§6Hoc senatus consultum ubi Decius accepit, omnes aulicos convocavit, ipsum etiam Valerianum praecepit rogari, atque in conventu summorum virorum recitato senatus consulto,
Felicem te,
inquit,
Valerianum, totius senatus sententia, immo animis atque pectoribus totius orbis humani, suscipe censuram, quam tibi detulit Romana res publica, quam solus mereris, iudicaturus de moribus omnium, iudicaturus de moribus nostris, tu aestimabis qui manere in Curia debeant, tu equestrem ordinem in antiquum statum rediges, tu censibus modum pones, tu vectigalia firmabis divides statues, tu res publicas recensebis; tibi legum scribendarum auctoritas dabitur, tibi de ordinibus militum iudicandum est; tu arma respicies; tu de nostro Palatio, tu de iudicibus, tu de praefectis eminentissimis iudicabis; excepto denique praefecto urbis Romae, exceptis consulibus ordinariis et sacrorum rege ac maxima virgine Vestalium (si tamen incorrupta permanebit) de omnibus sententias feres, laborabunt autem etiam illi, ut tibi placeant, de quibus non potes iudicare. haec Decius, sed Valeriano sententia huiusmodi fuit:
Ne, quaeso, sanctissime imperator, ad hanc me necessitatem alliges, ut ego iudicem de populo, de militibus, de senatu, de omni penitus orbe iudicibus et tribunis ac ducibus, haec sunt propter quae Augustum nomen tenetis;
When Decius received this decree of the senate, he summoned all the courtiers, ordered Valerian himself also to be invited, and when the decree of the senate had been read aloud in the assembly of the most illustrious men, he said: "O happy you, Valerian, in the opinion of the entire senate, nay rather in the minds and hearts of the whole human world! Take up the censorship which the Roman republic has conferred upon you, which you alone deserve, you who are to judge the character of all, to judge our character. You will determine who ought to remain in the Senate house, you will restore the equestrian order to its ancient state, you will set a limit to the property assessments, you will secure, distribute, and establish the taxes, you will review the municipalities; to you the authority of drafting laws will be given, to you it must be judged concerning the ranks of the soldiers; you will look to the arms; you will judge concerning our Palace, concerning the judges, concerning the most eminent prefects; in short, with the exception of the prefect of the city of Rome, the ordinary consuls, the king of the sacred rites, and the chief Vestal Virgin (provided she remains pure), you will pass judgment on everyone, and even those whom you cannot judge will strive to please you." Thus spoke Decius, but Valerian's reply was of this kind: "Do not, I pray, most holy emperor, bind me to this necessity, that I should judge concerning the people, the soldiers, the senate, and concerning the judges, tribunes, and generals of the entire world.
apud vos censura desedit, non potest hoc implere privatus.
These are the things on account of which you hold the name of Augustus; the censorship resides with you, a private citizen cannot fulfill this.
veniam igitur eius honoris peto, cui vita impar est, impar est confidentia, cui tempora sic repugnant, ut censuram hominum natura non quaerat. §7Poteram multa alia et senatus consulta et iudicia principum de Valeriano proferre, nisi et vobis pleraque nota essent, et puderet altius virum extollere, qui fatali quadam necessitate superatus est.
Therefore I ask for pardon from this honor, to which my life is unequal, my confidence is unequal, and to which the times are so opposed that human nature does not seek the censorship." I could have produced many other decrees of the senate and judgments of emperors concerning Valerian, had not most of them been known to you, and had I not been ashamed to extol too highly a man who was overcome by a certain fatal necessity.
nunc ad Valerianum minorem revertar.
Now I shall return to the younger Valerian.
§8Valerianus iunior, alia quam Gallienus matre genitus, forma conspicuus, verecundia probabilis, eruditione pro aetate clarus, moribus periucundus atque a fratris dissolutione seiunctus, a patre absente Caesar est appellatus, a fratre, ut Caelestinus dicit, Augustus, nihil habet praedicabile in vita, nisi quod est nobiliter natus, educatus optime et miserabiliter interemptus.
The younger Valerian, born of a different mother than Gallienus, conspicuous in appearance, commendable in modesty, illustrious in learning for his age, very pleasant in character and removed from his brother's dissolution, was named Caesar by his absent father, and, as Caelestinus says, Augustus by his brother; he has nothing noteworthy in his life except that he was nobly born, excellently educated, and miserably slain.
Et quoniam scio errare plerosque, qui Valeriani imperatoris titulum in sepulchro legentes illius Valeriani redditum putant corpus, qui a Persis est captus, ne ullus error obrepat, mittendum in litteras censui hunc Valerianum circa Mediolanum sepultum addito titulo Claudii iussu:
Valerianus imperator. Non puto plus aliquid vel de maiore Valeriano vel de iuniore requirendum.
And since I know that most people err, who, reading the title of Emperor Valerian on the tomb, think that the body of that Valerian who was captured by the Persians was returned, lest any error creep in, I judged that it should be committed to writing that this Valerian was buried around Mediolanum, with the title added by order of Claudius: 'Valerian the Emperor.' I do not think that anything more should be required either concerning the elder Valerian or concerning the younger.
et quoniam vereor ne modum voluminis transeam, si Gallienum, Valeriani filium, de quo iam multus et fortasse nimius nobis fuit sermo in illius vita, vel Saloninum filium etiam Gallieni, qui et Saloninus et Gallienus est dictus in historia sui temporis, huic libro adiunctos edam, nunc ad aliud volumen transeamus, ut iubetur.
And since I fear lest I should exceed the measure of the volume, if I should publish Gallienus, the son of Valerian, of whom there has already been much and perhaps too much talk in his own life, or Saloninus, also the son of Gallienus, who was called both Saloninus and Gallienus in the history of his time, as joined to this book, let us now pass on to another volume, as is commanded.
semper enim nos vobis dedimus et famae, cui negare nihil possumus.
For we have always given ourselves to you and to fame, to which we can deny nothing.