of Aemilianus as Augustus in 253, its author set the event described therein in the early 250s. This date, and the fall of Antioch occurring during the reign of Trebonianus Gallus, is favoured by a number of modern scholars. Finally, according to John Malalas, during Valerian's reign, Mariades, one of the officials of Antioch, was expelled from the city council on charges of embezzlement. He was responsible for the running of the chariot races, had not bought the horses for one of the factions, and had stolen money that had been set aside for the Hippodrome. As a result, he fled to Persia, and in an interview with Shapur I, agreed to betray Antioch to the Persians. After the capture of the city, which was plundered and burnt to the ground, Shapur had Mariades beheaded as he was a traitor to his own people. Although John Malalas dates this event to 265/6, his narrative also implies that it occurred around 252/3. It is now accepted that Cyriades and Mariades are one and the same person. One possibility is that the name Cyriades is a Hellenized version of the Aramaic name Maryad'a ("My Lord Knows"), with CYRI the Latin transliteration of the Greek KYPI ("Lord"). This may give rise to the claim made in the Historia Augusta that Cyriades was firstly made Caesar and then Augustus, as KYPI could be used for the holder of either title. There is no numismatic and epigraphic evidence that Cyriades (or Mariades) was ever proclaimed Augustus. The coins published by Groltzius and Mediobarbus are rejected by numismatists as unquestionably spurious. References External links Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, page 916 250s deaths Thirty Tyrants (Roman) Year of birth unknown