R.V. and welcome to Emperors of Rome, a Roman history podcast from Latrobe University.

I'm your host Matt Smith and with me today is associate professor Kalen Davenport, head

of the Centre for Classical Studies at the Australian National University.

This is episode C-C-V-I, Rome Crumbles.

In the Emperor of Valerian was captured by the enemy, what the Empire needed was a trusted,

capable, firm set of hands to take on the Imperial mantle.

In retrospect, that probably wasn't his son, Galeanus.

For the next eight years, Galeanus would rule a sole emperor and proceed to lose two-thirds

of the Empire, leaving Rome at its weakest position in centuries.

Here's Kalen Davenport.

Let's begin this episode with a quick catch up on what the lay of the Empire is.

We finished the last episode of the 3rd century emperors of Emperors of Rome with the capture

of Valerian and this is the mid-260s, so what is the state of the Empire at that time?

Yes, so middle of the year 260, Valerian has been captured by the Persians, his son and

Corgustus Galeanus is often the West, and his grandson, Saloninus, the Caesar is also based

on the West and Empire as well.

But the shock of an Emperor actually being captured in battle is about to reverberate throughout

the Empire.

Valerian went off to fight Shippur of the Sassanid Empire, of the Persians out in the East,

and he got captured during this battle now.

Shippur has been a long time foe of the Roman Empire at this point, and him capturing Valerian

kind of caps off a great career against Roman emperors, I think, because he's also claiming

...