Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/325

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 30J Valerian was about sixty years of age ^ when he was CHAP, invested with the purple, not by the caprice of the po- ^* pulace, or the clamours of the army, but by the unani- character mous voice of the Roman world. In his gradual ascent of Valerian, through the honours of the state, he had deserved the favour of virtuous princes, and had declared himself the enemy of tyrants*. His noble birth, his mild but unblemished manners, his learning, prudence, and ex- perience, were revered by the senate and people ; and if mankind (according to the observation of an ancient writer) had been left at liberty to choose a master, their choice would most assuredly have fallen on Valerian*. Perhaps the merit of this emperor was inadequate to his reputation; perhaps his abilities, or at least his spirit, were affected by the languor and coldness of old age. The consciousness of his decline engaged him to General share the throne with a younger and more active asso- ™/therXn^s ciate " : the emergency of the times demanded a ffene- of Valerian 1 1 4.1 • J ..u • r.u andGalli- ral no less than a prmce ; and the experience of the gnus. Roman censor might have directed him where to be-^.f^*^- stow the nnperial purple, as the reward of military merit. But instead of making a judicious choice, which would have confirmed his reign and endeared his me- mory. Valerian, consulting only the dictates of affection or vanity, immediately invested with the supreme hon- ours his son Gallienus, a youth whose effeminate vices had been hitherto concealed by the obscurity of a pri- vate station. The joint government of the father and the son subsisted about seven, and the sole administra- tion of Gallienus continued about eight years. But the whole period was one uninterrupted series of con- •■ He was about seventy at the time of his accession, or, as it is more pro- bable, of his death. Hist. August, p. 173. Tillemont, Hist, des Erapereurs, torn. iii. p. 893, note 1. » Iniinicus tyrannorum. Hist. August, p. 173. In the glorious struggle of the senate against Maximin, Valerian acted a very spirited part. Hist. Aug. p. 156. title of imperator from the army, and that of Augustus from the senate. " From Victor and from the medals, Tillemont (tom. iii. p. 710.) very justly infers, that Gallienus was associated to the empire about the month of August of the year 253.
 * ■ According to the distinction of Victor, he seems to have received the