Shapur I captured the Roman emperor Valerian in 260 CE. The extraordinary event occurred during the Roman–Sasanian wars, after a Roman army entered the Near East and confronted Persian forces near Edessa.
Ancient sources and a series of Sasanian rock reliefs commemorate the Persian victory. Shapur’s inscriptions describe Valerian as a captive, and Roman writers also record that the emperor fell into Persian hands. The exact circumstances and later treatment of Valerian have been debated, but his capture is one of the clearest and most famous Sasanian successes against Rome.
Shapur I was the son and successor of Ardashir I. He expanded Sasanian territory, fought several Roman emperors, and sponsored monumental reliefs at sites including Naqsh-e Rostam and Bishapur. The victory over Valerian enhanced Shapur’s royal image and demonstrated that the Sasanian Empire could defeat Rome’s armies and seize an emperor.