386 
SIIAPOUR. 
A 
probable that they were executed by European artists, whom Sapor 
may have taken in the train of Valerian, or those whom in his inva¬ 
sion of Asia Minor, he may have carried otf into the heart of his own 
empire. Possibly by a refinement of cruelty he may have consigned 
the erection of this memorial of their warfare, to his captive Vale¬ 
rian; for a tradition at Shooster attributes to that monarch the su¬ 
perintendance of Sapor's other works at that city, and the construc¬ 
tion of the edifice there, which was destined for his own prison. 
Gibbon,* as Milner has observed, y is perhaps the only author 
who ever doubted the nature of the treatment which Valerian expe¬ 
rienced from Sapor. Less prejudiced minds might have drawn from 
the fact, that these cruelties are noticed in a speech of the Emperor 
Galerius, to the Persian Embassadors, J the better inference, that 
almost in the very days of their execution, the perpetration of these 
indignities was known to all the Roman world; and those who recol¬ 
lect the opportunities of knowing the Christian character which Vale¬ 
rian enjoyed, and the disgraces which crowded round him, when 
against that knowledge he persecuted the Christians, may admit the 
providential interposition of the Almighty in thus vindicating his 
own cause on the oppressor, and in reversing a light and a prosperity so 
abused. 
Sapor is said to have placed his foot on the neck of Valerian 
when he mounted his horse, and after a long captivity to have flayed 
him alive. This treatment, however it may differ from the conduct 
which a European conqueror might display to his captive, is not 
sufficient to discredit the story ; and might be paralleled, in ignominy 
at least, by many instances in the East. Genghiz Khan threw 
* Vol. i. p. 331, 4to. 
t Milner’s History of the Church of Christ, vol. i. p. 427. p. 445. p. 478-9. Vale¬ 
rian was destroyed by the treachery of Macrianus, (Gibbon i. 327) the very man, at 
whose instigation he had perverted his power to persecute the Christians. 
t Gibbon himself records this speech, vol. 1. p. 451. 
5 
