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Book One: Emperor Valerian
Book One: Emperor Valerian
Whilst I am too young to remember the year of the seven Caesars, I am fully able to remember the instability that arose under Roman Emperor Gallus, and his successor Emperor Valerian. Both were unimpressive in both military and civil matters, and even now I am unable to tell if their inability to govern was due to incompetence or ill intent. Either way, it was under them that the disintegration of the Empire began. Gallus, during his two year rule, dealt with economic obliteration due to ever-increasing inflation and the rise of a mysterious plague. Even after this, his heir Valerian did little to stop these horrific disasters. It was not economics that brought down the Empire, however. It would be Shah Sapor, the self proclaimed King of Kings. Under his rule, the Persian threat went from a minor inconvenience to the greatest issue ailing the Empire. In 1013 a.c., the incompetent Valerian sought to end Sapor's reign, and in a similar fashion to his rule, he failed spectacularly. In a pitched battle, Valerian was captured by the Shah. The East was in grave danger, however some believed that Odenathus, commander of the East and prince of the client state Palmyra, could hold the Shah. However, only weeks after the battle in which Valerian was captured, Odenathus sought peace with Sapor, and due to an agreement, exchanged his masters in Rome for new ones in Ctesiphon. All of these events led to the collapse of the East, a collapse that Valerian's son Gallienus seemed unable to stop. As the East seemed doomed, the Western provinces of Gaul and Britannia fell under the influence of a new commander, the Emperor Postumus, elected by the legions stationed on the Rhine. Sensing the weakness of Rome, the legions rose under the new pretender, and established a new senate at Augusta Trevirorum. While there are many dates that could have been chosen as the beginning of the end of Rome, 1013 a.c. marks the first obviously visible faltering, as opposed to slow economic decline.

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