Are they, 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 Kaelin Davenport, head

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

This is episode CXCIII, the humiliation of Caesar.

With enemies to confront in every direction, Valerian heads back to the east, where

Shippur and the Parthians are once again threatening the borders of the Roman Empire.

While Valerian anticipates a victory, what is to come is the greatest defeat and humiliation

of a Roman Emperor.

Here's Kaelin Davenport.

So in 258 we have an Imperial College once again of three Emperors, Tool Gusti and one Caesar.

We have Valerian and Gaelianus, and then Gaelianus is son Saloninus, who has been made Caesar

after the death of his brother.

So Gaelianus and Saloninus are in the Western Empire.

Gaelianus himself has to head north Italy to deal with incursions by the Yothungi and

the Alemani from the north, and he makes Milan his headquarters strategic location at the

foot of the Alps there.

And he leaves his son Saloninus at Cologne in Germany, under the care of a general possibly

petroleum prefector called Silvatus.

And while all this is happening, Valerian has returned east to fight the Persians and

he's back in Antioch by May of 258.

Okay, so what's been happening in this area in his, I want to say it's a brief absence,

but essentially there has been conflict and fighting going on while he's been away.

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