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XXVI. Gallienus
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202 XXVI Gallienus The historical Emperor Gallienus (r. 260–268) had been joint emperor with his father, Valerian, beginning in 255. But when Valerian was taken prisoner by Shapur of Persia in 260, Gallienus did nothing to get him back and seemed quite content to rule as sole emperor. Shapur was reported to have killed Valerian, stuffed his skin, and displayed it in a temple. While Gallienus had shown some military talent as a young man, as emperor he did very little to halt invaders who threatened the Empire from several sides. Constant revolts broke out against him, and he was never really in charge of the whole Empire at one time. His reign became known afterwards as the “Time of the Thirty Tyrants”—although, as Gibbon notes, there were no more than eighteen by the most all-inclusive count. Our author’s Gallienus shares only the name with the historical Emperor Gallienus. The real Gallienus was much less fervent in persecuting Christians than his father, Valerian. The link with medical experiments and poisonings may derive from supposed memories of the great Greek physician, Galen (ca. AD 130–ca. 201), whose work contributed heavily to the medieval study of medicine. There is certainly no factual basis for linking Galen—if, in fact, it was his name that suggested “Gallienus” to our author—with anything like mass poisonings or sadistic medical experiments. The Gallienus chapter illustrates instead one of the many faces of evil in the author’s mind, made all the more threatening by the power of a ruler. It also illustrates, as does the Nero story, the ambivalence of many medieval people toward any art that seeks to probe too deeply into secrets of nature. Gallienus 203 the Book now lets us know that Gallienus held the Empire. He was the wisest physician ever to be born in Rome; however, his great knowledge was to cause frequent suffering. He greatly hated Christians and with them he revealed himself to be a cruel ruler. Any Christian who came to the attention of Gallienus had to pay for being one with his life. After sentencing Christians to be led out of the city, he would practice his medical arts on them. He would order that their hands and feet be cut to pieces, and he searched for every means of abusing them further both on their limbs and in their veins. The first man to introduce the practice of gouging out people’s eyes, he would never believe himself to be finished with them until he had exhausted his medical knowledge on them. This made the heathens take up the praise of his wisdom. King Gallienus was also a wise philosopher. One night he read in the stars what a future day would bring—that his chamberlains would try to poison him. The king could not allow that to happen, but even though he knew their intentions, he remained silent until the next day when he was sitting at his table and many princes were sitting with him. The lord high steward brought in the meal and served it, but Gallienus did not eat or drink anything himself. He cunningly held back from everything, knowing that he was intended to be an innocent victim. When the steward came before him, Gallienus let his head hang low and began to gather his thoughts of distrust. After what seemed like a long time, he straightened up and said, “Bring that closer, over here, my dear steward. You shall take a drink, and the princes may all well observe, what you were planning to give me. Let us see what happens to you, and I will drink the same thing afterwards.” The steward saw that he could do nothing to help himself, and so he said, “Sire, I beg you upon your royal honor to change your mind about this and to show me your royal goodness.” King Gallienus answered him like this: “By my health, which I value, you will drink this to the very bottom. You set a trap for me, and now you must suffer the injury it will cause.” The steward had no choice but to do what the mighty king commanded him to do. As he drank from the cup his eyes jumped out of his head, [54.226.25.246] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 03:42 GMT) 204 Chapter Twenty-six and he fell to the floor dead. “I take real pleasure in seeing you lie there...