HISTORY 353 



associated with his power his youthful but corrupt son 

 Gallienus. Then the empire was attacked on all sides 

 by the Teutonic tribes known as Franks and Alemanni, 

 by the Goths and by the Persians. The Franks invaded 

 Gaul and thence passed to Spain and onwards into 

 Africa, while the Alemanni, crossing the Alps, pene- 

 trated almost to Rome itself, only, however, to be 

 repulsed. The Goths, after dominating what is now 

 Constantinople and part of Asia Minor, passed on (253 

 A.D.), ravaging Greece, plundering the Temple of Delphi, 

 and threatening Italy. But Valerian felt bound to 

 try and punish the hostility of the Persian king Sapor ? 

 and so crossed the Euphrates. He was defeated and 

 taken prisoner (260 A.D.), and died in captivity. The 

 power of Persia long endured, and was governed by the 

 descendants of Artaxerxes (called the Sassanidce) for 

 four hundred years. Under the remaining sovereign, 

 Gallienus, the whole empire became divided between 

 various pretenders to the imperial power, who all met 

 with violent deaths, while the universal confusion and 

 disorder greatly diminished the population of the empire. 

 In the year 268 Gallienus died and was succeeded by 

 Claudius, who after gloriously routing the Goths at 

 Nissa (in what is now Servia), died (270 A.D.), and was 

 succeeded by Aurelian who, like Claudius, was an Illyrian. 

 In a reign of but four years he recovered Gaul, with 

 Britain and Spain, but had to relinquish Dacia to the 

 Goths. Assassinated in the year 275, he was succeeded 

 by Tacitus, who in little more than six months was again 

 succeeded by an Illyrian named Probus. He in turn 

 was killed by his soldiers in 282, after delivering Gaul, 

 invading Germany, building a wall from the Rhine to 

 the Danube, and recruiting the Roman army from. the 

 German tribes, -Next came Cm*us> who delivered Illyria 



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