontier legions to defend the homeland of Italia, though this had left the provinces exposed. People living along the Rhine and Danube took little consolation from the protection of Rome when it was their farms burning, their homes sacked, their daughters raped and sons enslaved. As barbarian incursions continued, they thus began to look for local solutions now that the central state was failing to protect them – declaring Regalianus as emperor was one such solution. In the event he ‘ruled’ for little over six months, and while he repulsed the Sarmatians, the Roxolani invaded Pannonia and killed him when they captured the city of Sirmium. Far from being an unusual usurper though, Regalianus was a sign of things to come.

In the east, bands of Scythians were launching naval raids into Pontus and Cappadocia, though Valerian and his forces proved too slow to intercept them. By 260, Valerian had assembled and supplied his 14 legions and was ready to confront the Sassanids to restore Roman pride. Shapur the Great led the Sassanid response, and the two armies clashed betwixt Carrhae and Edessa at the Battle of Edessa. Valerian’s force comprised unites from all over the empire, including former Germanic enemies now serving alongside the legions. Shapur again demonstrated why his is called “the Great”, by decisively defeating the Roman force, then besieging what few remained in their camp. Valerian attempted to negotiate terms, after which the rest of his army surrendered. Prisoners included a Praetorian Prefect and other high ranking officials, while Valerian became the first Roman Emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war. Some sources state that Shapur forced him to serve as footstool for mounting his horse, then when he tired of this after some years, had him killed and his body stuffed to be displayed in the throne room. Other sources claim Valerian was treated reasonably well while he lived the last few years of his life among the Sassanid Royal Court – his fate after his capture is uncertain. Later reports likely exaggerated his demise as Christian authors attempted to fit ‘just’ punishments to the ‘enemies of God’ in later years. Valerian was 61-years-old, and had ruled the Roman Empire for just over six years.

Shapur again seized the initiative of victory, capturing the Syrian capital of Caesarea and deporting almost half a million Roman citizens to settle the southern provinces of the Sassanid Empire – a useful insurance policy against future Roman aggression. He raided as deep as Cilicia, but was repelled by a coalition of nobles from the city of Palmyra, led by Macrianus – another example of people looking to local solutions, rather than support from the state. Valerian’s defeat would prove to be a catalyst for local usurpers to declare themselves across the empire, and as confidence in Rome collapsed, the empire would disintegrate into numerous successor states as the people began looking for rulers closer to home to ensure their security.