Profile for Emperor: Valerian II - A guide to the coins of the Roman Empire

Valerian II

Reece Period attributed: Period 12

Member of the Third Century Emperors dynasty.

Coins for this issuer were issued from 256 until 258.

Publius Cornelius Licinius Valerianus was the eldest son of Gallienus. He died two years later.

View all coins recorded by the scheme attributed to Valerian II.

Wikipedia derived information

For other uses, see Valerian.

Valerian IICaesar of the Roman EmpireFile:092 Valerianus II. jpgAntoninianus with a young Valerian II. Reign circa 253-257 (as Caesar under Valerian and GallienusFull name Publius Licinius Cornelius ValerianusDynasty LiciniusFather GallienusMother Cornelia Salonina Publius Licinius Cornelius Valerianus, also known as Valerian II, was the eldest son of Roman Emperor Gallienus and Augusta Cornelia Salonina who was of Greek origin and grandson of the Emperor Valerian I who was of a noble and traditional senatorial family.

Shortly after his acclamation as Emperor Valerian made Gallienus his co-Emperor and his grandson, Valerian, Caesar, in 256. . The young Caesar was then established in Sirmium to represent the Licinius family in the government of the troubled Illyrian provinces while Gallienus transferred his attentions to Germany to deal with barbarian incursions into Gaul.

Because of his youth Valerian was put under the guardianship of Ingenuus who seems to have held an extraordinary command as governor of the Illyrian provinces - i.e. Upper and Lower Pannonia and Upper and Lower Moesia. It is reported that Salonina was not happy with this arrangement.

Although she could not publicly dispute the decisions of Valerian, the pater patriae which had been formally agreed by her husband, Gallienus, she suspected Ingenuus's motives and asked an officer called Valentinus, otherwise unknown, to keep an eye on him. Despite this precaution, Valerian died in late-257-early 258 in circumstances sufficiently suspicious for Gallienus to attempt to demote Ingenuus. It was this action that sparked the attempted usurpation of the Empire by Ingenuus with widespread support among the Illyrian garrisons and the provincial establishment.

As in case of his brother, Saloninus who was later made Caesar in Gaul, the little we know of Valerian's short reign in Illyria is indicative of the chaotic situation that prevailed on the northern frontiers of the Empire under Valerian and Gallienus. It seems to show that the mere presence of a member of the Imperial House in a troubled region was not sufficient to assuage local fears of being neglected by the distant Emperor. The local Caesar had to wield undisputed authority in his region and command the resources and the experience to deal with the internal and external threats to its security.

Diocletian and Maximianus seem to have understood this when they set up Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars in Gaul and Illyria respectively some thirty five years later..

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_II
This data is sourced from dbpedia, and as such should be treated with caution