Miscellanea / D. Woods / Mnemosyne 61 (2008) 479-481 479

Lactantius, Valerian, and Halophilic Bacteria

Reiner has recently re-examined the strange claim by Lactantius that the Persian emperor Sapor I (AD 240-272) dyed the skin of the deceased Roman emperor Valerian I (AD 253-260) red before he placed it upon display in a temple:1)

Postea vero quam pudendam vitam in illo dedecore finivit, derepta est ei cutis et exuta visceribus pellis infecta rubro colore, ut in templo barbarorum deorum ad memoriam clarissimi triumphi poneretur legatisque nostris semper esset ostentui, ne nimium Romani viribus suis fiderent, cum exuvias capti principis apud deos suos cernerent.2)

She drew attention to the striking similarity between Sapor’s alleged dyeing of the skin of Valerian red and the boast by king Sargon II of Assyria (721-705 BC) that he had dyed the skin of the rebel Ilubi’di as red as red wool. Since no-one has been able to provide a plausible explanation as to why Sapor should have dyed the skin of Valerian red, she tentatively suggested that Lactantius may have been influenced by some popular story about the cruelty of oriental kings who even dyed the flayed skin of their enemies red, the implication being that this preserved a genuine memory of what had been a relatively common practice during the Assyrian era at least. A simpler explanation has been overlooked. If Sapor had intended the skin of Valerian to be retained as a permanent trophy, then he would have to have ordered it to be cured in order to prevent it from quickly rotting away, even if it was not then subjected to all the other processes necessary to produce a proper piece of leather.3) Hence in his rhetorical address to Valerian, the emperor Con- stantine I (AD 306-337) naturally assumes that Sapor had ordered his skin to be preserved as well as flayed (ἐκδαρῆναι κελευσθεὶς καὶ ταριχευθείς).4) It is note- worthy here that he uses the same verb (ταριχεύω) to describe the process of pres- ervation as was commonly used, for example, to describe the preservation of fish by salting, pickling, or smoking.5) Th e main methods of curing hide from the ancient until the modern period involve the use of large quantities of salt, whether wet-salting, brining, or dry-salting.6) Th e alternative is curing by drying, especially

1) Reiner 2006. 2) Lact. De mort pers. 5.6, tr. Creed 1984, 10. 3) Sharphouse 1963, 4-5. 4) Oratio ad sanctorum coetum 24. 5) LSJ s.v. 6) Sharphouse 1963, 8-9. On Roman leather-production, see Waterer 1976.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008 DOI: 10.1163/156852507X235254 480 Miscellanea / D. Woods / Mnemosyne 61 (2008) 479-481 by sun-light, but this requires great care and the dried hides remain susceptible to insect attack. Th e main problem with salting or brining any product, whether hides or fish, is that if the salt or brine has been contaminated by certain species of halophilic bacteria, then the product will be damaged by these bacteria.7) Th e particular point of interest here is that these bacteria are red, and reveal their pres- ence by reddening the object of preservation, a problem referred to as ‘red heat’ by the leather-industry.8) Th ese are the same bacteria that turn salt-lakes red.9) It is my suggestion, therefore, that Sapor did not deliberately dye Valerian’s skin red. Instead, the skin became infected by halophilic bacteria during the process of cur- ing, and was stained red as a result. Th e importance of this discovery is that it confirms that the ultimate source of Lactantius’ information in this matter must have seen Valerian’s skin firsthand himself. He then made the understandable, but erroneous, assumption, that Sapor had ordered the skin to be dyed red. A humble leather-producer would not have made such a mistake, but few diplomats, ancient or modern, have a background in the leather-industry.

University College Cork, Department of Classics David Woods Western Road, Cork, Ireland [email protected]

Received: January 2007; accepted: May 2007

Bibliography

Anderson, H. 1954. Th e Reddening of Salted Hides and Fish, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2, 64-9 Creed, J.L. (ed.) 1984. Lactantius: De Mortibus Persecutorum (Oxford) Jordan-Lloyd, D. 1929. Red Heat in Salted Hides, Journal of the Society of Leather Trades’ Chemists 13, 538-69 Oren, A. 2002. Halophilic Microorganisms and their Environments (Dordrecht) Reiner, E. 2006. Th e Reddling of Valerian, CQ 56, 325-9

7) On these bacteria, see Vreeland & Hochstein 1993. 8) Th ese bacteria include Halobacterium halobium and Halobacterium trapanicum. See e.g. Ruys 1950, 89, 133-4. Th ere is an extensive technical literature on the phenomenon of ‘red heat’. See e.g. Anderson 1954; Jordan-Lloyd 1929. 9) For some historical examples, see Oren 2002, 3-5. Th is is not to be confused with the algae blooms which are the cause of ‘red tide’ along estuaries and sea-shores. See e.g. Tac. Ann. 14.32.