Valerian
Eusibius estimated that in Egypt alone, ten thousand men, not counting women and
children, perished. "A great number perish on one day, some by sword, others by fire. So many fell that the swords were blunted or broken and the executioners were worn out, so that frequent relays were necessary.
The fate of this tyrant, Valerian, who had so long and so terribly persecuted the Christians:
This tyrant by a stratagem, was taken prisoner by Sapor, emperor of Persia, who carried
him into his own country, making him kneel down as the meanest slave, and treading upon
him as a footstool as he mounted his horse. Sapor kept Valerian as a slave for 7 years, he caused his eyes to be put out, though he was 83 years of age. This not enough he ordered his body to
be flayed alive, and rubbed with salt and expired; and thus fell one of the most
tyrannical emperors of Rome, and one of the greatest persecutors of the Christians.
In 260, the son of Valerian, Gallienus succeeded him and the church enjoyed peace for some
years.
The Roman Emperor from 253 to 260 was Valerian and started the eighth persecution, 257-260. Valerian, in the first part of his reign, surpassed in clemency those princes who had been suspected of an attachment to the Christian faith, but in the last 3 1/2 years he adopted the maxims and imitated the severity of his predecessor Decius. The martyrs that fell in this persecution were innumerable, and their tortures and deaths as various and painful.
[01, 18, 68]
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