These  were  under  the  command  of  P.  Licinius
Valerianus,  a  capable  public  servant  to  whom  Decius
had  entrusted  the  chief  control  of  the  civil  adminis-
tration, reviving  for  that  end  the  obsolete  office  of
censor.  They  were  too  late  to  save  the  Emperor,
who  perished  with  his  son  in  a  battle  fought
at    Interamna   (Terni) ;    but    ^milianus    was    soon


294  T'^^   DISINTEGRATION   OF   THE   EMPIRE

despoiled  of  the  fruits  of  victory.  He  deemed  it
politic  to  declare  himself  the  general  of  the  Senate,
whose  sovereignty  he  proposed  to  restore  ;  but  the
legions  would  have  none  of  his  schemes,  and
murdered  him  in  their  camp  at  Spoleto.  Valerian's
title  to  the  Empire  was  acknowledged  without
dispute,  and  the  authority  of  the  Senate  received  its
death-blow.
