Скачать или смотреть Captured Alive: The Roman Emperor Taken by Persia

Rome didn’t just lose a battle in 260 CE—it lost its emperor.
Captured alive by the Persian king Shapur I, Emperor Valerian’s defeat at Edessa shattered Rome’s image of invincibility and exposed how fragile imperial power had become.

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In this video, we reconstruct the crisis-era showdown at Edessa from both Roman and Persian perspectives. You’ll see how plague, inflation, and civil war set the stage for disaster, why Roman sources can’t agree on how Valerian was captured, and how Shapur transformed a battlefield victory into permanent propaganda carved into stone. This wasn’t just a military loss—it was a psychological one, designed to outlive everyone who fought it.

We’ll also follow the aftermath: how Rome struggled to explain the unthinkable, how Persia celebrated it, and how Roman engineering knowledge may have ended up strengthening the very empire that defeated them. Stay to the end for the strange physical “souvenir” of Valerian’s capture that still exists today.

If you enjoy history where empires feel human, fragile, and real, share this video and let us know in the comments which legacy hits harder: Rome’s silence or Persia’s monuments.

0:00 Introduction
1:57 The 3rd Century Pressure Cooker
4:24 Shapur I: More Than a Conqueror
7:09 Why Edessa Mattered
9:24 Valerian’s Gamble
12:02 The Battle at Edessa
14:33 How Valerian Was Captured
16:59 Rome’s Silence vs Persia’s Propaganda
19:29 The Naqsh-e Rostam Relief
22:05 Roman Engineers in Persia
24:54 Aftermath and Power Shift
27:23 Conclusion

#RomanEmpire
#AncientHistory
#PersianEmpire
#CrisisOfTheThirdCentury