The fate of Valerian, to whom we have alluded, is thus recorded by
Gibbon:--"The voice of history, which is often little more than the
organ of hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with a proud abuse of the
rights of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains, but invested
with the imperial purple, was exposed to the multitude, a constant
spectacle of fallen greatness; and that whenever the Persian monarch
mounted on horseback, he placed his foot upon the neck of a Roman
emperor. Notwithstanding all the remonstrances of his allies, who
repeatedly advised him to remember the vicissitudes of fortune, to dread
the returning power of Rome, and to make his illustrious captive the
pledge of peace, not the object of insult, Sapor still remained
inflexible. When Valerian sank under the weight of shame and grief, his
skin, stuffed with straw, and formed into the likeness of a human
figure, was preserved for ages in the most celebrated temple of Persia;
a more real monument of triumph than the sacred trophies of brass and
marble, so often erected by Roman vanity[253]. The tale is moral and
pathetic; but the truth of it may very fairly be called in question. It
is unnatural to suppose, that a jealous monarch should, even in the
person of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty of kings. Whatever
treatment the unfortunate Valerian might experience in Persia, it is at
least certain, that the only emperor of Rome who had ever fallen into
the hands of the enemy, languished away his life in hopeless captivity."
The place of that captivity is said to have been Shuster[254].